He'll Be There. Will You?
William and Mary has released its football schedule for the 2013 season. The slate includes six home games against: Hampton, Rhode Island, U. Penn., James Madison, New Hampshire and Towson. The Tribe will open with FBS opponent West Virginia. As Tribe fans know, the Tribe always opens with an FBS opponent; the Mountaineers will be the first non-ACC FBS opponent since the Tribe played Marshall in the fall of 2005. Other highlights of the schedule include away games against arch-rivals Villanova and Delaware, as well as home games against James Madison and New Hampshire. Moreover, as it has done over 100 times before, the Tribe will play Richmond, for the Capital Cup, so named because both Williamsburg and Richmond have served as the Commonwealth's Capital. As previously explained on this blog, this is one of the longest-running rivalries in College football, in which the Tribe holds a slight edge.
One thing to watch: For the second year in a row, the Tribe will play Lafayette, from the Patriot League. As previously explained on this Blog, the Patriot League, made up of private universities, contains several schools of similar academic profile to William and Mary, often referred to as a "Public Ivy." Indeed, some who support expansion of the Patriot League have advocated inclusion of William and Mary in such an expansion, an eventuality that seems more likely, now that the Patriot League has resumed offering football scholarships. Hopefully the Tribe will make a better showing against Lafayette than last year, when Lafayette defeated the Tribe 17-14, despite the best efforts of the William and Mary Griffin, pictured above at last year's game.
Here is the schedule. Home games are in bold. All times are to be announced.
August 31 West
Virginia
Sept. 7 Hampton
Sept. 14 Lafayette
Sept. 21 Rhode Island
Oct. 5 Villanova
Oct. 12 Penn
Oct. 19 Maine
Oct. 26 James
Madison
Nov. 2 New Hampshire
Nov. 9 Delaware
Nov. 16 Towson
Nov. 23 Richmond
