1978 William & Mary Tribe football team

The 1978 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Jim Root in his seventh year as head coach, William & Mary finished the season with a record of 5–5–1.

1978 William & Mary Tribe football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–5–1
Head coach	Jim Root (7th season)
Defensive coordinator	Ralph Kirchenheiter (1st season)
Captains	Melvin Martin Jim Ryan Tom Rozantz
Home stadium	Cary Field

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
North Texas State		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Navy		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Notre Dame		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Florida State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Temple		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
UNLV		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Georgia Tech		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
William & Mary		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Memphis State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Air Force		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Colgate		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Boston College		–		–				0	–	11	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	VMI	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 10–3	14,100
September 16	at Connecticut	Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 27–3	5,030
September 23	at Villanova	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	W 21–17	9,000
September 30	at Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	L 19–22	34,000
October 7	Temple	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	T 22–22	13,000
October 14	James Madison	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 32–7	14,200–15,000
October 21	at No. 17 Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 0–9	20,193
October 28	at Louisville	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	L 21–33	17,879
November 4	The Citadel	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 12–8	8,800
November 11	at East Carolina	Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	L 3–20	26,231
November 18	at Richmond	City Stadium Richmond, VA (rivalry)	L 3–17	17,500
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game