William and Mary stuns U.Va. 26-14

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Let a team like William and Mary hang around long enough, and they just might start thinking they belong.

Which they do.

A raucous celebration 23 years in the making unfolded in the end zone as the Tribe celebrated a 26-14 victory against the 'Hoos last night.

The rest of the stadium emptied out, save for scattered boos and calls for the head of a suddenly unpopular head coach.

"There will be a lot of negativity out there -- some of it well-deserved," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "We can either crack or stick together."

On a night when the Cavs were supposed to unveil a three-headed quarterback monster, the best signal-caller on the field was wearing a gold helmet.

That would be senior R.J. Archer, a Charlottesville native who steadily managed his team to a field goal-aided victory that linebacker Dante Cook never doubted.

"This is the biggest moment of our lives," he said. "We knew we were going to do this."

Meanwhile U.Va. had to come to grips with a performance that included seven turnovers -- three on interceptions by B.W. Webb -- and countless mental mistakes. Each of their three quarterbacks committed at least one turnover, combining to tell the story of the game.

Senior captain Vic Hall went first, getting off to a strong start with a rushing touchdown. The rest of his day was not as steady, including a fumble when he took off to rush the ball. Rushing was a common trend, as all three quarterbacks tried to make the most of their mobility.

Next up was Jameel Sewell, who had more pocket presence but also threw two interceptions, allowing the Tribe a second-quarter field goal binge. Kicker Brian Pate attempted five field goals, making just two of them, though one of those was a U.Va. block and another hit the inside post before bounding out.

After the Tribe took the lead, the Cavs turned to Marc Verica. He was no better, including a forced fumble in the pocket on pressure from Jake Trantin that gave the Tribe position for another field goal, this one turning the score to 19-14.

"We were all disappointed, but there's nowhere to point the finger but at ourselves," Verica said. "It was a goal and a focus of ours to not have turnovers."

In a mostly silent utility room, Groh said that the performance spoke for itself, refusing to pin the blame on a new spread offense or coaching turnover.

"I'm responsible for what happened," he said. "Clearly we'll need a better performance."

Meanwhile the Tribe can celebrate one of the biggest wins in coach Jimmye Laycock's 30-year tenure.

In light of yesterday's events across the region, it now can be asked without any irony or intended humor whether the ACC really is that much better than its FCS counterpart.

"I thought we just kept plugging along," Laycock said.

And let there be no doubt, on a big stage in front of more than 50,000 people, the Tribe belonged.