1985 William & Mary Tribe football team

The 1985 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as an independent during the 1985 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Jimmye Laycock in his sixth year as head coach, William & Mary finished the season with a record of 7–4 and ranked No. 16 in the final NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll.

1985 William & Mary Tribe football
Conference	Independent
Record	7–4
Head coach	Jimmye Laycock (6th season)
Captains	Bob Solderitch Todd Leeson Graeme Miller
Home stadium	Cary Field

1985 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Georgia Southern ^			–					13	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Eastern Washington ^			–					9	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Richmond			–					8	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					7	–	3	–	1
Delaware			–					7	–	4	–	0
Tennessee State			–					7	–	4	–	0
No. 16 William & Mary			–					7	–	4	–	0
Lafayette			–					6	–	5	–	0
James Madison			–					5	–	6	–	0
Lehigh			–					5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross			–					4	–	6	–	1
Florida A&M			–					4	–	7	–	0
Western Kentucky			–					4	–	7	–	0
Bucknell			–					3	–	7	–	0
Northeastern			–					2	–	8	–	0
^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	L 23–30	22,300
September 14	Norfolk State		Cary Field Williamsburg, VA	W 28–15	15,000
September 21	Delaware		Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 17–16	11,500
September 28	James Madison	No. 7	Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (rivalry)	W 31–14	12,200
October 5	at Harvard	No. 5	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 21–14	6,500
October 12	at Virginia Tech	No. T–4	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	L 10–40	38,700
October 19	at Temple	No. 12	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	L 16–45	15,186
October 26	at VMI		Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA (rivalry)	L 38–39	5,700
November 2	at Lehigh		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 31–29	10,800
November 9	at Princeton		Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ	W 33–28	6,738
November 16	No. 9 Richmond		Cary Field Williamsburg, VA (I-64 Bowl)	W 28–17	17,301
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game