Game Stats
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William & Mary quarterback Dave Corley completed 21 of 27 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tribe to a 62-31 win over VMI Saturday afternoon at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg.
VMI (2-1) suffered its first defeat of the season while William & Mary (1-2) won for the first time in 2002.
Corley's performance overshadowed a strong effort by VMI quarterback Joey Gibson, who completed 15 of 35 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. It was the second straight week Gibson had tossed three scores in the game.
But the Keydet defense had no answer for Corley and the Tribe offense, which scored on all six possessions of the first half on its way to 609 total yards on the afternoon. The Keydets rolled up 458 yards total offense, their second best output by a Cal McCombs-coached squad.
The game started as if it would be an offensive shootout with the Tribe opening with an eight-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard pitch run by Jon Smith at the 8:15 mark of the opening quarter. It was vintage Corley that engineered the drive - completing three of four passes for 50 yards and rushing 15 yards to the VMI one-yard line.
VMI answered when Gibson slipped a sideline route pass to senior wideout Pedro Garcia, who broke free from his defender and raced 74 yards to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:17 left in the first. It ended a VMI scoring drought against the Tribe of over 96 minutes dating back to the 2000 season.
The Tribe capitalized on VMI penalties on the ensuing drive and took a 10-7 lead when Greg Kuehn booted a 19-yard field goal at the 5:25 mark. But VMI answered again when a Kevin Solomon return to the VMI 45 yard line set up a five-play, 49-yard drive capped by Matt Sharpe's 23-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-10 with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter.
William & Mary's offense then broke the game open by scoring on four straight possessions - three in the second quarter. Running back Stephen Hargrove began the outburst with a 50-yard TD sprint up the middle to put the Tribe up for good with :13 left in the first period. The Tribe played long ball on the first play of its next drive when Corley connected with junior Rich Musinski on an 80-yard scoring bomb. A Craig Patterson interception of a Gibson pass that went in and out of the hands of Garcia set up a 27-yard field goal by Kuehn, and the Tribe capped the scoring run on another interception that was batted at the line by end Donte Lewis and into the hands of tackle Wade Harrell, who raced to the VMI 18-yard line. Three plays later, Corley connected with tight end Danny Wade for a 15-yard touchdown pass to extend the Tribe's lead to 34-10 with 2:47 left in the first half.
VMI managed a score :14 before intermission when Gibson teammed up with junior T.J. Snelling for a nine-yard TD pass - capping a 10-play, 65-yard drive on which Snelling had four receptions for 57 yards.
The Tribe delivered the knockout punch with third quarter touchdown runs of 29 and five yards by Jon Smith which put William & Mary ahead, 48-17, with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
VMI would add scores on a spectacular grab by Garcia of a five-yard floater pass in the corner of the endzone, and a Kevin Solomon five-yard run with :41 left in the contest.
Junior running back John Bell led the Keydets in rushing for the third straight game with 72 yards on 18 carries. Snelling caught six passes for 90 yards while Garcia finished with four receptions for 122 yards and two scores. It was the first time a VMI receiver had gone over the 100-yard mark receiving in a game since Kevin Solomon had 115 yards against Wofford on October 6, 2001.
Solomon returned five kickoffs for 156 yards with a long of 58 yards.
Hargrove led all ground gainers with 110 yards on 11 carries.
Gibson moved into the #1 spot in career touchdown passes with 29, one better than Dave Brown (1985-88). Gibson also slipped past Al Lester (1994-97) into the #3 spot in VMI career passing with 3,919 yards. Gibson needs just nine completions for the #2 spot in that career category.
Defensively, VMI was led by senior linebacker Anthony Sturgill and Musa Sarki, who each had 10 tackles. Sarki added a pass breakup.
VMI opens Southern Conference play next Saturday evening at East Tennessee State. Kickoff in Johnson City, Tennessee will be 6:00 p.m. William & Mary will take the week off before facing Delaware at home September 28.
VMI COACH CAL McCOMBS - "I felt we had a shot at them, but we knew we had to play almost a perfect game to make that happen, and we didn't do that. You've got to give credit to William & Mary and the program they have. I give great credit to their offensive line and to David Corley. Corley may be the best who's ever played here. He has poise, touch, and a strong enough arm, and he also makes good decisions. The first quarter was really the only time we were able to get pressure on him, and we couldn't tackle him. Then we went to drop eight and rush three, and he made all the right decisions. I don't know what happened defensively today, but we have to take a look at what we're doing and see if we can get better. I was pleased with some of the things I saw offensively. We didn't score on them at home last year, and today we score 31 on the road."
