Through three games, Tribe defense standing tall

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. But they weren't to a defense that hadn't allowed a second-half score this season and was intent on displaying a play-hard mindset.

Offense frequently has been the name of the game at William and Mary. This year's defense, under third-year coordinator Bob Shoop, appears to have developed into an equally formidable component.

The fifth-ranked Tribe (3-0) goes into Saturday's Colonial Athletic Association opener against visiting Delaware (2-1) having allowed an average of just 14.3 points and 240.2 yards to Virginia, Central Connecticut State and Norfolk State. It ranks 15th and 19th, respectively, in the Football Championship Subdivision in yards and points allowed.

This from a unit that includes several players who surrendered almost 400 yards and 38.8 points a game two years ago.

Credit the evolution to the talent, physical growth and experience of Lissemore and his teammates. Lissemore (6-4, 286), who has added almost 50 pounds during his tenure, senior end Adrian Tracy and senior end C.J. Herbert have started more than 90 games. Lissemore is an all-CAA candidate. Tracy is an All-America candidate.

Credit the mindset to Shoop, who has brought continuity while harping on playing hard every play.

In 2007, Shoop became William and Mary's eighth defensive coordinator in 13 years. Among his coaching stops, he had served as defensive coordinator at Yale and Villanova, defensive backs coach at Army and Boston College, the head man at Columbia, and defensive backs coach at Massachusetts.

Shoop tweaked some of the things the Tribe did in its 4-3 defense, putting more speed on the corners to combat spread offenses. Lissemore calls him an innovator in some of his blitz packages.

"He's a very bright man," he said. "He knows those Xs and Os really well."

Still, Lissemore said the biggest emphasis was the idea of playing "every down like it's the most important down of your life."

Shoop found an immediate model for his players in 2007 when William and Mary was thrashed 44-3 by Virginia Tech.

"You watch a Bud Foster-coached defense, the one thing you come out of there saying is, 'Those guys play hard every single snap,'" Shoop said. "Schematically, we're not very similar to them at all. But that's the mindset we try to get across to our players."

Shoop says he's not sure his group has done anything yet. He knows the Tribe will be tested by Blue Hens quarterback Pat Devlin, a Penn State transfer who is averaging 207 yards passing. Delaware lost to top-ranked Richmond 16-15.

"I'd give them an incomplete [grade]," Shoop said. "There have been moments where we've played at a really high level but not consistent enough to give us a championship-level grade.

"We've got to play a complete game. Who we're going up against from this day forward, we've got to put up a championship effort for 60 minutes."