BOSTON—Jeremy Lin hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in triple overtime, giving Harvard a wild 87-85 win over William & Mary in a matchup of the nation’s two oldest colleges on Saturday. Up until Lin’s game-winning basket, it was William & Mary that had scored the final points in every frame in the contest. It looked like that would be the case again in the third overtime.

They live in a one-story, off-campus house, sometimes drive to class or football practice, and have become close friends. You would think William and Mary tight end Rob Varno might occasionally play the roommate card when he wants a pass from R.J. Archer, right? Varno, though, is too laid-back and has too much respect for his quarterback to lobby or expect preferential treatment.

They might be thinking about it, but you won’t hear William and Mary’s players talking much about the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs or the two-game stretch that confronts them. “The thing we’ve said all year is we want to go 1-0 this week,“ Tribe tight end Rob Varno said. The fifth-ranked Tribe (5-1 CAA, 8-1) has a date with eighth-ranked New Hampshire (5-1, 8-1) on Saturday in Williamsburg. William and Mary plays at fourth-ranked Richmond (6-1, 8-1), the defending national champion, in its regular-season finale.

WILLIAMSBURG - Strong safety David Caldwell was a starter on the 2007 defense that surrendered a school-record 427 points at William and Mary. So you’d better believe the senior is eager to be part of the defense that has a chance to give up the fewest. The Tribe warmed up for its two-game closing that will determine its place in the Colonial Athletic Association and the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with a 31-0 shutout of visiting Towson yesterday.

Virginia Military Institute coach Sparky Woods was glad to see that fullback Howard Abegesah was tired when he got on the bus for the trip back from Clinton, S.C., on Saturday. Abegesah responded to a significantly increased workload as VMI (1-3, 2-5) snapped a five-game losing streak and picked up its first road win since 2007 and its first Big South Conference road win since 2005 by beating Presbyterian 31-20.

To running back Jonathan Grimes, it was almost business as usual. William and Mary’s 24-3 Colonial Athletic Association victory over James Madison yesterday was, of course, anything but that. The fifth-ranked Tribe (3-1, 6-1) cleared another hurdle in its run toward the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs by breaking a streak of five losses to struggling JMU.

Bob Shoop coached at Boston College for four years. He’s certainly qualified as a talent judge at college football’s highest level. Shoop now directs William and Mary’s defense. That satisfaction you can detect in his voice is because he knows the Tribe got a steal in sophomore middle linebacker Jake Trantin. “I told him he could played for us [at BC],“ Shoop said. “He’s a lot like those guys. He runs well, he strikes, he’s got a good nose for the ball. He can blitz, he can cover, he does a lot of good things.“

After averaging 34.3 points in its first three games, James Madison has scored just 34 in its past three. The Dukes were shut out 27-0 by fourth-ranked Villanova on Saturday and crossed midfield just twice, leaving coach Mickey Matthews searching for answers. There’s not many changes he can make at this point in the season, he said yesterday.

Jonathan Grimes rushed for two touchdowns and William and Mary ran over Northeastern 34-14 yesterday. Grimes scored on runs of 55 and 4 yards as the Tribe (2-1 Colonial Athletic Association, 5-1) rushed for four touchdowns in the second half to pull away. Grimes ran for a total of 91 yards. Northeastern (0-3, 0-6) led 7-6 at halftime on the strength of a 76-yard touchdown pass from Matt Carroll to Tony Lott in the first quarter. Carroll was 16 for 28 for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions. Jordan Batts caught six passes for 57 yards, including a 25-yarder for a touchdown for the Huskies.

The improvement, Virginia Military Institute football coach Sparky Woods said, is there. Now, the wins just need to come with it. The Keydets (0-1, 1-3) had a 10-point lead over Gardner-Webb going into the fourth quarter of their Big South Conference opener Saturday. But they couldn’t finish it while absorbing a 27-23 loss. “We were really sad after the loss,“ said Woods, whose team plays at Coastal Carolina on Saturday. “The reason we were so sad is we felt like we very easily could have won the game. That’s not always been the case here. We’re getting better. We’re improving. It’s unfortunate that it’s much easier to show that improvement after you win . . . than if you lose.

Every statistic said “William and Mary.“ The scoreboard said, “Villanova.“ The William and Mary football team had more first downs than Villanova, 27 to 15, ran more plays than Villanova, 86 to 52, and had more total yards than the Wildcats, 472 to 283. But Villanova had more points and claimed a 28-17 victory between two nationally ranked Colonial Athletic Association squads yesterday.

WILLIAMSBURG—They whole is impressive for William and Mary quarterback R.J. Archer. The half is almost unbelievable. Archer, a former wide receiver in his first year starting at quarterback, continued to complete first-half passes with off-the-chart accuracy last night. The senior connected on 15 of 21 passes—including a school-record 91-yard TD pass to Chase Hill—as fifth-ranked William and Mary jumped on Delaware and went on to a 30-20 Colonial Athletic Association victory before a sellout crowd of 12,259 at Zable Stadium.

William and Mary surrendered two fourth-quarter touchdowns in last week’s 27-15 victory over Norfolk State. Senior defensive tackle Sean Lissemore left the field angry. “I almost felt like we lost,“ he said. “We wanted that shutout so bad.“ The scores were meaningless to the game’s outcome.

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary redshirt freshman cornerback B.W. Webb has been selected as the Football Writers Association of America Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week following his memorable performance in last Saturday’s 26-14 upset of Virginia. Webb contributed three interceptions to W&M’s victory. Foremost among them: a theft and 50-yard return for a game-breaking touchdown late in the fourth period.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock and William and Mary upset Virginia on Saturday, the football traveled from the referee to the ballboy, who tossed it to a school official. Seconds later, it was handed to an emotional Jimmye Laycock, the Tribe’s coach. He passed it along to Pat Gantt, who will proudly display the ball in his Sandston home.