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SLIDESHOW: Weber State vs. William & Mary football
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- It turns out William & Mary's stingy defense is also capable of playing some offense.
Unfortunately for Weber State, the No. 15-ranked Wildcats found that out the hard way during their 38-0 loss to the No. 6-ranked Tribe on Saturday in the first round of the Division I FCS playoffs. The shutout defeat was the first time in their last 45 games the Wildcats failed to score any points, and giving up scores while on offense was just one of the many problems for Weber State at Zable Field.
"Basically, the turnovers, no rushing game and 4-of-13 on third downs pretty much tells the story," said WSU coach Ron McBride. "They just outplayed us, basically. You can't turn the ball over and expect to win."
With the first-round exit the Wildcats end the season 7-5, while the Tribe (10-2) move on to play No. 1-ranked Southern Illinois -- which beat Eastern Illinois on Saturday -- next week in the quarterfinals.
Two plays in the first half really put the Wildcats in a hole.
WM linebacker Jake Trantin picked off Higgins' screen pass intended for Trevyn Smith and ran 60 yards to the end zone, giving the Tribe a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. Later that quarter, B.W. Webb intercepted Higgins and returned that turnover 58 yards for another touchdown to give the Tribe a 17-0 lead just before halftime.
WSU's Mike Snoy missed a pair of first-quarter field-goal attempts from 47 and 50 yards.
However, the Wildcats felt the game was still manageable as they trailed 10-0. But they suffered the consequences of perhaps being overeager to get back into the game when Webb ran into the end zone with 12 seconds left before halftime.
"It's kind of tough," said Higgins, who threw four interceptions on the day and lost a fumble as well. "You risk those kinds of plays that can really tilt the game to their favor."
The second pick-six happened because of a huge miscommunication. Higgins threw the ball to where he thought receiver Mike Phillips would be, however Phillips was nowhere to be seen amongst the four players in green.
"The receiver and the quarterback were not on the same page," McBride said. "(Phillips) read one coverage and it was another coverage. Sometimes it baffles me. Higgins is throwing to a spot, he reads a coverage, and I'm not trying to blame anyone, but the receiver is supposed to be where he needs to be."
Higgins, who also threw interceptions on screen passes that were returned for TDS against Eastern Washington and Montana, finished with just 167 yards, which was his second-lowest total of the season. WSU's lack of a running game didn't help the passing game, as WSU ended the game with -6 total yards rushing. Smith had 22 yards, giving him 1,001 this season, however Higgins was sacked twice and WSU's offense rarely gave its defense time to rest.
"Going three-and-out put our defense in bad situations," Higgins said. "They were doing fine in the first quarter, but their going to run out of gas if we keep putting them on the field."
That's what happened in the second half as the Tribe's offense found success.
Quarterback R.J. Archer scored twice in the second half, on runs of one and six yards, and then Terrance Riggins rounded out the scoring with a 23-yard run with just more than three minutes left in the game.
WSU's defense held the Tribe to just 106 yards and three points in the first half, compared to WSU's 141 total yards at the time, however WM gained 302 yards in the second half.
"Their running backs were falling forward and they were connecting on the quick passes they weren't in the first half," said WSU defensive lineman Kevin Linehan. "It seemed like they picked up a little more and we didn't answer it."
Archer threw for 187 yards while running for 41 yards, but it was Jonathan Grimes who did the most damage. Grimes set a school record for most rushing yards in a playoff game with his 139-yard performance, with 108 of those yards coming in the second half.
"In the second half we got cranked up and ran the ball well," said WM coach Jimmye Laycock.
The Tribe came into the game ranked first in the nation against the run, second in quarterback sacks and third in overall defense. They didn't disappoint, as the Wildcats finished their first game scoreless since losing 17-0 at Cal Poly in 2006.
"They know what they need to do and they do it," said WSU wide receiver Tim Toone, who caught six passes for 46 yards. "They don't take chances and when our offense isn't in a rhythm we're way off. They made it so we couldn't find that rhythm today."
William & Mary didn't do anything differently Saturday than the Tribe had done all season on defense, according to the Wildcats. Since WSU came into the game with the seventh best passing offense in the nation and 13th overall offense, the Wildcats expected to move the ball even with the Tribe being so good defensively.
That non-performance just added to Saturday's disappointing loss which brought the season to an end.
"We got 168 yards in offense, that's just ridiculous," McBride said. "Give them credit, their defense is good and their guys play hard and don't give Weber too much."
No. 6 William & Mary 38SFlbNo. 15 Weber State 0
At Williamsburg, Va.
Weber State 0 0 0 0 -- 0
William & Mary 0 17 7 14 -- 38
Second quarter
WM--Trantin 60 interception return (Pate kick), 9:05.
WM--Pate 27 field goal, :36.
WM--Webb 58 interception return (Pate kick), :12.
Third quarter
WM--Archer 1 run (Pate kick), 10:23.
Fourth quarter
WM--Archer 6 run (Pate kick), 4:21.
WM--Riggins 23 run (Pate kick), 3:01.
A--6,497.
WSU WM
First downs 9 23
Rushes-yards 18-(-6) 47-221
Passing 167 187
Comp-Att-Int 21-40-4 15-28-0
Return yards (-4) 135
Punts-avg. 6-42.8 5-39.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 9-65 7-70
Time of possession 25:52 34:08
Individual statistics
Rushing--Weber State, Smith 13-22, Team 1-(minus 1), C.Higgins 4-(minus 27). William & Mary, Grimes 23-139, Riggins 6-41, Archer 10-29, M.Jones 5-17, Team 2-(minus 2), C.Hill 1-(minus 3).
Passing--Weber State, C.Higgins 21-40-4-167. William & Mary, Archer 15-28-0-187.
Receiving--Weber State, Toone 6-46, Smith 5-22, Collins 4-44, Bolen 4-27, Phillips 2-28. William & Mary, Grimes 4-66, McAulay 3-32, Varno 3-26, Riggins 2-12, E.Robertson 1-27, Dohse 1-20, M.Jones 1-4.
