W&M > UVA

Oh. My. Gosh. My prediction for a Tribe victory came true! We beat UVA on Saturday, 26-14 and I don’t think I’ve been this excited about football since high school. I absolutely cannot wait for our home opener this Saturday! We all lost our voices screaming, taunting the sea of orange that surrounded our Green & Gold corner at Scott Stadium, and singing the alma mater after our epic upset of a victory over our VA rivals.

The Cavaliers certainly brought a giant stadium, a fancy new screen, and lots of fans (weirdly dressed in sundresses and ties while sitting on a bug-infested hill?), but just as certainly left any sort of game plan at home.

I’ll walk you through the highlights of the highlight of my Tribe Football Fan experience.

First, W&M’s new starting QB, senior RJ Archer, a Charlottesville-native, did his hometown and the Tribe proud all night. He protected the ball, ran a solid offensive effort, had a great 26-yard run, and led a wonderful drive down the field capped off by a TD pass. That offensive drive knotted the score at 7-7 in the first quarter, while the rest of the O’s points came from field goals.

The stars of the show, however, were certainly the Tribe defensive players. Their effort was absolutely impeccable, as they caused seven turnovers and held UVA scoreless from mid-second quarter on! First-time starter, BW Wells had three interceptions. With a little under three minutes left, he made his final pick and ran it back for a Tribe touchdown that gave us a 26-14 lead and sealed the victory. From then on, it was the alma mater and cheers of “Our House” from the students, parents, and alumni in the Tribe section that drove the Cav fans from their own stadium with shocked expressions on their faces and a pretty dismal outlook on the rest of their season.

The Tribe returned to Williamsburg a few hours later and gathered in the Sunken Gardens, where a spontaneous, student-organized rally took place so everybody who didn’t make it to Charlottesville could take part in the excitement.

With a solid QB to lead the offense and a formidable defense, I think everybody has high expectations for what we’ll see over the course of this year’s football season, which I think will certainly lead to some postseason action. Be sure to come if you can! I promise it’d be well worth the trip and we’d welcome you to the cheering section with open arms… as long as you’re wearing the appropriate colors and bring some Tribe Pride! (Bonus points if you learn the alma mater).