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Capital Cup

American college football rivalry

Summary

American college football rivalry

Field	Value
wide	yes
name	Capital Cup
team1	Richmond Spiders
team1logo	Richmond Spiders text logo.svg
team2	William & Mary Tribe
team2logo	William & Mary Athletics logo.svg
sport	Football
firstmeeting	November 19, 1898
Richmond, 15–0
mostrecent	November 22, 2025
Richmond, 28–21
nextmeeting	2026
total	136
series	Richmond, 67–64–5 ()
largestvictory	Richmond, 48–0 (1907, 1916)
longeststreak	William & Mary, 15 (1939–1954)
currentstreak	Richmond, 3 (2023–present)
trophy	Capital Cup (current)
I-64 Trophy (former)
stadiums	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium
(Richmond)
Zable Stadium
(William & Mary)

Richmond, 15–0 Richmond, 28–21 I-64 Trophy (former) (Richmond) Zable Stadium (William & Mary) | mark-title1 = Richmond | mark-coord1 = | mark-description1 = Location: | label-pos1 = top | label-color1 = black | mark-title2 = William & Mary | mark-coord2 = | mark-description2 = Location: | label-pos2 = left | label-color2 = black The Capital Cup is the trophy given to the winner of the annual college football rivalry game contested yearly between the University of Richmond Spiders and College of William & Mary Tribe. Coined as the "Oldest Rivalry in the South", the series is one of the longest-running college football rivalries in the United States. Only three rivalries in NCAA Division I have more games played: Lafayette–Lehigh, Princeton–Yale, and Harvard–Yale.

History

The Capital Cup is one of the oldest collegiate American football rivalries, played between the University of Richmond Spiders and the College of William & Mary Tribe. The yearly contest is the fourth-most-played game in Division I college football, and through the 2024 match-up has been played 135 times. Though starting six years later than what is more commonly called the South's Oldest Rivalry between Virginia and North Carolina, this rivalry between Richmond and William & Mary was more often played twice per year in its early days instead of just once. In 1905, it was played three times. Played nearly continuously since 1898, there have only been four years that the game did not occur: 1900, 1902, 1943, and 2020. The game had until recently been dubbed the I-64 Bowl, from 1984 though 2008. Beginning in 2009, however, the game was officially renamed the Capital Cup, for which a new trophy was created. The Capital Cup name was chosen to honor the entire 119-game history of the rivalry between the two schools and the status of the two cities as two of the historic capitals of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The match-up is typically played as the final regular season game for both teams, but for many years used to be played on Thanksgiving Day.

The November 21, 2009, game marked the 119th meeting between the schools. The Richmond win placed the all-time record at 59–55–5, remaining in favor of William & Mary. The Richmond Spiders won this inaugural Capital Cup by a final score of 13–10, simultaneously giving Richmond a share of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Football Conference season championship. Placekicker Andrew Howard converted a game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired. Then, in 2010, William & Mary clinched a share of the conference with the Capital Cup win. The Tribe had to beat Richmond and have Villanova upset Delaware in order to share the championship with Delaware, and both of those results occurred.

With CAA Football not playing in fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spiders and Tribe did not meet during a calendar year for the first time since 1943. Instead, the two teams were scheduled to meet twice in the spring of 2021 as part of a pared-down schedule of conference games, although the second meeting ended up being canceled due to COVID-19 related protocols.

On May 14, 2024, Richmond announced they were moving to the Patriot League as a football only member beginning in the 2025 season. The two teams scheduled a non–conference game for 2025, and further announced an extension of the series through the 2030 season. On April 25, 2025, William & Mary announced that were moving to the Patriot League as an associate member for football beginning in the 2026 season, while 20 of their 22 sports teams will remain in the CAA.

Trophy

The I-64 Trophy was the trophy that went to the winner of the annual William & Mary versus Richmond football game from 1984 through 2008. Both Division I schools participate in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The name for the trophy came from Interstate 64, which connects the schools through the short distance between Richmond and Williamsburg. The I-64 Trophy was replaced in 2009 with the Capital Cup, which honors the entire history of the rivalry between the two schools and the status of the two cities as the last two capitals of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Game results

Game MVPs

A Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award was established 2009, coinciding with the rivalry's renaming to Capital Cup.

Season	MVP	Team	Position	Notes
2009		Richmond	Quarterback	Completed 24 of 36 passes (66.7%) for 221 yards
2010		William & Mary	Quarterback	Completed 17 of 22 passes (77.2%) for a career-high 331 yards and two touchdowns
2011		William & Mary	Running back	Attempted a then school-record 39 rushes for 205 yards and one touchdown
2012		Richmond	Fullback	Rushed for 73 yards and one touchdown and caught one 7-yard touchdown pass
2013		Richmond	Fullback	Rushed for a career-high 131 yards and two touchdowns
2014		Richmond	Quarterback	Completed 29 of 40 passes (72.5%) for 291 yards and two touchdowns
2015		Richmond	Running back	Attempted 36 rushes for 217 yards and one touchdown and caught one pass for 8 yards
2016		William & Mary	Running back	Attempted school-record 42 rushes for 219 yards and two touchdowns
2017		Richmond	Running back	Attempted 23 rushes for career-high 180 yards and two touchdowns
2018		Richmond	Linebacker	Converted a 4th-and-4 on a fake punt; recorded an interception near the red zone
2019		William & Mary	Linebacker	Recorded nine tackles (four TFLs), two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery
2020	Game played on March 6, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed the 2020 CAA Football season; no game MVP was awarded.
2021		Richmond	Linebacker	Recorded 11 tackles (0.5 TFLs) and two quarterback hurries
2022		William & Mary	Quarterback	Completed 9 of 13 passes (69.2%) for 227 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 42 yards and two touchdowns on six carries
2023		Richmond	Quarterback	Completed 14 of 21 passes (66.7%) for 152 yards and one touchdown while rushing for a team-high 72 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries
2024	No MVP named

Notes

References

link. (January 6, 2009. Retrieved on November 28, 2008.)
[https://archive.today/20110715183715/http://richmondspiders.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/112208aaa.html RichmondSpiders.com]. "...Saturday in the 118th meeting between long-time rivals at [[Zable Stadium]] in Williamsburg." Retrieved on November 28, 2008.
(October 27, 2020). "CAA Football Announces Spring 2021 Conference Schedule". University of Richmond Athletics.
(April 9, 2021). "Football Game At William & Mary Cancelled, JMU Game Scheduled For April 17". University of Richmond Athletics.
O'Connor, John. (2024-05-14). "Richmond Spiders see 'great fit,' shift from CAA Football to Patriot League".
Kelley, Kevin. (2025-04-16). "Richmond, William & Mary extend football series through 2030".
(2025-04-16). "William & Mary Football to Join Patriot League".
[http://www.1122productions.com/rivalries/r.html College Football Rivalries Q-R]. Retrieved on November 27, 2008.
[http://www.richmondspiders.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111109aaa.html Richmond, William & Mary Rename Football Rivalry As Capital Cup] {{webarchive. link. (June 16, 2011 . Retrieved on November 11, 2009.)
[http://richmondspiders.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111108aag.html Richmond Spiders Athletic Site]{{Dead link. (November 2023)
[http://www.richmondspiders.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/thecapitalcup.html All-time results] {{webarchive. link. (June 16, 2011 . University of Richmond Spiders football. Retrieved on November 12, 2009.)
(March 6, 2021). "Football Claims Capital Cup Win Over William & Mary".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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