In the college football season, the bye week can be a crucial time.
It can give an injured team time to heal.
It can give a struggling team a chance to reset.
It’s safe to say that in Jimmye Laycock’s 39 years as coach of the Tribe, his teams have experienced all the benefits that come with extra time off.
For some strange reason or reasons, his recent teams haven’t been able to capitalize on the break. The Tribe has lost seven consecutive games and 10 of 12 when coming off a bye, and Laycock is 15-14 when he’s had an extra week of preparation.
“The one downside with the open date is if you’re on a roll, you lose the continuity of things. That has always concerned me,” Laycock said. “With football, coaches and players are creatures of habit, and once you get into good habits, you don’t want to break them. Sometimes, an open date causes you to break them, and lose that. That’s one of the things I’ve seen over the years that would be a disadvantage of an open date.”
W&M (3-5, 2-3 CAA) hasn’t played since a 21-10 loss at Rhode Island on Oct. 27. However, the Tribe won two of three before that.
“I hope (the extra time off) helped us get our legs back,” Laycock said. “At this time of the year, everybody’s going to be banged up to a degree. It gave them a chance to regroup, and get a little bit healthier.”
Defensive end Carl Fowler said the break came at a good time.
“For us to have a bye week when other teams are grinding through a game week, that helps us out a lot,” he said.
The status of running back Albert Funderburke (knee), who has missed the past two games, is uncertain. Laycock also said at his weekly media gathering he wasn’t sure if Shon Mitchell or Ted Hefter would start at quarterback.
Tribe will return to action when it concludes its road slate at Villanova on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Villanova, a traditional power, is struggling this year. The Wildcats (4-5, 1-5) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 45-21 win over Richmond on Saturday. The teams last met in 2015, with W&M posting a 38-16 victory in Pennsylvania.
