# 2022 William & Mary Tribe football team

The 2022 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Tribe, led by fourth-year head coach Mike London, played their home games at Zable Stadium. By finishing 7–1 in regular season CAA games, the Tribe tied with New Hampshire as conference co-champions. They went 6–0 on the road in the regular season for the first time in program history. William & Mary earned the FCS playoffs automatic bid. They made it to the quarterfinals before losing 55–7 to the #3 team in the nation, Montana State. The 11 wins tied a school record previously set twice, in 2004 and 2009.

## Preseason
### CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 28, 2022, the Tribe were predicted to finish in fifth place out of 13 teams following the departure of James Madison and the addition on Monmouth and Hampton for the 2022 season.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Villanova | 270 (16) |
| 2 | Delaware | 235 (7) |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 224 |
| 4 | Richmond | 219 |
| 5 | William & Mary | 206 (2) |
| 6 | Elon | 191 (1) |
| 7 | Stony Brook | 151 |
| 8 | Maine | 134 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 117 |
| 10 | Monmouth | 105 |
| 11 | Towson | 81 |
| 12 | Albany | 64 |
| 13 | Hampton | 31 |

### Preseason All-CAA team

Junior running back Bronson Yoder, senior defensive lineman Nate Lynn, and senior cornerback Ryan Poole were named to the CAA preseason all-conference team. Lynn was also named the preseason CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 7:00 p.m. | at Charlotte* | | Jerry Richardson StadiumCharlotte, NC | ESPN3 | W 41–24 | 13,940 |
| September 10 | 6:00 p.m. | Campbell* | No. 20 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | Cox/Flo Football | W 37–21 | 8,558 |
| September 17 | 3:30 p.m. | at Lafayette* | No. 15 | Fisher StadiumEaston, PA | ESPN+ | W 34–7 | 5,244 |
| September 24 | 3:30 p.m. | Elon | No. 14 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | Cox/Flo Football | L 31–35 | 10,803 |
| October 1 | 3:30 p.m. | at Stony Brook | No. 18 | Kenneth P. LaValle StadiumStony Brook, NY | Flo Football | W 27–10 | 3,581 |
| October 8 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 6 Delaware | No. 16 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA (Rivalry) | Cox/Flo Football | W 27–21 | 12,506 |
| October 22 | 4:00 p.m. | at Towson | No. 12 | Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson, MD | Flo Football | W 44–24 | 4,445 |
| October 29 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 18 Rhode Island | No. 10 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | Cox/Flo Football | W 31–30 | 7,981 |
| November 5 | 1:00 p.m. | at Hampton | No. 8 | Armstrong StadiumHampton, VA | Flo Football | W 20–14 | 4,126 |
| November 12 | 1:00 p.m. | Villanova | No. 8 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | Cox/Flo Football | W 45–12 | 10,280 |
| November 19 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Richmond | No. 8 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (Capital Cup) | Flo Football | W 37–26 | 8,200 |
| December 3 | 2:00 p.m. | Gardner–Webb* | No. 6 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN+ | W 54–14 | 7,110 |
| December 9 | 10:15 p.m. | at No. 3 Montana State* | No. 6 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2/ESPN+ | L 7–55 | 14,367 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Tribe | 10 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 41 |
| 49ers | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
Game notes:
* This was William & Mary's first win over an FBS team since 2009, when the Tribe upset Virginia 26–14 in Charlottesville.
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| William & Mary | Passing | Darius Wilson | 12–18, 237 yards, 2 TD |
| William & Mary | Rushing | Bronson Yoder | 15 rushes, 120 yards, 1 TD |
| William & Mary | Receiving | Lacklan Pitts | 1 reception, 65 yards, 1 TD |
| Charlotte | Passing | Xavier Williams | 12–23, 201 yards |
| Charlotte | Rushing | Xavier Williams | 10 rushes, 48 yards, 2 TD |
| Charlotte | Receiving | Elijah Spencer | 5 receptions, 107 yards |
| Statistics | W&M | CHAR |
| First downs | 25 | 22 |
| Total yards | 559 | 379 |
| Rushing yards | 303 | 131 |
| Passing yards | 256 | 248 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 32:05 | 27:55 |

### Campbell

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Camels | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 20 Tribe | 10 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 37 |

### At Lafayette

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Tribe | 14 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 34 |
| Leopards | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 7 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 35 |
| No. 14 Tribe | 14 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 31 |

### At Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Tribe | 3 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 27 |
| Seawolves | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### No. 6 Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 16 Tribe | 0 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

### At Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Tribe | 14 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 44 |
| Tigers | 3 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 24 |

### No. 18 Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Rams | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 30 |
| No. 10 Tribe | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 31 |

### At Hampton

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Tribe | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| No. 8 Tribe | 14 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 45 |

### At No. 11 Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Tribe | 7 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 37 |
| No. 11 Spiders | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 26 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Gardner–Webb – second round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 5 Tribe | 7 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 54 |

### At No. 4 Montana State – Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Tribe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 4 Bobcats | 10 | 17 | 28 | 0 | 55 |

## Awards and honors

William & Mary had a league-high 13 players receive all-conference honors, highlighted by two major award winners in John Pius and Jalen Jones. Pius was also named a top-three finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the most outstanding defensive player in all of Division I FCS.
* CAA Defensive Player of the Year – John Pius (linebacker, sophomore)
* CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year – Jalen Jones (cornerback, freshman)
* CAA First Team Offense – Bronson Yoder (running back, senior); Charles Grant (offensive lineman, sophomore); Colby Sorsdal (offensive lineman, senior)
* CAA First Team Defense – Nate Lynn (defensive lineman, senior); John Pius (linebacker, sophomore); Ryan Poole (cornerback, senior); Caylin Newton (special teams, senior)
* CAA Second Team Offense – Donavyn Lester (fullback / halfback, senior); Lachlan Pitts (tight end, senior); Ethan Chang (placekicker, sophomore)
* CAA Second Team Defense – Carl Fowler (defensive lineman, senior); Isaiah Jones (linebacker, senior); Jalen Jones (cornerback, freshman)

## NFL Draft selections

| = Pro Football Hall of Fame | = Canadian Football Hall of Fame | = College Football Hall of Fame |
NFL Draft Selections :
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Team | Position |
| 2023 | 5 | 18 | 152 | Colby Sorsdal | Detroit Lions | Offensive tackle |