The turning point in a football game usually doesn't occur on the opening series of the afternoon.

The Colonial Athletic Association meeting yesterday between William and Mary and Villanova might have been an exception.

The Tribe took the opening kickoff and drove down the field behind backup quarterback R.J. Archer, only to have a 32-yard field-goal attempt blocked.

No. 14 Villanova proceeded to score 35 unanswered points in the first half and held on for a 38-28 victory before a Parents Day crowd of 10,632 at Zable Stadium.

"It's something you don't expect happening," W&M coach Jimmye Laycock said of the first series "You're rocking and rolling and all of a sudden, bam, right in the mouth: Whoa, they blocked our field goal. We didn't get three points out of that.

"You've got to be able to come back and we didn't. We didn't respond very well."

At least not until the final minute of the opening half, when freshman Jonathan Grimes returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown; or the second half, when Archer passed for 232 of his career-high 307 yards.

"If we come down and get at least a field goal out of that, it changes the whole momentum," said Archer, who ran for a pair of TDs and passed for another score in place of injured starter Jake Phillips (foot).

The Wildcats (2-0, 4-1), who were coming off a victory over then-No. 1 Richmond, went 71 yards after blocking the field-goal attempt by Brian Pate and registered the first of five straight TDs to remove most of the suspense.

Villanova scored twice in 49 seconds early in the second quarter -- the third TD coming after a fumble by Grimes was recovered at W&M's 32. A blocked punt led to another Wildcats' TD.

"They were playing well and we were self-destructing," Laycock said. "That's not a good combination."

Grimes' dash down the field in the closing minute seemed to give the Tribe a lift, and they blocked a field-goal try on the final play of the half. A 44-yard TD pass from Archer to wideout Elliott Mack on W&M's first possession of the second half made it 35-14.

The Tribe's defense, which couldn't stop the passing of QB Chris Whitney (186 yards and three TDs) and the running of Aaron Ball (137 yards and a TD) in the opening half, was able to contain the Villanova offense after intermission.

"We came out flat," said W&M linebacker Josh Rutter. "I don't have a reason for it. I think they had something like 17 or 18 first downs at halftime. We hadn't been giving up that many in a game, let alone one half. It was frustrating."

W&M (0-1, 2-2) got a little closer when Archer ran in from 3 yards out early in the fourth period, but the Wildcats went up 38-21 on a 23-yard field goal by Joe Marcoux with 6:15 left.

A 6-yard scramble by Archer at 4:20 sliced the Tribe's deficit to 10 points. However, the Wildcats recovered an onsides kick to wrap it up.

So the Tribe wasted the showings by Archer and Grimes, who caught six passes for 105 yards and accounted for a freshman record 324 all-purpose yards.

"We came back in the second half and competed. Made some plays and made a game of it," Laycock said. "Hopefully, we'll take something from the second half, build on it and get better."

W&M goes to No. 5 New Hampshire (1-0, 4-0) on Saturday for a noon CAA matchup.

Villanova ------------------------- 7 28 0 3--38
William & Mary ------------------------- 0 7 7 14--28
First Quarter

Vill--Pimm 5 pass from Whitney (Marcoux kick), 7:42.
Second Quarter

Vill--Doss 15 pass from Whitney (Marcoux kick), 12:52.

Vill--Ball 32 run (Marcoux kick), 12:03.

Vill--Whitney 1 run (Marcoux kick), 8:24.

Vill--Szczur 11 pass from Whitney (Marcoux kick), :51.

WM--Grimes 97 kickoff return (Pate kick), :37.
Third Quarter

WM--Mack 44 pass from Archer (Pate kick), 12:52.
Fourth Quarter

WM--Archer 3 run (Pate kick), 11:50.

Vill--FG Marcoux 23, 6:15.

WM--Archer 6 run (Pate kick), 4:20.

A--10,632.
Vill

W&M
First downs-------------------------27

17
Return yards-------------------------49

41
Punts-Avg.-------------------------6-36.8

7-36.4
Rushes-yards-------------------------54-255

22-76
Passing yards-------------------------186

307
Comp-Att-Int-------------------------20-27-0

21-37-1
Fumbles-lost-------------------------1-0

1-1
Penalties-yards-------------------------5-32

4-29
Time of possession-------------------------36:36

23:24
RUSHING

Villanova (54-255) , Ball 22-137, Whitney 19-60, Szczur 5-34, Babbaro 5-23, Reynolds 1-5, Team 2-(minus 4). W&M (22-76) , Grimes 11-58, Archer 8-10, Marriner 1-5, Holmes 2-3.
PASSING

Villanova (20-27-0--186) , Whitney 20-27-0-186. W&M (21-37-1--307) , Archer 21-37-1-307.
RECEIVING

Villanova , Szczur 7-78, Atkinson 5-27, Reynolds 2-36, Harvey 2-14, Doss 1-15, Babbaro 1-6, Pimm 1-5, White 1-5. W&M , Grimes 6-105, Varno 6-58, C.Hill 4-37, Mack 3-83, McAulay 2-24.
TACKLES

Villanova: Osunde 7, Dempsey 6, Kirkland 5, Maldonado 4, Koroma 4, Miller 3, Wade 3, Dalessandro 3, Thomas 3, Young 3, Ventrone 2, Kukucka 2, Potts 2, Murrell, Matusz, Rodriguez, Moody, Nelson. W&M: Rutter 15, Trantin 9, Cottingham 7, Caldwell 5, Houff 4, Lissemore 4, Tracy 4, Livingston 3, Herbert 3, Pigram 3, Robertson 2, Archer 2, Johnson 2, Hyde 2, Downey 2, Alvarado 2, Stover, Reyher, Alexander, O'Brien, Cox, Pradhanang, Hill.
SACKS

Villanova: Miller. W&M: Hyde, Lissemore ½, Tracy ½.
INTERCEPTIONS

Villanova: Ventrone.
FUMBLE RECOVERY

Villanova: Maldonado.