LIBERTY GAME NOTES and POSTGAME QUOTES

09/15/07 11:58PM

WILLIAMSBURG - The following notes and quotes were compiled from the W&M-Liberty contest Saturday night:

Game Notes: The Tribe’s double-overtime victory over Liberty Saturday night was the program’s first overtime win since defeating Northeastern, 44-41, in double overtime in 2005 … It was the first overtime game played in Zable Stadium since the Tribe’s double-overtime victory over Delaware in the 2004 NCAA I-AA Playoffs … The win also stands as the College’s first set of back-to-back wins since the 2005 season … W&M improved to 4-0 all-time against Liberty with wins in each of the last four seasons … The win also moved head coach Jimmye Laycock’s career victory total to 180 … The Tribe snapped a four-game losing streak at Zable Stadium as well … W&M won its sixth straight non-conference home game … W&M has now scored 142 points over the first three games (47.3 pts./game) … The 142 points are the most to start a season in school history … Junior quarterback Jake Phillips passed for 335 yards, moving into 10th place on the school’s career passing list … Phillips’ career total of 3,337 yards moved him past David Murphy (1980-83, 3,087) … It was Phillips’ second 300-yard game of the season, having also passed for a school-record 433 yards in the opener against Delaware … Senior tight end Drew Atchison recorded his second 100-yard receiving game of the season, making six-catches for 103 yards and a touchdown … Senior wide receiver Joe Nicholas returned to action for the first time this season and brought down one reception for 17 yards … With the catch, Nicholas moved into seventh place on the school's career receiving yards list (2,144), passing Terry Hammons (1991-95) ... Redshirt freshman Cameron Dohse made his second-straight start and finished the evening with two catches for 67 yards and a score (27 yards) … Junior Derek Cox and sophomore David Caldwell each had an interception in the game, the Tribe’s first two picks of the season … Josh Rutter collected a team-high 15 tackles … Sophomore Max Harris had a career-best 11 total tackles … Sophomore place-kicker Brian Pate connected on two field goals, including a career-long 43 yarder as time expired in the first half.

POSTGAME QUOTES

W&M Head Coach Jimmye Laycock

General thoughts
"It was exciting. I thought we handled ourselves fairly well. Our guys really stepped up and hung in there and made plays. I can’t say enough about the plays Jake Phillips made. He showed a lot of experience and a lot of poise."

"Tony [Viola] stepped in there and ran the ball like he can run it. He played a nice game for us. Drew Atchison also stepped up and played a good game for us."

On general leadership of Jake Phillips
"He showed a lot of poise and led the team well. He stepped up and really allowed us to take some chances and to do some things. He allows us to open it up a little more. He’s not going to force the ball or make bad decisions, and that really helps offensively."

Liberty Head Coach Danny Rocco

"I am certainly proud of my team’s effort this evening. When they got down early, they didn’t give up. We played until the final down and they gave everything they had tonight."

"I credit our kids a lot for their courage," Rocco said. "A number of times we fell behind in the football game, but they played hard and they had great resolve. I think we really believed we were going to win. But we came up short. It's really disappointing."

W&M Quarterback Jake Phillips
"[DeBrian Holmes] played awesome. There were a couple times tonight when he madestuf f happen. He made some people miss. He was awesome, spectacular. [On] the [5-yard] touchdown run he had [in the third quarter], everything was a bust up of the middle, and he bounced it outside. That's just instinct, natural athletic ability. He made some great plays."

"Tony Viola stepped up for us. We know when we give Tony the ball, its going to be hard nosed running. He's not going to get cheated on his runs. He gave us a little more of a spark, because you know he's going to run over people."

"[Drew] Atchison is a great guy to have. A man with his athletic ability, he's such a great player. He has great hands and he's really come into his own this year."

"We stuck to the game plan. We didn't do anything fancy, we didn't run any
trick plays. We just went out there and stuck to the game plan and it worked out for us."

"[Joe Nicholas] looked pretty good, it's good to see him back out there. He's a good target to have and it was good to see him out there. He was excited."