BOX SCORE

LEXINGTON, Va. - Senior quarterback Joey Gibson completed 19 of 26 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another to lead VMI past Davidson, 41-16, Saturday at Alumni Memorial Field in Lexington.

The Keydets piled up 558 yards total offense - the most ever under a Cal McCombs coached squad, and moved to 2-0 on the season, their best start since 1981. It was the season opener for the Wildcats.

Junior slotback T.J. Snelling rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass, and senior running back John Bell led VMI in rushing with 91 yards on 11 carries.

VMI, which never trailed in the contest, took the opening possession 63 yards in nine plays and capped it with a one-yard Gibson plunge at the 11:55 mark to take a 7-0 lead. Gibson added touchdown passes of eight yards to Zohn Burden and 21 yards to Snelling to boost the lead to 21-0 with 13:00 left in the second quarter.

The Keydets would tack on another score 3:50 before halftime before Snelling took a pitch 63 yards down the right sideline for a score to make it 28-0.

Davidson opened the scoring in the second half when quarterback Paul Nichols engineered a five-play, 65-yard drive capped by his eight yard keeper to the endzone with 11:01 left in the third quarter.

VMI responded by marching 72 yards in nine plays, and took a 34-7 advantage when Gibson connected with senior wideout Pedro Garcia on a 12-yard slant at the 6:44 mark.

Nichols lofted a 24-yard scoring strike to Randall Harvey to cut the VMI lead to 34-13 with 11:24 remaining in the fourth, but the Keydets responded on the ensuing drive moving 80 yards in 12 plays - reaching the end zone on a Snelling three-yard run.

Garcia finished with six catches for 92 yards to lead the VMI receiving corps, while Wildcat receiver Mike Chase caught six passes for 79 yards.

The Keydets were led defensively by senior outside linebacker Mike Bradley with 10 total tackles while sophomore outside backer Derik Screen finished six tackles and two sacks for -15 yards. Senior tackle Matt had two tackles-for-loss including one sack and a forced fumble. Junior cornerback Musa Sarki intercepted his second pass of the year and returned it 34 yards in the first half.

Tackle Ryan Tennis had three tackles for loss (two sacks) for Davidson.

VMI faces William & Mary next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while Davidson returns home to host Jacksonville at 1:00 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES
- This is VMI's first 2-0 start since 1981.
- VMI punter Brent Barth moved into second place on VMI's all-time punt list with 218.
- VMI quarterback Joey Gibson is now second in VMI history in touchdown passes (26).
- The 41 points given up by Davidson is the most in an opening game since 1984 (Western Carolina, 45).
- The 558 yards of total offense by VMI was the most in the Cal McCombs era. The previous high was 398 vs. The Citadel on Nov. 11, 2000.
- The 41 points scored by VMI was the most scored by the Keydets since a 41-21 win over the Citadel on Nov. 11, 2000.
- The three touchdowns scored by T.J. Snelling were the most scored by a VMI player since Teray Frost scored three TD's in the 2000 Citadel game.
- This was the Joey Gibson's second three-touchdown pass game of his career. He also threw three TD's vs. East Tennessee State on Nov. 22, 2001 (Thanksgiving Day).

VMI HEAD COACH CAL MCCOMBS

"It feels good to be 2-0. I thought that we played a really good first half of football. In the second half, we came out a little lethargic and didn't put the game totally away."

"I was really disappointed that we turned the ball over (twice in the second half). We really have been stressing (the lack of) turnovers."

"You've got to give the Davidson kids credit. They came out in the second half and kept playing."

"Looking at our football team now as compared to two years ago, I think we are alot better as a team."

"We had an opportunity to use some of our younger kids so that we could develop some depth on our team."

DAVIDSON HEAD COACH MIKE TOOP

"I told our players we got outcoached and outplayed. (VMI head coach Cal) McCombs did a terrific job of preparing his team for today's game."

"What hurt is that when we had opportunities to make plays. We simply didn't."

"We had a great goal-line stand after the blocked punt. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalize on that momentum."