2009 William & Mary Tribe football team The 2009 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary in National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) college football during the 2009 season . William & Mary competed as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association ( CAA ) under head football coach Jimmye Laycock and played their home games at Zable Stadium . The 2009 campaign came on the heels of a 7 – 4 record in 2008 . The 2009 Tribe football team finished # 4 in The Sports Network ' s final poll , which was the second highest final ranking William & Mary had ever earned ( they finished # 3 in 2004 ) . Season summary . Regular season . On September 5 , William & Mary opened their season against their academic rivals , the Virginia Cavaliers ( UVa ) in Charlottesville . UVa , an FBS team , was expected to win handily . However , the Tribe forced a UVa school record - tying seven turnovers and won the game 26 – 14 . It was William & Mary ' s first win over Virginia since 1986 and their first over an FBS school since 1998 ( a 45 – 38 win over Temple ) . Tribe redshirt freshman cornerback B . W . Webb intercepted three passes , including a 50 - yard pick six late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory . Webb was named the College Football National Defensive Player of the Week by the press . This selection marked the first time since the award ' s inception in 2001 that any player from an FCS school earned the distinction . Webb ' s game - sealing third interception was also chosen as SportsCenter ' s # 5 play of the day on its daily Top 10 Plays segment . The October 3rd match - up pitted the # 5 Tribe against the # 2 Villanova Wildcats . Both teams headed into the contest with 4 – 0 ( 1 – 0 CAA ) records . The 3 : 30 p . m . game was broadcasted live on the Versus network , making it the first - ever nationally televised CAA football game . Villanova won the game 28 – 17 . After defeating the # 8 New Hampshire Wildcats on November 14 , the Tribe tied their program ' s best record through 10 games since the 1947 season . The victory improved William & Mary ' s record to 5 – 0 at home on the season , marking the first time since 2004 that they had posted an undefeated regular season mark at Zable Stadium . The I - 64 Trophy , given to the winner of the annual rivalry game with Richmond ( dubbed the I - 64 Bowl ) , was replaced in 2009 with the Capital Cup , which honors the entire 118 - game history of the rivalry ( through 2008 ) between the schools and the status of the two cities as the last two capitals of the Commonwealth of Virginia . Both the trophy and game ' s names were changed to be called the Capital Cup . The 2009 edition turned out to be the most anticipated match - up in the long series ' history . Both teams headed into the regular season finale with 9 – 1 ( 6 – 1 CAA ) records , and each of the teams ' single losses came to Villanova . The # 5 Tribe had matched their best record through 10 games since the 1947 season , while the # 4 Spiders were also looking for their first 10 - win regular season in school history . The game contained not only playoff seeding ramifications , but a minimum share of the conference title was also on the line ( the winner of the UR – W & M game would be the CAA ' s outright winner if # 2 Villanova were to be upset by # 25 Delaware ) . The game was a defensive struggle as most possessions resulted in three - and - outs or , at most , one or two first downs . Tied at 10 apiece with less than 20 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter , William & Mary attempted one last play in Richmond territory to move close enough for a game - winning field goal . However , Tribe quarterback R . J . Archer threw an interception with 14 seconds left , giving the Spiders one last possession . After two pass completions covering close to 30 yards , Spiders kicker Andrew Howard converted a 48 - yard field goal as time expired to give Richmond the win and a share of the conference title ( Villanova would go on to win their game later that afternoon ) . Howard had only been 1 - for - 3 in field goal attempts prior to his game - winning kick . Playoffs . With the loss , William & Mary finished the regular season 9 – 2 ( 6 – 2 CAA ) . When the FCS playoff bracket was announced , the # 6 Tribe found out that they would be hosting the # 15 Weber State Wildcats on November 28 . In the first - ever meeting between the schools , William & Mary utilized a season - high four interceptions ( two returned for touchdowns ) to easily handle the Wildcats 38 – 0 . In the second round , William & Mary traveled to Carbondale , Illinois to take on the # 1 ranked Southern Illinois Salukis . The Salukis boasted an offense that averaged more than 400 yards per game and over 34 points per game . After trailing 3 – 0 at the end of the first quarter , William & Mary ' s defense ( # 1 in the nation for rushing , # 3 overall ) stymied Southern Illinois for the remainder of the game and the Tribe stunned the host 24 – 3 . The victory marked head coach Jimmye Laycock ' s 200th career victory ( all at W & M ) , and also made him just the 13th FCS head coach to ever earn that many wins . It also helped the Tribe tie a single season school record of 11 wins which had been set back in 2004 , the first and last time that they had reached the national semifinals . On December 11 at 8 : 00 p . m . , # 6 William & Mary versus # 2 Villanova met once again at Villanova Stadium for a national semifinal face - off . The game was broadcast live on ESPN2 , and either winner of this match - up was going to make their first - ever national championship appearance in football . The Wildcats ( 12 – 1 – 0 ) came back from a 10 – 0 halftime deficit to defeat the Tribe for the second time in that season , 14 – 13 . Villanova would then move on to defeat the Montana Grizzlies , 23 – 21 , in the national championship .