Cavaliers’ opening foe in chaos after Irene With Hurricane Irene approaching, William & Mary students were evacuated from their dorms Friday afternoon. It wasn’t the best way for the school’s football team to prepare for a challenging season opener against Virginia, a team up a level in the FBS.
“It’s quite a disruption here,” William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock said Monday via teleconference. “There’s a lot of damage here, a lot of power down. We’re trying to get in touch with the players that went home, see if we can get them back, see if we can get enough back to practice tonight.”
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School was closed in Williamsburg on Monday and will resume Wednesday at the earliest. Students were urged to stay home Monday — except for those on the football team.
“We have power in our building, so the school’s allowing us to go ahead and have practice,” Laycock said. “Some [players] stayed at apartments here. Some went home. We’ve already got word from several of them who aren’t going to get back tonight because of trees down and other situations.”
Two hours west in Charlottesville, where there was plenty of rain but few lasting effects of the hurricane, coach Mike London confirmed sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco would start Saturday’s game. David Watford will be next in line, ending speculation London would redshirt the true freshman.
“I’m committed to putting David Watford in the game because there’s another skill level he has,” London said of Watford’s threat as a runner.
London added that sophomore left-hander Ross Metheny, listed alongside Watford as backup, was likely to play, too.
For London, this opener has a similar storyline to last season, when his Virginia debut came against the team he coached the previous year, Richmond. London’s first full-time assistant coaching job was at William & Mary under Laycock. The 32-year coach led William & Mary to a stunning 26-14 victory at Virginia in 2009.
“Coach Laycock is very thorough,” London said. “He has a smart IQ for football.”
