1986 William & Mary Tribe football team

The 1986 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Jimmye Laycock in his seventh year as head coach, William & Mary finished the season with a record of 9–3 and ranked No. 8 in the final NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll. The Tribe qualified for the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, losing to Delaware in the first round.^[1]

1986 William & Mary Tribe football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 17–51 vs. Delaware
Conference	Independent
Record	9–3
Head coach	Jimmye Laycock (7th season)
Captains	Dave Pocta Dave Szydlik Pinball Clemons
Home stadium	Cary Field
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Georgia Southern ^			–					13	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Tennessee State ^			–					10	–	2	–	1
No. 8 William & Mary ^			–					9	–	3	–	0
Eastern Washington			–					5	–	5	–	0
James Madison			–					5	–	5	–	1
Florida A&M			–					5	–	6	–	0
Northeastern			–					4	–	6	–	0
Western Kentucky			–					4	–	6	–	1
^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	No. 16 Colgate	No. 19	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 42–21	8,620	[2]
September 13	VMI	No. 19	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 37–22	10,100	[3]
September 20	at Bucknell	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	W 30–13	4,760	[4]
October 4	Harvard	No. T–5	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 24–0	13,100	[5]
October 11	at Lehigh	No. 5	Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 44–34	6,000	[6]
October 18	at No. T–14 Delaware	No. 4	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (rivalry)	W 24–18	23,045	[7]
October 25	at James Madison	No. 3	JMU Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (rivalry)	L 33–42	7,500	[8]
November 1	at Virginia	No. 10	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 41–37	35,100	[9]
November 8	Princeton	No. 8	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 32–14	11,300	[10]
November 15	No. T–2 Holy Cross	No. 8	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	L 7–31	17,450	[11]
November 22	at Richmond	No. 9	University of Richmond Stadium Richmond, VA (I-64 Bowl)	W 21–14	19,743	[12]
November 29	No. 13 Delaware	No. 8	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 17–51	5,700	[13]
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game