Game Statistics
Lexington, Va. - Western Carolina quarterbacks Pat Cilento and Brian Gaither combined for 350 yards passing and four touchdowns to lead Western Carolina past VMI, 35-23, in the final Southern Conference game played at Alumni Memorial Field in Lexington.
Cilento connected on 12 of 21 attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while Gaither was 10 of 18 for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
The Catamount win snapped VMI's three-game win streak and raised the WCU record to 5-5, 3-4 in the Southern Conference. VMI fell to 5-5 and 2-4 in the SoCon.
The loss spoiled an outstanding performance by VMI freshman running back Sean Mizzer, who went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the third straight game with 106 yards and a touchdown, and the Maryland native also caught four passes for 104 yards and a score.
The Catamounts never trailed in the game and opened the scoring with a 13-play, 78 yard drive late in the first quarter that was capped by a Cilento 17-yard strike to Brian Rucker at the 3:33 mark of the opening quarter. Cilento dissected the Keydet secondary on the drive, using five different receivers and completing six of nine passes for 69 yards.
VMI answered on the ensuing possession when Mizzer took a shovel pass and raced down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter.
The Catamounts capitalized on a VMI turnover on the first play of the second quarter to take the lead for good. On a second-and-nine from the VMI 21, WCU defensive end Michale Spicer blindsided Keydet quarterback Joey Gibson at the 14-yard line and forced a fumble which Spicer recovered at the VMI 12. Three plays later, Gaither hooked up with Brendan Roy in the right corner of the endzone for a 10-yard TD pass that put the Cats up, 14-7 with 13:33 remaining in the second quarter.
WCU stretched the lead to 21-7 when a 23-yard punt return by Michael Banks to the WCU 47 jump-started a two-play, 53-yard drive that consisted of a 37-yard pass to senior wideout Chris Lane and an 11-yard burst to the endzone by junior running back Manny DeShauteurs.
The Catamounts opened the second-half with an onsides kick that was recovered by Lamont Reid at the VMI 45. Four plays later, Cilento connected with freshman wide receiver Xavier Godard for a 34-yard TD strike over the middle to extend the lead to 28-7 just 1:48 into the third quarter.
The Keydets halved the deficit when a 38-yard pass from Gibson to Pedro Garcia keyed a 21-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wideout Greg Carlson to cut the deficit to 28-14 at the 6:09 mark of the third quarter. WCU went up three scores on the next drive when Gaither threw a 28-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Chris Lane, but VMI answered when Mizzer dashed 28 yards to pull VMI within 35-21 at the 2:53 mark of the third quarter. The drive was set up by a 51-yard kick return by senior Kevin Solomon.
The game then dissolved into a scoreless standstill with the next nine combined possessions ending in six punts, a fumble recovery, and one possession on downs. A safety taken by Western Carolina punter Chris Vought as the Cats were trying to run out the clock with :17 left provided the final margin.
VMI outgained WCU 453-451 and was led by a season-high 305 yards from Gibson on 18 of 41 passing with two touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Michael Banks led all receivers with seven catches for 79 yards while Lane had four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
VMI produced interceptions by Musa Sarki, his sixth of the year, and DeAngello Plather, but the Keydets also lost two fumbles.
VMI travels to Boone, N.C. next week to face Appalachian State at 2:00 p.m. while Western Carolina has an off-week before taking on Appalachian State in Cullowhee on November 16.
POSTGAME QUOTES
VMI HEAD COACH CAL MCCOMBS
"It was a ballgame of missed opportunities. We turned the ball over a couple of times. We had a chance on the first drive to points on the board and we didn't do it."
"Defensively, I think that we did a good job against their run, but their receivers hurt us and we could not get a lot of pressure on their quarterbacks."
"We were not as sharp as we needed be offensively. When you throw the ball like we do, you have to be sharper in what you do. We needed to throw for a higher percentage than what we did."
"They did a good job pressuring us. Some of the balls that Joey (Gibson) threw well were just dropped."
WESTERN CAROLINA HEAD COACH KENT BRIGGS
"I'm really proud of the effort of our players and coaches. After losing four straight, we've battled to win two in a row. Today's task was even tougher, considering VMI had so much to gain from today's game."
"Give VMI credit. They never gave up and Coach McCombs has done an excellent job instilling that in his team."
"We had two offensive goals today. 1- to score points and 2- to establish the run. We were able to score points and we ran the ball hard, although we did not have a lot of success. We were able to match our athletes to their athletes to our advantage."
"We had to patchwork our defense together because of all the injuries and really simplify things. Because of that, we gave up some big plays. Overall, we did a good job keeping them from scoring."
POSTGAME NOTES
WESTERN CAROLINA
- Junior defensive end Michale Spicer had four tackles for loss and one sack. With that, he established a WCU record with 24 TFL's for a season. He additionally moves to third on the WCU career TFL list with 40 and fourth on the WCU career sack list with 20.5.
- Senior wide receiver Michael Banks moves to third on the Southern Conference all-time receptions list with 181 and fifth on the SoCon career receiving yards list with 2,781.
VMI
- Freshman running back Sean Mizzer became the first VMI player to accumulate 100 yards receiving (106) and 100 yards rushing (104) in the same game.
- Mizzer became the first VMI back to rush for 100 yards in three consecutive games since Thomas Haskins did so in 1996.
- Quarterback Joey Gibson set the school single season record for most points responsible for with 22 touchdowns.
- Senior kick returner Kevin Solomon moved within three yards of tying the school season record for kick returns set by Titus Green last year with 634 yards. Solomon also has 2002 all-purpose yards.
- Senior wide receiver Pedro Garcia moved into the #6 slot in receiving yards with 1,277 yards, surpassing Steve Pancham (1982-85) who had 1,246 yards.
