WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Nov. 4, 2017)—The William & Mary football team was unable to overcome an early deficit against No. 21/19 New Hampshire and suffered a 35-16 setback at Zable Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Trevor Knight and never relinquished the lead.
W&M (2-7, 0-6) briefly narrowed the margin to just a touchdown on a 2-yard scoring scamper by quarterback
Tommy McKee with 11:47 left in the second quarter, but UNH responded by scoring 21 of the next 24 points to pull away for the victory.
New Hampshire outgained the Tribe, 511-379, and piled up 406 yards through the air.
Five of UNH's 10 possessions ended with touchdowns, while the Wildcats punted just once.
Tribe Standouts
Quarterback
Tommy McKee led the Tribe offensively and completed 28 of 44 passes for a career-high 272 yards, while he rushed for 79 yards on 13 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Tight end
Andrew Caskin recorded a team-high five catches for 43 yards, while wideout
Daniel Kuzjak (4-46), wideout
Jack Armstrong (4-41) and tailback
Nate Evans (4-16) all posted four catches apiece.
Linebacker
Nate Atkins led W&M defensively with a game-high 11 tackles, while safety
Corey Parker and linebacker
Josh Dulaney posted nine stops apiece.
Inside the Numbers
New Hampshire scored touchdowns with all four of its trips into the red zone and converted 8 of 13 third downs. W&M was also effective on third downs (7 of 12) but scored just one touchdown on its three trips inside the UNH 20-yard line.
Although W&M outgained the Wildcats on the ground (107-105) and limited UNH to just 2.8 yards per carry, New Hampshire held a 406-272 advantage through the air.
The matchup featured just one turnover, which came on an interception thrown by McKee on the opening drive of the second half at the UNH 34 with W&M trailing 21-10.
The Opposition
Knight completed 25 of 35 passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns, while wideout Neil O'Connor totaled seven catches for 193 yards and a touchdown. Wideout Kieran Presley, wideout Nick Lorden and running back Donal Goodrich all recorded touchdown catches, while tailback Evan Gray rushed for a team-high 55 yards on 15 carries with a score.
Notes
The loss was W&M's first against UNH in Williamsburg since 1998, as the Tribe had won the last seven meetings at Zable Stadium … The contest marked just the eighth time since 2007 that W&M has allowed more than 300 yards passing … UNH has recorded three of those performances (2008, 2011, 2017) … UNH registered four plays of at least 37 yards and totaled 306 of its yards in the opening half … UNH became just the second team to throw for more than one touchdown versus W&M this season (Virginia is the other).
Up Next
The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Towson at Zable Stadium next Saturday at 2 p.m.
