Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / TNS
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Grant Halverson / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / AP
Ethan Hyman / AP
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Daniel Sangjib Min / AP
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Grant Halverson / Getty Images
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
P. Kevin Morley/Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Andrew Shurtleff / AP
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / AP
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
P. Kevin Morley/Richmond Times-Dispatch
Andrew Shurtleff / AP
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Grant Halverson / Getty Images
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / AP
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / AP
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Andrew Shurtleff / AP
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Aileen Devlin / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Joe Fudge / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ethan Hyman / AP
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Grant Halverson / Getty Images
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
P. Kevin Morley/Richmond Times-Dispatch
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Jonathon Gruenke / Daily Press
Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Sarah Holm / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
Rob Ostermaier / Daily Press
The first start of Shon Mitchell’s career didn’t go as planned.
The quarterback became the first true freshman to start under center for William and Mary since 1975 as the Tribe squared off with CAA rival Delaware.
Mitchell and the William and Mary offense failed to find the scoreboard all afternoon, falling to the Blue Hens 17-0 before 18,721 fans Saturday at Delaware Stadium. It was the first time the Tribe have been shutout since 2011.
“Because we hadn’t done real well on offense, we felt like he had improved, improved and looked pretty good,” Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said of the decision to start Mitchell.
The freshman threw for only 104 yards, completing 19 of 36 passes against a Delaware defense that entered Saturday ranked third in the conference in scoring defense at 16.8 points allowed per game. Mitchell threw two interceptions, including a critical one to freshman linebacker Colby Reeder in the final minute of the first half, which gave possession to the Blue Hens at the Tribe’s 18-yard line 24 seconds before halftime. The pick set up a 35-yard field goal by Frank Raggo to make the score 10-0 at the break.
“We probably didn’t have him prepared as well as we should have and didn’t put him in as good of situations as we should have. He made some freshman mistakes, too,” Laycock said. “I thought he kept his poise out there. He made some poor decisions and made some good decisions. We didn’t help him out either, there are some times we had some balls we should’ve caught. … I’m not discouraged. I know what kind of player he’s going to be. He’s not there yet right now.”
The switch one week after Laycock replaced junior quarterback Tommy McKee, who started the Tribe’s first five games, with sophomore Brandon Battle. Ultimately, he turned the keys over to Mitchell — the VHSL career record-holder for passing yards, touchdown passes and completions.
Laycock said the entire offense needs to be re-evaluated following a shutout, including the quarterback position.
Delaware also had a quarterback making his first career start — junior Appalachian State transfer J.P. Caruso. Caruso threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jamie Jarmon three minutes into the second quarter to open the scoring.
The Blue Hens grew their lead to 17-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kani Kane with 5:52 remaining in the game. The short four-play, 14-yard scoring drive was set up by a muffed fair-catch attempt on a Delaware punt deep in William and Mary territory.
The shutout was Delaware’s first since it held the Tribe scoreless in a 21-0 game back in 2011 — a stretch of 68 games.
William and Mary fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play with a meeting with the defending FCS national champion, top-ranked James Madison, awaiting.
“It’s a growing process — a learning process. We’re a young team and we’ve just got to keep together and not get divisive,” Laycock said. “I think sometimes when things don’t go well, it’s very easy for people to not take accountability but to put it on other people. Everybody needs to take accountability when things aren’t going well.”