WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Junior safety David Caldwell returned a fourth-quarter interception 62 yards for a touchdown to help No. 23 William and Mary pull away for a 34-24 victory against Rhode Island on a rainy homecoming Saturday at Zable Stadium.

The win stands as the third-straight victory for the College, and fifth in the last six outings, and improves the squad's record to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

True freshman tailback Jonathan Grimes posted another outstanding performance, rushing for a game-high 111 yards with a touchdown. Sophomore running back Courtland Marriner also added rushing touchdown. Senior quarterback Jake Phillips completed 15-of-24 attempts for 207 yards with a touchdown, while junior wide receiver D.J. McAulay hauled in three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide out Chase Hill was the College's leading receiver with five catches for 55 yards.

Rhode Island (2-7, 0-5) took an early 7-0 lead just 1:09 into the contest when it marched 74 yards on five plays for a touchdown on the game's opening drive. Quarterback Derek Cassidy connected with wide receiver Shawn Leonard on the 38-yard scoring strike.

The Tribe quickly answered with a touchdown on the ensuing possession when Grimes scored on a 12-yard run with 10:08 remaining in the first quarter. The highlight of the five-play, 74-yard drive came on a third-and-five from W&M's 49 yard line when Phillips completed a 31-yard pass to senior wide out Elliott Mack.

While both teams scored touchdowns on their opening possessions, neither squad scored again until URI's Louis Feinstein kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining in the opening half to put the Rams ahead, 10-7.

At the break, the Rams had out gained the Tribe in total offense, 212-115, and controlled the time of possession, 20:05-9:15.

The College took its first lead of the contest with a touchdown on the initial drive of the second half. The four-play drive covered 65 yards and lasted just 1:37, as Phillips found McAulay from 18 yards out in the back left corner of the end zone. The score was set up on the previous play when Phillips completed a 30-yard pass to freshman tight end Alex Gottlieb to put W&M inside the red zone.

After forcing URI to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Tribe quickly marched 54 yards on seven plays to go ahead, 21-10, when Marriner found the end zone on an 8-yard run with 8:33 left in the third quarter. The Tribe faced a fourth-and-three on Rhode Island's 37-yard line during the drive, but Phillips completed a 14-yard pass to Hill along the right sideline.

After recovering a punt that bounced off the back of an retreating W&M player, URI narrowed the score with an eight-play, 38-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cassidy late in the third quarter.

The College went back a head by seven, 24-17, in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when junior Brian Pate connected on a 37-yard field goal attempt from the left hash.

Looking to tie the score, URI drove inside the Tribe 40-yard line on its next possession, but Caldwell intercepted a pass by Cassidy and raced 62 yards down the right sideline to give the College a 31-17 cushion with 10:12 left in the game.

The Tribe extended the lead to 34-17 with a field goal by Pate later in the quarter before Nick Del Grosso hauled in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cassidy with 1:19 remaining to cut the margin to 10.

W&M then recovered URI's on-side kick, and Grimes totaled 30 yards on four carries to run out the clock and preserve the victory.

While Caldwell provided the defensive highlight of the afternoon, redshirt freshman linebacker Jake Trantin tallied a game-high 13 tackles (nine solo) with a forced fumble and an interception. Senior linebacker Michael Pigram and Caldwell both finished with 11 total tackles, while linebacker Evan Francks intercepted a pass and registered six total tackles. Junior defensive end Adrian Tracy and redshirt freshman Ravi Pradhanang both recorded a half sack.

Box Score

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Jimmye Laycock
"I feel like we got away with one today. We did what we had to do to get the victory."

On the first half efficiency:
"We just didn't get the plays. The number of plays and time of possession is amazing to look at. Rhode Island controlled the ball and controlled the game in the first half."

On the turnaround in the second half:
"We turned it around in the second half. We needed to be more aggressive and mix it up, and I think we did. We mixed in some play-action and some screens. We have to be ready to play in both halves though."

On the loss of linebacker Josh Rutter:
"Losing Rutter is huge. I thought Jake Trantin came in and really stepped it up. He's a young player playing a new position. He really had a big day for us."

On the game and league:
"Any win you get in this conference you have to appreciate and move on. I think it was a sign of a more confident team today when we struggled a little. We didn't press or panic. Rhode Island played really well. They did not look like a 2-6 team today."

Safety David Caldwell
On his pick-six interception
"I had Mike Pigram underneath me and the ball came right at me. Mike put up a good block, then recovered and had another huge block. Once I got the ball, I had a lot of help getting the ball into the end zone."

Quarterback Jake Phillips
On first half efficiency:
"We really just didn't have much opportunity in the first half. We only had four possessions. On the first, we scored the touchdown, and on the next two we had some negative plays and some penalties that pushed us back. On out last possession, we just ran out of time. Coming out in the second half, we really fed off of each others' energy. We got pumped up after scored touchdowns on our first two possessions, and then after David scored the interception touchdown, it just carried over into our offense."

Defensive End Adrian Tracy
"We talked about playing a complete game today. It didn't happen in the first half, but we came out in the second half on the right page, fired up and ready to play."

Rhode Island Head Coach Darren Rizzi
General thoughts on the game:
"Unfortunately, I think we just had a couple of bad plays here and there. Interceptions really ended up killing us I think. A big swing in the game is when we dropped the interception that was probably going to be a touchdown, and it turns into a touchdown for them, and then they picked one off of us and scored.

"It really just came down to a couple of plays ? you look at the stats, and you go 27-41 throwing the ball, 8-15 on third down, hold the ball for 35 minutes, those are the games you usually win."

On W&M's fourth down conversion in the third quarter:
"Terence Glenn made a great break on it. As a freshman, he probably just took his eye off of it for a second and his hands weren't together ? he probably started looking up to see who was around. Unfortunately, that's the mark of a young group, and that's where we are right now."

On Caldwell's interception in the fourth quarter:
"The game doesn't come down to one play. We had a bunch of chances to get it down. If we had caught our interception, maybe that one wouldn't mean as much."

Team Notes
The win stands as the College's first win over Rhode Island since the 2004 season (a 31-24 win in Williamsburg) and helped the squad equal its best start since the 2005 season, which also saw the team vault out to a 5-2 start ? While looking at the win column, the team's five victories this season surpasses the team's entire season win total from 2007 (four) ? The victory moves the Tribe's conference record to 3-1, which surpasses its entire league win total from 2007 (when it finished 2-6 in league play) and would mark the squad's best start in conference play since the 2004 season (which saw the College finish the year with a 7-1 league mark) ? Saturday marked the first time since 2005 that W&M has won three consecutive games in CAA play (when it won three-straight over New Hampshire, Northeastern and Towson) ? The victory snapped what had been a three game home conference losing streak ? The College has now recorded wins on three-straight Homecoming weeks this season, as the Tribe spent the previous two weeks as both New Hampshire and Delaware's Homecoming opponents ? Coming into Saturday's play, the College has lost its previous two Homecoming weekends (vs. Villanova in ?06 and UMass in '07) ? The victory stood as W&M Head Coach Jimmye Laycock's 10th career win over URI and marked his 75th career win in CAA play.

Offensive Team Notes

Pointed
By putting up 34 points vs. URI, the College has now scored 24, or more, points in every game this season. The squad's current average of 35.0 points a contest is pacing it as one of the highest scoring teams in school history. If the Tribe were to maintain the average for the remainder of the year, it would rank as the third-highest scoring team in history (behind the 1993 ? 36.8; and 1990 ? 35.9; squads).

Seeing Red
For the third-straight week, the College was perfect in the red zone, as it converted all four opportunities into points of some variety (three TDs, one FG). Over its last three victories, the Tribe is now a combined 13 for 13 in red zone opportunities (nine TDs, four FGs).

Ground Attack
Powered by true freshman Jonathan Grimes' 111-yard rushing performance, the Tribe offense rolled for 161 rushing yards vs. URI. With the Rams putting up just 114 yards on the ground, it marks the third-straight week that the College has out-rushed its opponent.

Individual Offensive Notes

Record Watch
Senior returning all-conference quarterback Jake Phillips turned in one of its best all-around games of the season, as he threw for 207 yards and one score and also added 50 rushing yards on seven attempts (excluding 18 yards in losses on a pair of sacks).

His 207 passing yards moved his career total to 6,498, moving him past Lang Campbell (6,494 set between the 2001-04 seasons) into fifth-place on the College's all-time listing.

The one touchdown pass pushed his career total to 50, giving him the fifth-highest career mark in school history, he is a pair of scoring connections away from moving past Stan Yagiello's fourth-place mark of 51 (set between 1982-85 seasons).

Lastly, Phillips 239 total yards vs. Delaware (207 passing, 32 rushing), give him 7,076 for his career, which moved him past Chris Hakel's career total of 7,058 yards (accumulated between the 1988-91 seasons) into fifth-place on the Tribe's career listings.

Grimes Time
Grimes once again was the go-to player on the ground for the College, as he slashed out 111 yards on 19 carries. Grimes' afternoon included a first quarter 12-yard touchdown run and he also contributed one reception for 10 yards. The performance marked Grimes' second 100-plus yard effort in the last three games (all in league play) and he is now averaging 86.1 yds/contest and has scored eight TDs on the season (six rushing, one receiving and one on a kick return).

He has rushed the ball an even 100 times on the season for 603 yards and is averaging an even 6.0 yards an attempt.

McAulay's Magic
Junior wide out DJ McAulay continues to find ways into the end zone for the Tribe, as he pulled down his seventh scoring pass of the season on a third-quarter, 18-yard fade pattern.

All seven of McAulay's scores have come from 17-yards or greater this season. He ended the game with URI with three grabs for 33 yards and now has 26 on the year for 417 yards.

Pate's Place
Pate was once again very solid on the afternoon, as he delivered a pair of field goals (37, 39 yards) and hit true on all four extra point attempts. The 10-point effort moved him into a tie with freshman Jonathan Grimes as the team's leading scorer, with 48 points. Pate has now converted seven of his last eight placement kicks and is a perfect 27 for 27 on the year.

Defensive Team Notes
With three interceptions against Rhode Island, W&M now has 12 this season ? The total marks a significant improvement from last season's squad that totaled nine interceptions all year ? W&M has also created 15 turnovers this season, equaling the total posted by the College all of last season ? With five tackles for a loss against URI, the Tribe now has 50 TFLs for 200 yards this season ? The total marks a significant improvement from the '07 season when W&M finished the year with 49 TFLs for 178 yards ? W&M limited the Rams to just 127 yards of total offense in the second half ? Although the Tribe registered just one sack versus URI, the squad now has 17 this season, seven more than the team posted all of last year.

Pick Six ? Again
Junior David Caldwell's 62-yard interception return for a touchdown marked the second time this season that a Tribe player has returned an interception for a touchdown. Senior cornerback Derek Cox returned a pick 45 yards for a score during the fourth quarter at N.C. State.

The last time W&M recorded a pair of pick sixes came during the 2005 season when it tallied two in the same game (against Villanova).

Defensive TDs
With Caldwell's touchdown against URI, the safety now has a pair of touchdowns to his credit this season. His other touchdown came on blocked field goal against Norfolk State. The feat marks the first time a Tribe defensive player has scored a pair of touchdowns in one season since Billy Parker did so in 2002.

Career Day
Redshirt freshman linebacker Jake Trantin posted an outstanding performance for the Tribe, totaling a team-high 13 tackles (nine solo) with an interception, forced fumble and a TFL. His interception was especially big, as he picked off a pass by URI's quarterback Derek Cassidy in the end zone.

The Streak Continues
With a half sack against URI, junior defensive end Adrian Tracy has now recorded at least a half sack in every game this season. Tracy now has seven sacks on the season.