HAMILTON, N.Y. — As omens go, this one did not look promising. William & Mary's first play from scrimmage started with a bobbled snap and ended with a 6-yard loss.
All that did was lead to a three-and-out. The Tribe answered with touchdowns on its second and third possessions and rolled to a 27-7 win over Colgate Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, New York.
The Tribe finished with 453 yards, its second-highest total in Mike London's 18-game tenure as head coach. W&M had 328 rushing yards, a career-high 117 of that coming from junior Donavyn Lester. Meanwhile, the defense pitched a near-shutout and had four sacks.
"It was another dominant performance by the defense, but this time the offense also did a good job," London said. "We started fast and scored early.
"When you rush for over 300 yards, that's pretty good. And when you've got a back like Donavyn Lester, it makes it easier. The offensive line did a great job as well."
Lester scored W&M's second offensive touchdown of the season on his first carry. Running behind the right side of the line, he was never touched on his way to a 74-yard touchdown. It was the longest run by a Tribe back in 10 years.
Lester came in averaging only 3 yards a carry, but he raised that in a hurry.
"I had a good hole," he said. "The (blockers), especially the wide receivers, were doing their job downfield. It was great to see that.
"What Coach London emphasized all week was the run. When we were on the field or getting water, it was 'just run.' We didn't execute as well as we wanted to the first couple of games, but we got some offensive linemen back and had some key guys out there."
True freshman quarterback Darius Wilson added 59 yards and a touchdown with 125 more in the air. Bronson Yoder, who missed the season's first two games, had 58 yards on seven carries. Redshirt freshman JT Mayo had 81 yards from scrimmage, 25 coming on a touchdown run.
For the third consecutive week, it was uncertain who would start at quarterback — Wilson or junior Hollis Mathis, who is battling an injury but played wire-to-wire last week against Lafayette.
Both were on the field for the first play from scrimmage, with Mathis bobbling the snap for a 6-yard loss.
Mathis ended up being used for his legs (five carries, 20 yards) and not his arm. Wilson completed 18-of-28 throws with an interception.
"There's a list of plays for (Mathis), and those runs that were called were the ones he executed," London said. "There were some other plays he could have thrown. Our goal was to make sure to minimize his reps and throwing the ball (to not) hamper any development for him.
"He did his part. And Darius came in and did a great job. It was his birthday today, so a great birthday present for him."
The Tribe's longest run in its first two games was for 16 yards. Lester nearly quintupled that with his 74-yard touchdown, the longest by a W&M back since Jonathan Grimes' 87-yard scoring run in 2011. In the first half alone, W&M had runs of 43 yards (Wilson), 25 yards (Mayo) and 18 yards (Yoder).
Defensively, linebacker Trey Watkins had a team-high seven tackles, two of them solo. Defensive lineman Nate Lynn had two of the Tribe's four sacks along with a pass break-up. W&M has 10 sacks in its last two games.
What was a dominant win could have more complete. The Tribe was penalized 12 times for 129 yards, most of that coming in the middle two quarters. Eight of the flags were on the offense, including five illegal blocks.
W&M had two touchdowns called back, both coming on the same possession.
"Obviously, that many penalties is unacceptable," London said. "I talk to the team about us having poise. We can't control when the referee throws his flag down. But we can control how we respond and react to that.
"It'll be a point of emphasis going into our next game because this would have been an outstanding game if not for those penalties. We'll get it corrected."
