MARTIN, Tenn. — Everyone in Hardy Graham Stadium expected UT Martin’s QB to take a knee with only 12 seconds left and secure the victory in Saturday’s game. William & Mary had scored 23 unanswered points in the second half and yet still trailed the Skyhawks by 2 points. Many of the home fans were headed for the celebratory post game hangouts when UT Martin’s passer suddenly dropped back three steps and fired a bullet into the arms of the Tribe’s star CB who timed the route perfectly and ran it all the way back to give William & Mary the 33-28 win as time expired.

Tribe Head Coach Will Rivera gave reporters some key insights on how that last play broke down.

“We had our corner rushing off the edge. Off the hike he realized it was a checkdown behind the line to end the game and he jumped in front of it. We’ve focused [in practice] on getting our defensive backs to learn how to decipher plays by reading the QB’s eyes and it came to fruition in this one.”

William & Mary overcame a 28-3 halftime deficit thanks to the inspiring leadership of their head coach. He had some stinging words for them during the intermission and it was clear they took it personal, scoring the games last 30 points.

“I was real with them, I didn’t sugarcoat the facts. I told them that we looked like the 2016 browns. The boys came out fired up and never stopped working. They had to prove they weren’t a bottom feeder, and they did.”

UT Martin Head Coach Ned Shitshispants was at a loss for words during the post game press conference. He shrugged his shoulders when asked about the last play.

“Blown away that I didn’t kneel. Both coaches agreed to let something crazy happen and for me unfortunately that came true and with a loss. I felt like we let up in the second half. We couldn’t do any thing on either side of the ball.”

Coach Rivera and Coach Shitshispants both confirmed that after communicating across the field following the onside kick, the coaches mutually agreed to play the last down and let the game be decided between the numbers. Shitshispants did keep a positive attitude despite the stunning loss and spoke to the need to remain focused on moving forward with the season.

“But we can’t dwell on this to much. We start conference play next week and have to get ready for that.”

Coach Shitshispants said he would have his team focus on playing a complete game next week.

“I hope that we stay strong through the entire game. I tell the guy there are 60 minutes in a game and every one of them counts. Can’t hold back next week.”

Coach Rivera said William & Mary also needs to be a team that plays the entire game.

“I’d like to start off much better, take the initiative instead of playing from behind. My Week 2 win was a comeback victory as well and I was down by two scores for most of the game. My team has been a second half team but I’d like to be competitive earlier in the game, because playing catch up all game is bad.”

The Tribe look to make a statement as conference play starts in Week 5.

“I’d also like to be more aggressive as I don’t really have any big name opponents scheduled in conference so I have to get my recognition somehow.”

UT Martin falls to 1-2 on the year and is set to face a red-hot Mississippi Valley State in Week 5. William & Mary move to 2-1 on the season and have not released their conference schedule at the time of this writing.