By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

They arrived at William & Mary on the cusp of adulthood and will be leaving soon as grown men. That's also the perfect analogy for the football program they've helped turn around over the last six seasons.

Linebacker Trey Watkins, tight end Lachlan Pitts and defensive end Carl Fowler were freshmen who never saw game action in 2017. But they were part of a team that lost its final eight games and finished with a 2-9 record. The last season to produce fewer wins was 1961.

Fast-forward to the present, those sixth-year seniors are captains on a team that is one victory away from making history. Never before has the Tribe (9-1, 6-1 Colonial Athletic Association) won 10 regular-season games. And it's been 26 years since it won an outright conference championship.

Going into Saturday's game at Richmond, W&M is in a three-way tie for first place with the Spiders (8-2, 6-1) and New Hampshire (7-3, 6-1). The Tribe-UR winner is guaranteed at least a share of the championship and would win outright if the Wildcats lose at Maine (2-8, 2-5).

All of which must have seemed unlikely five years ago.

"Just the other day, I was looking back and thinking how far we've come," said Watkins, a linebacker who has started 21 consecutive games. "When we were 2-9, I never envisioned us being here at this point with the last game of the year being for the CAA championship.

"I couldn't even think of that back then. It's an amazing way to finish out my career at William & Mary."

Pitts, a tight end who leads the Tribe in receptions (23), yards (460) and touchdowns (five), has that same feeling.

"That 2017 season was arguably one of the worst this program ever had, and now we're in a position to be one of the best teams — if not the best — in program history," he said. "It's vindicating for me and the other guys in our class that we trusted the coaches to bring in the right guys and build the right culture."

The turnaround began in Jimmye Laycock's final season, in which W&M doubled its win total from the '17 season. After Laycock retired and Mike London took over, the Tribe finished 5-7 in 2019 and (after the abbreviated COVID spring of '20-'21) 6-5 last fall.

Now, William & Mary is ranked No. 8 nationally with a playoff spot all but secured and a conference championship there for the taking.

"Winning isn't easy," Fowler said. "The guys who have been here long enough know that putting the work in during the week is what results in success on the weekend. We've come a long way and we know what it's like. Being on the other side of it is a good thing for sure."

Standing in the Tribe's way, at least for this week, is Richmond. And the Spiders have been in that position before.

In 2015, William & Mary went to Robins Stadium a game ahead of Richmond and James Madison atop the Colonial standings. A win would have clinched the Tribe's first outright championship since 1996.

Instead, the Spiders won 20-9. Not only that, they beat W&M two weeks later in the second round of the playoffs.

There was 2009, when UR beat the Tribe 13-10 to win a share of the conference championship. W&M finished tied for second but did make the postseason.

And there was 2008, when W&M came into Richmond weekend at 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference. A Tribe victory likely would have meant a playoff spot. The Spiders won 23-20 in overtime, and the Tribe stayed home.

Richmond's head coach in those last two games? None other than Mike London.

Depending on how things shake up this weekend, the CAA could have as many as five teams make the field of 24 — W&M, Richmond, New Hampshire, Delaware and Elon. With a win Saturday, the Tribe likely would receive a first-round bye and second-round home game.

This will be the 133^rd meeting between these teams in what is now called the Capital Cup Game Presented by C&F Bank. The Spiders lead 64-63-5.

London and Richmond coach Russ Huesman have their footprints all over this rivalry. London was a defensive back for the Spiders from 1979-82 and has been an assistant with both programs. He was UR's head coach in 2008 and '09 and has been the Tribe's boss since 2019.

London has played or coached in 15 games between these teams — seven in green and gold, eight in red and blue.

Huesman was an assistant under Laycock from 1984-97, when the Tribe won 12 of 14 games against the Spiders. He was a UR assistant for five years and has been its head coach since '17.

But put all that aside. Saturday is about something else.

"We've got a rival game for the conference championship," London said. "CAA champion, opportunities, playoffs, home, away … there are so many things wrapped into this particular game. It's fitting that it's the last game of the (regular) season with a lot at stake.

"There's a lot of things that are going on. We're just thankful to be in position to talk about being relevant at the end of the season.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Win or lose, all William & Mary fans will have the opportunity to see where the Tribe's journey to the National Championship will begin by watching the NCAA FCS Division I Football Championship selection show live on ESPNU.  The broadcast will start at 12:30 PM and will feature the public announcement of the NCAA playoff bracket.  All Tribe fans are welcomed to come together and celebrate the team's success at a private watch party sponsored by the William & Mary Athletics Foundation and hosted in the local Williamsburg restaurant, The Corner Pocket.  Now, more than ever before, is the time for Tribe fans to go All In and support the William & Mary Athletics program!