FCS notes

W&M avoided talk of letdown

William and Mary football coach Jimmye Laycock didn't really address the topic of a letdown against Central Connecticut State last week.

The Tribe upset Virginia 26-14 in its opener. While Laycock thought his team played "OK" against Central Connecticut State, it was able to roll 33-14.

"Well, we went back and practiced," he said. "I don't know if we did anything different than we would have done if we had not won at Virginia. . . . I thought our guys handled it very, very well.

"I think something like that, if you go on and on about it, you're putting that thought in their mind as opposed to, 'Let's just go back to work. That's a great win. Now let's get another win.'"

William and Mary, which plays at Norfolk State this week, will try to run its record to 3-0 for the first time since 1998. The Tribe is ranked fifth in The Sports Network poll, the highest it has been ranked since it was No.3 in 2004.

JMU will continue to use two QBs

Drew Dudzik got most of the playing time at quarterback for James Madison in Saturday's 38-35 overtime loss to Maryland. But JMU coach Mickey Matthews said he will continue to play Dudzik and Justin Thorpe this week against Virginia Military Institute.

Dudzik, a junior who backed up Rodney Landers last season, was 9 of 15 for 141 yards and two touchdowns passing. He also had 112 yards and a TD rushing.

Thorpe, a redshirt freshman from Varina, was 1 of 2 passing for 8 yards. He had eight carries for 48 yards.

"We're going to continue to let both of them play and go from there," Matthews said. "As long as both guys are playing good, it's really not an issue on our team."

Matthews also said free safety Griff Yancey (Hermitage) probably would not play against VMI because of a bruised clavicle.

Security issues foremost at VMI

VMI coach Sparky Woods expects his team to be "a little more reckless" with the way it handles the ball because of the risky nature of the pitches involved in the Keydets' option-based attack.

Still, he expects a little less recklessness once ball carriers have the ball in their hands. VMI, idle this past week, lost three fumbles in a 14-13 victory in its opener against Robert Morris.

"As we looked at the film, it didn't look like as many of the turnovers came as a result of the nature of our offense as much as it was the carelessness once we had it tucked away," he said.

"Those are things we should improve on. We've worked hard on ball security and the fundamentals of that. We stressed it as we do each day."

Liberty's Beecher may play this week

Liberty coach Danny Rocco said quarterback Tommy Beecher, who got his bell rung in the first half last week against North Carolina Central, has shown improvement and may be able to play against Lafayette.

Beecher was groggy after taking a knee to the helmet.

"He wasn't seeing real clearly, and we noticed it when we were sending some signals in," Rocco said. "We pulled him aside and came to the realization we needed to clear the cobwebs out."

Backup quarterback Mike Brown, a starting wide receiver, was 10 of 12 for 71 yards and a TD in the 35-10 victory. - Tim Pearrell