1978 William & Mary Tribe football team

The 1978 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Jim Root in his seventh year as head coach, William & Mary finished the season with a record of 5–5–1.^[1]

1978 William & Mary Tribe football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–5–1
Head coach	Jim Root (7th season)
Defensive coordinator	Ralph Kirchenheiter (1st season)
Captains	Melvin Martin Jim Ryan Tom Rozantz
Home stadium	Cary Field
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Notre Dame		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Temple		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Memphis State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Air Force		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Colgate		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Boston College		–		–				0	–	11	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	VMI	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 10–3	14,100	[2]
September 16	at Connecticut	Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 27–3	5,030	[3]
September 23	at Villanova	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	W 21–17	9,000	[4]
September 30	at Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	L 19–22	34,000	[5]
October 7	Temple	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	T 22–22	13,000	[6]
October 14	James Madison	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 32–7	14,200–15,000	[7][8]
October 21	at No. 17 Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 0–9	20,193	[9]
October 28	at Louisville	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	L 21–33	17,879	[10]
November 4	The Citadel	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 12–8	8,800	[11]
November 11	at East Carolina	Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	L 3–20	26,231	[12]
November 18	at Richmond	City Stadium Richmond, VA (rivalry)	L 3–17	17,500	[13]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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