FCS Notes

William and Mary not looking ahead

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.

Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said he hasn't put a gag order on talk about the future.

"I just do about the same thing I do every week," he said. "I talk to them about getting better and practicing hard, practicing smart and getting ready for the next ballgame. This week it's New Hampshire. There's really nothing I do differently."

• If William and Mary gets into the 16-team playoffs - which seems to be a foregone conclusion - Laycock said the Tribe will put in a bid to host a game.

"We've made that a policy that we always will bid for a home game if we're in the position to do so," he said.

• The Tribe hasn't been 9-1 since 1947.

• William and Mary has beaten New Hampshire six consecutive times. The Wildcats were ranked in the top 10 the past three meetings.

"They've got most of their guys back from last year's team that went to the playoffs," Laycock said. "They've picked up right where they left off."

Injury leaves starting guard questionable

William and Mary's starting left guard, Chris Sutton, is questionable for New Hampshire. Sutton was taken off the field on a cart last week against Towson after suffering a knee injury.

The Tribe's sports information office said that tests showed nothing major, but that Sutton's availability this week is uncertain. Robert Gumbita, a 6-5, 300-pound redshirt freshman, is listed as the starter on the depth chart.

JMU's Moats sets defensive record

With two games remaining, James Madison senior defensive end Arthur Moats has established a school record for most tackles for a loss (21) in a season. That's since the Dukes moved to Division I-AA in 1980.

Where's Charles Haley, who was part of five Super Bowl champs and one of the top pass rushers in the NFL? The TFL category wasn't kept by JMU in Haley's final two seasons (1984 and '85).

Turnovers still shackling Keydets

Virginia Military Institute had some peculiar numbers last week. The Keydets had eight turnovers - six fumbles - but still managed to gain 335 yards in a 54-14 loss to Liberty.

The Flames had 334 yards and no turnovers.

VMI has fumbled 31 times overall and lost 24 this season. It has been intercepted eight times, an average of 3.6 turnovers per game.

The Keydets lost 16 fumbles (out of 35) last year and had five interceptions.

"It's all about points and not about yardage," said coach Sparky Woods, whose team is at Army this week. "In this case, it was certainly about turnovers. I feel bad for VMI and feel bad for our players because I thought we would have had a much better ballgame. Statistically it looks close, except for all the touchdowns we gave away.

"We've got to somehow stop turning the ball over. . . . We've got to play better." - Tim Pearrell