William and Mary has a quarterback controversy.

Quarterback Michael Paulus continued to struggle this weekend as the Tribe beat Division II New Haven in a 13-10 victory.

The senior, who transferred from North Carolina before his junior season, was 2 of 6 passing with an interception in the first half against New Haven. He is 18 for 48 passing with a 72.2 efficiency rating as a passer this season.

He was replaced at the half by sophomore Michael Graham, who is 9 for 16 passing this season and has a 168.2 efficiency rating.

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“Offensively, we were just good enough to win,” Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We felt we weren’t doing well in the first half, and Paulus was hurting us. Graham gave us a spark and did a good job.”

Laycock said he will use this week to evaluate the two as the Tribe, ranked No. 6 in the Football Championship Subdivision, prepares to host 12th-ranked James Madison at 7 Saturday night.

“Graham has looked good in practice even though he hasn’t gotten that many snaps,” Laycock said. “It’s hard to get snaps and reps when you are trying to get the other guy ready to play.”

James Madison coach Mickey Matthews said regardless of which player directs the Tribe’s offense, he believes it will still be a Tribe offense flavored with a lot of Jimmye Laycock tendencies.

“We’ve been coaching against each other for so long that I know coach Laycock is not going to change a lot of what he does,” Matthews said. “When he does show something new, I want to stop the game and run over and ask him, ‘Hey, that’s a new one?’ “

Politically correct: Delaware romps

Delaware coach K.C. Keeler called it the best week of practice in his 10 years there.

The result: Delaware 45, Delaware State 0.

The Blue Hens have had their arms twisted hard enough by state politicians that they could no longer avoid playing their state’s other Football Championship Subdivision-member school in what will be an ongoing series.

That didn’t mean they couldn’t do some arm-twisting of their own. The result was a lopsided margin and a longer-than-normal trip home from Newark to Dover for the Hornets.

“They were 0 for 10 on third-down conversions, and we pitched a shutout,” Keeler said.

The No. 7 Blue Hens (2-1), who host Old Dominion at noon Saturday, outgained the Hornets 512 yards to 112.

ODU coach frustrated with undisciplined play

ODU coach Bobby Wilder, whose squad is 3-0 and owns the longest winning streak in the FCS at eight games, said his team’s 3-point victory Saturday over Hampton frustrated him.

“We played our worst game of the season against our best opponent so far, and it showed,” Wilder said. “We were undisciplined on defense particularly, and somewhat on offense too.”

The Monarchs were called for four personal fouls and a late hit on the quarterback. A year ago, ODU went through a similar experience when William and Mary coach Jimmye Laycock criticized the Monarchs for a high number of personal fouls.

“I thought we got it out of our system last year,” Wilder said. “Clearly it was our frustration that led to this, but we’re capable of making smart decisions.”

By Rich Radford, The Virginian-Pilot
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/qb-controversy-brewing-william-mary