VMI–William & Mary football rivalry

The VMI–William & Mary football rivalry between the VMI Keydets and the William & Mary Tribe is a match-up between two historic public universities, the Virginia Military Institute and the College of William and Mary, in the state of Virginia. While the rivalry has lost intensity since William & Mary departed from the Southern Conference in 1977, the Tribe and Keydets maintain the series through frequent non-conference match-ups. The series is the second-longest for William & Mary (after the Capital Cup with Richmond), and the longest for VMI at 88 games. The football series began in 1905 and has been played a total of 89 times as of 2024.

VMI–William & Mary football rivalry

VMI Keydets William & Mary Tribe
First meeting	October 28, 1905 VMI 23 – W&M 0
Latest meeting	August 29, 2024 W&M 41 – VMI 7
Next meeting	September 4, 2027
Statistics
Meetings total	89
All-time series	W&M leads, 54–33–2
Largest victory	VMI, 66–0 (1916)
Longest win streak	W&M, 26 (1986–present)
Current win streak	W&M, 26 (1986–present)

150km
100miles

William & Mary

VMI

  

Locations of VMI and William & Mary

History

The College of William and Mary was founded in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1693, and the Virginia Military Institute was founded in 1839 in Lexington, Virginia. The VMI Keydets football team was established in 1891, and the William & Mary team was founded two years later in 1893. VMI has hosted its home games in Lexington on the Parade Ground, Alumni Field, and the current Alumni Memorial Field, which was constructed in 1962. William & Mary has hosted all of its home contests in Williamsburg at Zable Stadium (known as Cary Field until 1989). The game has also been played in Richmond, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Roanoke, Virginia as well as Bluefield, West Virginia (Mitchell Stadium).

Previously, the game was a conference match up when VMI and William & Mary were both members of the Southern Conference from 1936 until 1976. William & Mary then became an independent before joining the Yankee Conference in 1993. It has since been a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for football, and is currently part of the Colonial Athletic Association. VMI remained a member of the Southern Conference until 2001 before leaving for the Big South Conference. The Keydets, however, moved back to the Southern Conference in 2013.

The two teams have scheduled a four-game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2024.

Game results

VMI victories

William & Mary victories

Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	October 28, 1905	Lexington, VA	VMI	23–0
2	October 5, 1907	Lexington, VA	VMI	58–0
3	October 3, 1908	Lexington, VA	VMI	21–0
4	October 9, 1909	Lexington, VA	VMI	6–0
5	October 15, 1910	Lexington, VA	VMI	33–0
6	October 4, 1913	Lexington, VA	VMI	33–3
7	October 10, 1914	Lexington, VA	VMI	38–0
8	October 2, 1915	Lexington, VA	VMI	19–6
9	October 7, 1916	Lexington, VA	VMI	66–0
10	October 7, 1917	Lexington, VA	VMI	53–0
11	October 10, 1919	Richmond, VA	VMI	21–3
12	November 5, 1932	Norfolk, VA	William & Mary	20–7
13	November 4, 1933	Norfolk, VA	William & Mary	14–0
14	November 3, 1934	Norfolk, VA	VMI	13–6
15	November 2, 1935	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	19–0
16	November 7, 1936	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	21–0
17	October 2, 1937	Norfolk, VA	VMI	20–9
18	October 22, 1938	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	14–0
19	November 2, 1940	Lexington, VA	Tie	0–0
20	November 8, 1941	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	21–0
21	November 14, 1942	Norfolk, VA	#15 William & Mary	27–6
22	November 18, 1944	Portsmouth, VA	William & Mary	26–0
23	October 20, 1945	Richmond, VA	William & Mary	13–9
24	October 26, 1946	Williamsburg, VA	#18 William & Mary	41–0
25	November 8, 1947	Williamsburg, VA	#15 William & Mary	28–20
26	October 9, 1948	Norfolk, VA	William & Mary	31–0
27	October 8, 1949	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	54–6
28	September 23, 1950	Roanoke, VA	VMI	25–19
29	October 6, 1951	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	20–7
30	September 20, 1952	Roanoke, VA	William & Mary	34–13
31	November 7, 1953	Roanoke, VA	VMI	20–19
32	November 6, 1954	Roanoke, VA	VMI	21–0
33	October 29, 1955	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	20–13
34	November 3, 1956	Lynchburg, VA	VMI	20–6
35	October 19, 1957	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	14–13
36	October 11, 1958	Bluefield, WV	Tie	6–6
37	October 17, 1959	Norfolk, VA	VMI	26–7
38	September 17, 1960	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	33–21
39	October 28, 1961	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	14–7
40	October 27, 1962	Lexington, VA	VMI	6–0
41	November 2, 1963	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	26–6
42	September 19, 1964	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	14–12
43	September 18, 1965	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	32–21
44	October 29, 1966	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	22–15
45	October 7, 1967	Richmond, VA	William & Mary	33–28

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
46	October 26, 1968	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	20–10
47	October 25, 1969	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	25–17
48	October 17, 1970	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	24–10
49	October 23, 1971	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	12–7
50	October 21, 1972	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	31–3
51	October 27, 1973	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	45–14
52	October 26, 1974	Lexington, VA	VMI	31–20
53	November 8, 1975	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	13–7
54	September 11, 1976	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	34–20
55	September 10, 1977	Lexington, VA	VMI	23–13
56	September 9, 1978	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	10–3
57	September 8, 1979	Lexington, VA	VMI	7–3
58	September 13, 1980	Williamsburg, VA	VMI	13–10
59	September 26, 1981	Lexington, VA	VMI	31–14
60	September 18, 1982	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	24–12
61	September 10, 1983	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	28–14
62	September 8, 1984	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	24–13
63	October 26, 1985	Lexington, VA	VMI	39–38
64	September 13, 1986	Williamsburg, VA	#19 William & Mary	37–22
65	October 31, 1987	Norfolk, VA	William & Mary	17–6
66	September 10, 1988	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	30–7
67	September 16, 1989	Lexington, VA	#20 William & Mary	24–17
68	October 13, 1990	Norfolk, VA	#16 William & Mary	59–47
69	October 12, 1991	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	40–26
70	September 12, 1992	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	21–6
71	October 2, 1993	Norfolk, VA	#18 William & Mary	49–6
72	September 24, 1994	Williamsburg, VA	#8 William & Mary	45–7
73	September 30, 1995	Lexington, VA	#18 William & Mary	27–7
74	September 14, 1996	Williamsburg, VA	#23 William & Mary	40–21
75	September 13, 1997	Lexington, VA	#3 William & Mary	41–12
76	September 12, 1998	Williamsburg, VA	#13 William & Mary	49–0
77	October 13, 1999	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	35–14
78	September 9, 2000	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	55–15
79	September 8, 2001	Lexington, VA	#17 William & Mary	34–0
80	September 14, 2002	Williamsburg, VA	#18 William & Mary	62–31
81	September 13, 2003	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	34–24
82	September 25, 2004	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	42–6
83	September 10, 2005	Lexington, VA	#11 William & Mary	41–7
84	September 23, 2006	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	38–6
85	September 8, 2007	Lexington, VA	William & Mary	63–16
86	September 13, 2008	Williamsburg, VA	William & Mary	52–17
87	September 11, 2010	Williamsburg, VA	#11 William & Mary	45–0
88	September 10, 2011	Lexington, VA	#5 William & Mary	24–7
89	August 29, 2024	Williamsburg, VA	#15 William & Mary	41–7
Series: William & Mary leads 54–33–2

• Source: Tribe Athletics

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games