The fifth-ranked William & Mary Tribe will look to extend its season-opening winning streak to four games when it hosts Maine Black Bears in week 4 fixture at Zable Stadium, who will be playing their first CAA road game of the season. Best way to watch PremiumTV only $9.99 today’s FCS game.
This week’s fixture marks the third straight the Black Bears will face a ranked opponent. The conference rivals are coming to the game on the opposite ends of the success spectrum, with W&M entering at 3-0 overall while Black Bears at 0-3.
Game Info
Venue: Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field (11,646)
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Date: Saturday, September 23
Time: 3:30 pm ET
William & Mary vs. Maine FCS Live Stream:
W&M vs. Maine will be broadcast on FloFootball and FloSports App. All W&M conference and home games will stream on FloFootball this season. CAA fans can sign up for an annual subscription for $99.99 or monthly for $14.99. Best way to watch PremiumTV only $9.99
YurView will live stream the game in all Cox Virginia markets, including Hampton Roads (channel 60), Fairfax (channel 74), Fredericksburg (channel 77), and Roanoke (channel 9). The fixture will also be streamed nationally on Cox Sports Television.
W&M vs. Maine Series History:
Both teams will take on each other for the 17th time since the Black Bears’ first trip to Williamsburg since 2018, with the all-time series deadlocked at 8-8.
The Tribe won the first five head-to-head meetings, but the Maine college football team has won the last two and six out of the last seven games against W&M Tribe.
Maine Black Bears Preview
Maine are 2-4 all-time on the road against the Tribe, last winning in 2016 (35-28). They lost their recent trip to Williamsburg in 2018 by 27-20, their lone CAA defeat that season.
Coming to the game, Black Bears are looking for their first win of the season and first CAA victory of the year, having a 0-3 record with a 34-17 loss to Rhode Island last weekend.
Tristen Kenan, who ranks second among FCS freshman rushers with 243 yards this season, registered a pair of touchdowns in a loss to #21 URI. The Black Bears’ defense turned in 8.0 TFLs (most since November 2019), an interception, a forced fumble, and one sack in the loss.
A win would be the Black Bears’ ninth overall in the series, third-straight against W&M, first at William & Mary since 2016, and third overall on the road against the W&M.
Moreover, Maine’s win would be the first over a ranked opponent since March 2021 (38-34 over No. 13 UAlbany in Orono) and the highest-ranked victory since defeating No. 3 Weber State in the 2018 FCS quarterfinal round. It will snap their eight-game losing skid and five-game losing streak.
William & Mary Preview
Dating back to last season, W&M is coming to the game on a pair of school-record winning streaks. In addition to winning its last 8 conference games, W&M has also won eight straight regular-season road games.
With last week’s win at Charleston Southern, the Tribe is off to a 3-0 start for the second consecutive season, which marks just the second time in school history that the Tribe has posted back-to-back 3-0 starts (1997-98).
Team Offensive Notes
* The Tribe has scored on its opening possession in every game this season. Two drives ended with touchdowns, while one produced a field goal.
* W&M has started the season impressively on offense this season. The Tribe ranks 24th in the nation in total defense (409.7) and 16th in rushing offense (217.7).
* Moreover, the Tribe has committed just one turnover – an interception that came in the ending seconds of the first half last week.
* Through the opening three games this season, W&M has utilized a balanced attack, generating production on the ground (217.7) and through the air (192.0).
* Six players on the Tribe’s roster, Darius Wilson, Hollis Mathis, Tyler Hughes, Sean Kendrick, Malachi Imoh, and Andrew Piercy, have thrown at least one career touchdown pass.
Team Defensive Notes
* W&M has one of the elite defensive units nationwide and has started the season tremendously. The Tribe is leading the country in total defense (187.7) and third-down defense (.133) and ranks fourth in passing defense (112.0), fifth in scoring defense (12.3), and sixth in rushing defense (75.7).
* The Tribe has been effective in getting stops behind the line this season; it currently ranked 11th nationally in sacks per game (3.3) and 13th in TFL per game (8.0).
* W&M posted one of the best defensive displays in school history last week at Charleston Southern, where they not only allowed zero offensive points but also limited CSU to just 77 total yards, marking the first time since 1996 that the Tribe held an opponent to fewer than 100 yards.
* In the last two games, W&M’s defense, in addition to not allowing any offensive touchdowns, has allowed just 116.5 yards per game.
W&M vs Maine: Players to Watch
Maine Black Bears
Freshman tailback Tristen Kenan has been a star performer for the Black Bears’ offense. He opened the season with a 108-yard (rushing), one-TD performance against Florida International that earned him CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
Through three games, he has netted 243 rushing yards on a team-best 56 carries and scampered for three of the team’s four TDs.
Senior QB Derek Robertson has thrown all but one of the Black Bears’ passes this season. He has connected on 60-of-103 attempts but has four interceptions and zero TDs.
Sophomore linebacker Darius McKenzie is leading the Maine defense with 26 total tackles (17 solo and nine assists).
William & Mary Football
Senior RB Bronson Yoder and junior RB Malachi Imoh have combined for 83 carries, netting 245 and 240 yards, respectively. Plus, they have combined four rushing TDs.
Junior JT Mayo is the team’s top receiver, who hauled nine passes for 142 yards and a TD.
Junior QB Darius Wilson has completed 42-of-78 passes and has thrown for three TDs and one interception.
