Post by Sly Fox on Sept 25, 2005 18:53:31 GMT -5
I hesitate to offer up this week'd edition of the game preview. Primarily because in the last three operations, our patient hasn't had a pulse. But we forge on with the arrival of Big South Conference play:
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia
1250 Students
Nickname: Keydets
Mascot: Kangaroo
9/3 Beat Davidson 33-0
9/10 Lost to William & Mary 41-7
9/17 Lost @ Duke 40-14
9/24 Lost to Lehigh 28-26
They open the season with three of four games in Lexington dropping all but the opener to non-scholarship Davidson.
QB Jonathan Wilson runs for a touchdown vs. Lehigh
The Keydets enter their showdown with the Flames at Williams Stadium with the same record as LU at 1-3. But they are coming off a near upset of 13th-rabked Lehigh:
www.vmikeydets.com/article.asp?articleid=72621
Nat Jackson - Top Rusher Coming to Lynchburg
The Keydets are without their top rusher in Sean Mizzer so they turned to backup Nat Jackson with mixed results this past Saturday.
Here are their season rushing stats through four games:
S. Mizzer (OUT) - 56 Carries for 257 Yards and 4.1 AVG with 1 TD
N. Jackson - 47 Carries for 173 Yards and 3.4 AVG with 3 TDs
C. Hollingsworth - 17 Carries for 105 Yards and 5.9 AVG with 1 TD
VMI Junior QB Jonathan Wilson
They were given one of their best passing performances in some time this past week by Jonathan Wilson. Here are his season statistics:
J. Wilson - 65-of-100 for 624 Yards with 2 TDs and 7 INTs for a 110.02 Pass Efficiency Rating
VMI Senior WR Zohn Burden
A pair of senior wideouts catch most of Wilson's passes. But interestingly enough, neither has seen the endzone through four games:
Z. Burden - 21 Catches for 214 Yards and 10.2 YPC
G. Price - 17 Catches for 145 Yards and 8.5 YPC
C. Gilliland - 6 Catches for 31 Yards and 5.2 YPC
VMI Senior Linebacker Justin Huggard (#94)
Justin Huggard leads the Keydets defensively. The senior has 41 tackles through four games including 3.5 for loss. Fellow senior linebacker Todd baldwin and junior defensive end Eric Hall lead their pass rush with two sacks apiece.
I hope this helps you to have a better grasp of who is coming to town this week. Obviously, if we can't find a way to score it will all be for nothing. But hope springs eternal down here in the wake Hurricane Rita.
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia
1250 Students
Nickname: Keydets
Mascot: Kangaroo
9/3 Beat Davidson 33-0
9/10 Lost to William & Mary 41-7
9/17 Lost @ Duke 40-14
9/24 Lost to Lehigh 28-26
They open the season with three of four games in Lexington dropping all but the opener to non-scholarship Davidson.
QB Jonathan Wilson runs for a touchdown vs. Lehigh
The Keydets enter their showdown with the Flames at Williams Stadium with the same record as LU at 1-3. But they are coming off a near upset of 13th-rabked Lehigh:
VMI Football Loses Heartbreaker To #13 Lehigh, 28-26
LEXINGTON, Va. - Junior defensive back Julian Austin returned a fumble for a touchdown and picked off a pass with :18 left to preserve a 28-26 win by #13 Lehigh over VMI Saturday afternoon before a homecoming crowd of 6,524 at Alumni Memorial Field.
Trailing by two with no timeouts remaining, VMI took possession at its own 20 with 1:03 left in the game. Keydet quarterback Jonathan Wilson rifled pass completions to Tommy Lloyd for 23 yards and consecutive strikes to Gary Price for 14 yards and seven yards to move the ball to the Lehigh 33 with :28 left. One play later Wilson's pass deflected off Price's hands at the 25 and into the arms of an opportunistic Austin at the 21, snuffing out VMI's last chance for victory.
The Mountain Hawks moved to 2-1 on the season while the Keydets suffered their third straight setback to fall to 1-3.
Wilson logged his eighth career 200-yard passing game of his career and completed 20 of 35 passes for 211 yards.
Lehigh overcame five turnovers and nine penalties to raise its series lead over VMI to 5-3-1. It was the first meeting between the teams since 1978.
VMI took the opening drive and converted a 26-yard field goal by Barrett Way four minutes in the game, but Lehigh answered when Austin scooped up a Nat Jackson fumble on VMI’s next drive and raced 34 yards to the end zone with 6:18 left in the opening quarter.
The Keydets countered with a 14-play, 80 yard drive that consumed 6:46 off the second quarter clock. Jackson blasted in from three yards out to put VMI back on top, 10-7 with 14:32 left in the second quarter. Wilson completed six of seven passes for 68 yards on the possession.
A 57-yard kickoff return by Gerran Walker to VMI 39 set up Lehigh’s final scoring drive of the half. The Mountain Hawks took seven plays to reach the end zone – scoring on an Eric Rath one-yard plunge to retake the lead, 14-10 with 11:41 remaining in the second quarter.
The Keydets closed within one point at the :35 mark before halftime when Way knocked a 23-yarder through the uprights for his second field goal of the day.
Lehigh extended its lead to 21-13 with 5:23 left in the third quarter when Rath scored on on another one-yard TD run, capping a six-play 31-yard drive that was set up by a 62-yard punt return by Greg Petrosky to the VMI 31.
A 10-play, 99-yard drive topped by Rath’s third TD of the day-a two-yard burst, put Lehigh up 28-13 with 14:56 remaining, but the Keydets mounted a comeback when Wilson scrambled for a five-yard TD run on a fourth and goal call with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter, slicing the deficit to 28-20.
Lehigh on the ensuing possession marched from its own 32-yard line to the VMI 17, consuming almost four minutes, but the drive derailed when Keydet safety Robert Mason took a batted Mark Borda pass and raced 90 yards to the endzone to cut the lead to 28-26 with 4:54 left.
The score would be costly, however, as a jubilant Mason executed a flip into the endzone and immediately drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, forcing the Keydets to attempt a two-point try from the 18-yard line. Wilson completed a pass to Jackson, but the sophomore back was halted at the 10-yard line.
Rath led all ground gainers with 118 yards on 19 carries. Borda completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards, but was picked off three times by Keydet defenders.
Nat Jackson, getting the start for the injured Sean Mizzer, who underwent arthriscopic knee surgery last Wednesday, finished with 50 yards on 22 carries. Price led Keydet receivers with eight catches for 80 yards.
VMI opens Big South Conference play next Saturday at Liberty at noon. The game will be televised in the Mid-Atlantic on Comcast Sports Net. Lehigh faces Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
VMI Head Coach Cal McCombs – “Tough loss. A courageous effort on our team’s part. They didn’t back down from a ranked team and the guys went into the game feeling good that they could win the game. A couple of special teams plays hurt us. Walker (Gerran) was a dangerous guy and we challenged him. After he returned that one to give them a short field for a touchdown, we kicked it away from him. The other special teams play that hurt us was the punt return by Petrosky. We missed a short field goal that would have given us three points and might have changed the completion of the football game a little bit. We also pinned them back at the one-yard line in the second half, and Lehigh was good enough to take that ball and go 99 yards for a touchdown. We needed to get off the field early there so we could have some field position to have a chance to score when we have them backed up. On the last drive, I liked the way our guys handled the two-minute offense. Jonathan (Wilson) threw the ball to Gary (Price) and the guy came in and made a good play and the ball bounces up in the air and the game’s over. It went right down to the wire, and I thought it would. It was a tough loss. The biggest things our players have to do right now is get over it. When you lose 40-14 to Duke, that’s a tough loss, but when you lose 28-26, that’s even tougher because you knew you had a shot to win a big ball game as far as the season is concerned. We still have seven games left, and I wouldn’t count our guys out on any of them.”
LEXINGTON, Va. - Junior defensive back Julian Austin returned a fumble for a touchdown and picked off a pass with :18 left to preserve a 28-26 win by #13 Lehigh over VMI Saturday afternoon before a homecoming crowd of 6,524 at Alumni Memorial Field.
Trailing by two with no timeouts remaining, VMI took possession at its own 20 with 1:03 left in the game. Keydet quarterback Jonathan Wilson rifled pass completions to Tommy Lloyd for 23 yards and consecutive strikes to Gary Price for 14 yards and seven yards to move the ball to the Lehigh 33 with :28 left. One play later Wilson's pass deflected off Price's hands at the 25 and into the arms of an opportunistic Austin at the 21, snuffing out VMI's last chance for victory.
The Mountain Hawks moved to 2-1 on the season while the Keydets suffered their third straight setback to fall to 1-3.
Wilson logged his eighth career 200-yard passing game of his career and completed 20 of 35 passes for 211 yards.
Lehigh overcame five turnovers and nine penalties to raise its series lead over VMI to 5-3-1. It was the first meeting between the teams since 1978.
VMI took the opening drive and converted a 26-yard field goal by Barrett Way four minutes in the game, but Lehigh answered when Austin scooped up a Nat Jackson fumble on VMI’s next drive and raced 34 yards to the end zone with 6:18 left in the opening quarter.
The Keydets countered with a 14-play, 80 yard drive that consumed 6:46 off the second quarter clock. Jackson blasted in from three yards out to put VMI back on top, 10-7 with 14:32 left in the second quarter. Wilson completed six of seven passes for 68 yards on the possession.
A 57-yard kickoff return by Gerran Walker to VMI 39 set up Lehigh’s final scoring drive of the half. The Mountain Hawks took seven plays to reach the end zone – scoring on an Eric Rath one-yard plunge to retake the lead, 14-10 with 11:41 remaining in the second quarter.
The Keydets closed within one point at the :35 mark before halftime when Way knocked a 23-yarder through the uprights for his second field goal of the day.
Lehigh extended its lead to 21-13 with 5:23 left in the third quarter when Rath scored on on another one-yard TD run, capping a six-play 31-yard drive that was set up by a 62-yard punt return by Greg Petrosky to the VMI 31.
A 10-play, 99-yard drive topped by Rath’s third TD of the day-a two-yard burst, put Lehigh up 28-13 with 14:56 remaining, but the Keydets mounted a comeback when Wilson scrambled for a five-yard TD run on a fourth and goal call with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter, slicing the deficit to 28-20.
Lehigh on the ensuing possession marched from its own 32-yard line to the VMI 17, consuming almost four minutes, but the drive derailed when Keydet safety Robert Mason took a batted Mark Borda pass and raced 90 yards to the endzone to cut the lead to 28-26 with 4:54 left.
The score would be costly, however, as a jubilant Mason executed a flip into the endzone and immediately drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, forcing the Keydets to attempt a two-point try from the 18-yard line. Wilson completed a pass to Jackson, but the sophomore back was halted at the 10-yard line.
Rath led all ground gainers with 118 yards on 19 carries. Borda completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards, but was picked off three times by Keydet defenders.
Nat Jackson, getting the start for the injured Sean Mizzer, who underwent arthriscopic knee surgery last Wednesday, finished with 50 yards on 22 carries. Price led Keydet receivers with eight catches for 80 yards.
VMI opens Big South Conference play next Saturday at Liberty at noon. The game will be televised in the Mid-Atlantic on Comcast Sports Net. Lehigh faces Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
VMI Head Coach Cal McCombs – “Tough loss. A courageous effort on our team’s part. They didn’t back down from a ranked team and the guys went into the game feeling good that they could win the game. A couple of special teams plays hurt us. Walker (Gerran) was a dangerous guy and we challenged him. After he returned that one to give them a short field for a touchdown, we kicked it away from him. The other special teams play that hurt us was the punt return by Petrosky. We missed a short field goal that would have given us three points and might have changed the completion of the football game a little bit. We also pinned them back at the one-yard line in the second half, and Lehigh was good enough to take that ball and go 99 yards for a touchdown. We needed to get off the field early there so we could have some field position to have a chance to score when we have them backed up. On the last drive, I liked the way our guys handled the two-minute offense. Jonathan (Wilson) threw the ball to Gary (Price) and the guy came in and made a good play and the ball bounces up in the air and the game’s over. It went right down to the wire, and I thought it would. It was a tough loss. The biggest things our players have to do right now is get over it. When you lose 40-14 to Duke, that’s a tough loss, but when you lose 28-26, that’s even tougher because you knew you had a shot to win a big ball game as far as the season is concerned. We still have seven games left, and I wouldn’t count our guys out on any of them.”
www.vmikeydets.com/article.asp?articleid=72621
Nat Jackson - Top Rusher Coming to Lynchburg
The Keydets are without their top rusher in Sean Mizzer so they turned to backup Nat Jackson with mixed results this past Saturday.
Here are their season rushing stats through four games:
S. Mizzer (OUT) - 56 Carries for 257 Yards and 4.1 AVG with 1 TD
N. Jackson - 47 Carries for 173 Yards and 3.4 AVG with 3 TDs
C. Hollingsworth - 17 Carries for 105 Yards and 5.9 AVG with 1 TD
VMI Junior QB Jonathan Wilson
They were given one of their best passing performances in some time this past week by Jonathan Wilson. Here are his season statistics:
J. Wilson - 65-of-100 for 624 Yards with 2 TDs and 7 INTs for a 110.02 Pass Efficiency Rating
VMI Senior WR Zohn Burden
A pair of senior wideouts catch most of Wilson's passes. But interestingly enough, neither has seen the endzone through four games:
Z. Burden - 21 Catches for 214 Yards and 10.2 YPC
G. Price - 17 Catches for 145 Yards and 8.5 YPC
C. Gilliland - 6 Catches for 31 Yards and 5.2 YPC
VMI Senior Linebacker Justin Huggard (#94)
Justin Huggard leads the Keydets defensively. The senior has 41 tackles through four games including 3.5 for loss. Fellow senior linebacker Todd baldwin and junior defensive end Eric Hall lead their pass rush with two sacks apiece.
I hope this helps you to have a better grasp of who is coming to town this week. Obviously, if we can't find a way to score it will all be for nothing. But hope springs eternal down here in the wake Hurricane Rita.
