The Game
The Pirates will celebrate Senior Day as Hampton (5-4, 3-3) face off with William & Mary (5-4, 3-3) at Armstrong Stadium.
The Tribe was picked to win the CAA championship and the Pirates were a near-unanimous choice to finish last in the CAA preseason coach's poll. The teams come into the game with identical records.
A year ago, the Pirates posted a 1-7 record in league play in their inaugural season in the conference while recording a 4-7 overall mark.
The Pirates come into the game with William & Mary riding the crest of a two-game winning streak with a 26-24 triumph over longtime rival North Carolina A&T for Homecoming on Oct. 28 and a 45-38 come-from-behind win at Maine on Nov. 4. Hampton ha shown the ability to win the close games.
In the Nov. 4 against Maine, running back
Elijah Burris was named CAA Offensive Player of the Week. Burris rushed for a career-high 173 yards and a career-best four touchdowns on only 14 carries (12.4 ypc) at Maine.
Burris ranks second in the CAA in rushing with 114.7 yards per game. He has 803 rushing yards in seven games, needing 197 yards in the season's final two games to reach the 1,000-yard plateau. The junior would become the 19th Pirate to rush for 1,000 yards and the first since Shai McKenzie rushed for 1,214 yards in 2019.
The game pits Hampton's potent running attack, tops in the league with 236.7 yards per game, against a Tribe defense that yields just 141.1 ypg, fifth best in the CAA. In addition to Burris, running back
Darran Butts (82.1 ypg) and quarterback
Chris Zellous (61.5 ypg) give the Pirates a diverse running attack.
The stingy William & Mary defense is first in the CAA in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 18.6 ppg first in pass defense (150.6 ypg), and first in total defense (291.7 ypg). On offense, the Tribe ranks 13th in the conference in scoring with 20.2 ppg.
Senior linebacker
Qwahsin Townsel is Hampton's top defensive player. He averages 8.9 tackles per outing and teammate
DeAndre Faulk has 6.0 stops per game.
William & Mary's talented defense has three players among the conference leaders in tackles including linebacker Kevin Jarrell (6.7 tpg), linebacker Saih Jones (5.7 tpg) and defensive back Marcus Barnes (5.4 tpg).
An often-overlooked strength of the 2023 squad is placekicker
Brian Csehoski. He has converted all five of his field goal attempts and is a perfect 16-of-16 on PATs.
A win for the Pirates would lift the Pirates to 6-4 and guarantee a winning record which would be Hampton's first since 2018 when Hampton finished 7-3 in Prunty's first year at the helm.
