Conference Independent 1990 record 10–3 | AP No. 7 (NCAA Poll) | |
Head coach Jimmye Laycock (11th year) Home stadium Zable Stadium (15,000 cap.) | ||
The William & Mary Tribe football teams represented the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The program was established in 1893 and serves as William & Mary's oldest athletic team. Their long-time football rival is the University of Richmond and their annual meeting is dubbed the I-64 Bowl (later renamed the Capital Cup starting in the 2009 season), so named for the highway connecting the two nearby schools.
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The 1990s were the second most successful years of Tribe football (behind the 1940s) in both terms of winning percentage and by the number of points William & Mary outscored their opponents. In terms of total wins, the 1990s has been the most successful decade.
Three players were drafted during this era. Most notably, Darren Sharper was selected as the 60th overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. It is still the highest overall draft selection, in the modern football era, by any William & Mary player in the program's history. As of April 2014, Sharper is in the National Football League's top 10 all-time in career interceptions. He was a five-time Pro Bowl starter as well.
Four of the seasons in the 1990s saw William & Mary win at least nine games; two of those were 10-win seasons. The 1990 team won a Division I-AA playoff game for the school's first-ever playoff victory. In 1996, the Tribe were outright champions of the Yankee Conference. That same squad finished the year ranked #5 in the final Sports Network poll, which was a then-school record for highest finish ever.
1990
William & Mary were the 1990 Lambert Cup winners. The Lambert Cup is an award given to the best team in the East in Division I-AA. To be eligible for the Lambert Cup, a school must be located in the East or play half its schedule against eligible Lambert teams.
1992
William & Mary finished the regular season with a 9–2 record, but because they chose to participate in their second-ever Epson Ivy Bowl against Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, the Tribe were forced to forfeit their qualification to participate in the 1992 Division I-AA playoffs. The postseason bowl game, due to it being an international match and not sanctioned by the NCAA, does not count toward their win-loss records.