Game Statistics
LEXINGTON, Va. - Junior slotback T.J. Snelling rushed for 125 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns and freshman Sean Mizzer gained 121 yards to lead VMI over Liberty, 38-14, Saturday at Alumni Memorial Field in Lexington.
Snelling scored on touchdown runs of 16 and two yards as the Keydets rolled up 338 yards rushing, their most in a game since 1996.
VMI raised its record to 5-4 and headed into November with a winning record for the first time since 1981, and notched its most wins in a season since 1982. It was also VMI's third straight win - the first time a Keydet squad had attained such a string since 1981.
Liberty's Dre Barnes rushed for a career-high 202 yards on 24 carries, but it wasn't enough as the Flames fell to 2-6 on the year.
The Keydets never trailed in the contest. VMI took its opening drive 41 yards on eight plays and tallied first on John Bell's first rushing touchdown of the year, a 12-yard burst up the middle. Bell carried four times for 30 yards on the drive, and converted a fourth down play to keep the possession alive.
VMI stretched the lead to 21-0 early in the second quarter when a blocked punt by Derik Screen led to Snelling's first touchdown with 3:37 left in the first quarter, and slotback Kevin Solomon took a sweep into the endzone from six yards at the 7:06 mark of the second quarter.
Liberty got on the board on an eight-play 89-yard drive that was capped by Gus Condon's 15-yard bootleg pass to tight end Jay Cline. A 45-yard run by Barnes to the VMI 16 keyed the drive.
The Keydets tacked on another score two ticks away from intermission by moving 59 yards in three plays. A 45-yard run by Mizzer to the Liberty 14 on the first play of the drive set up a two-yard TD pass from Gibson to Pedro Garcia one play later following a pass interference call against the Flames. It was Garcia's seventh TD reception of the year, and Gibson set a new school season mark with his 14th touchdown pass of the year.
The Flames halved the deficit to 28-14 when senior cornerback Roc Haith stepped in front of a Gibson sideline aerial and dashed 65 yards for the touchdown with 7:16 left in the third quarter.
VMI forced Liberty to punt from its one-yard line on the next Flame possession, and took over at the Liberty 38. Four plays later, senior Matt Maxey kicked a 47-yard field goal on his first attempt of the year to stretch the lead to 31-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Keydets capped the scoring with a nine-play, 76-yard drive that consisted entirely of rushing plays. Snelling scored from two-yards out at the 9:50 mark of the fourth quarter.
VMI held the advantage in time of possession for the third straight game, controlling the football for 34:16 in the contest, including a 21:18 to 8:42 bulge in the second half.
Gibson completed 11 of 23 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown. Garcia led VMI receivers with four catches for 40 yards and one score, while sophomore Greg Carlson caught three passes for 48 yards.
The Flames rolled up 370 yards total offense. Liberty quarterback Gus Condon completed 11 of 29 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown, and Cline and Samkon Gado each caught three passes for the Flames.
Flame linebacker Kendrick Howard led all tacklers with 14 stops, and VMI freshman free safety Robert Mason led the Keydet defense with 12 stops. Junior cornerback Michael Kirk, who returned to action for the first time last week after being sidelined for three games with a sprained ankle, picked off a Condon pass in the endzone with 6:04 left in the game.
VMI-LIBERTY POSTGAME QUOTES
VMI HEAD COACH CAL MCCOMBS
"We knew we were in for a fist fight after watching Liberty on film. What helped us was that the kids went after it early in the game."
"I was a little bit disappointed about the way that we came out in the third quarter and played. If we are going to be a good football team, we have to keep momentum and keep going after it."
"Our defense played better than it had been playing in the past."
"What really helped us today was that our offense had enough ability that when we spread people out, we could run the football."
LIBERTY HEAD COACH KEN KARCHER
"Their (VMI's) offensive and defensive lines handled us across the board. We did not play well on either side of the ball today. They controlled the line of scrimmage, which controlled the pace of the game."
"We were not a good football team today and that showed in the outcome of the game."
POSTGAME NOTES
VMI
- The Keydets reached the five-win plateau for the first time since 1982 (5-6).
- VMI won its third straight game since for the first time since the Keydets won the first four games of the 1981 season.
- VMI boasted two 100-yard rushers (Sean Mizzer- 125 and T.J. Snelling- 121) for the first time since Oct. 19, 1996, when Thomas Haskins ran for 227 yards and Jason White ran for 101 yards in a 28-14 win at Chattanooga.
- The team ran for 338 total yards, the team's first 300-yard rushing game since the Keydets rushed for 350 yards vs. The Citadel on Nov. 16, 1996.
- Senior quarterback Joey Gibson threw his 14th touchdown pass of the season, breaking a VMI single-season record.
- Sophomore placekicker Matt Sharpe kicked his 31st point-after-touchdown (PAT), also breaking a VMI single-season record.
- Lynchburg native and junior outside linebacker Derik Screen saw his first action since the East Tennessee State game (week 4) and finished with four tackles, a blocked punt, and a forced fumble.
- Mizzer's back-to-back 100-yard rushing games were the first by the Keydet back since Thomas Haskins finished the 1996 season with five straight 100-yard rushing efforts.
LIBERTY
- For the seventh time in eight games, Liberty finished with more than 150 yards rushing as the Flames rushed for 202 yards on 24 carries.
- Verondre Barnes had the longest run of his career (45 yards), midway through the second quarter, surpassing his previous-best of 36 yards against Gardner-Webb earlier this season.
- For the fifth time this season and the eighth time in his career, Barnes has rushed more than 100 yards in a game with 202 yards, a new career-high. He is now fourth all-time on the school's all-time 100-yard rushing games list.
- Roc Haith's 65-yard interception return for a touchdown tied an Alumni Memorial Field record for longest interception return (VMI's Ty Williams vs. Corcord on Sept. 11, 1999). The return was his career-long and the team's longest of the season.
