RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond quarterback Bryson Spinner tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Stacy Tutt with 2:52 left to help Richmond pull away and post a 35-25 win over VMI Saturday at UR Stadium.
Richmond won its second straight game and raised it record to 2-5, while VMI dropped its second straight and fell to 4-5.
Before a UR Homecoming crowd of 9,221, the Keydets took an early 3-0 lead on a Matt Sharpe 26-yard field goal, but the Spiders took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter when David Edwards capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive with a four-yard scamper. The senior finished the afternoon with a career-high 75 yards on a career-high 24 carries.
After VMI's redshirt freshman quarterback Jonathan Wilson put the Keydets on top 10-7 with a one-yard run, Spider senior Kenny Dantzler scored his third rushing touchdown in as many games, this a three-yard TD, with 2:31 to play in the second quarter.
VMI squandered a golden scoring opportunity on its last series of the first half. The Keydets moved the ball to the Spider four-yard-line with seconds remaining on the second quarter clock. After driving down to the one with under :30 to go, the Richmond defense stuffed two VMI running attempts before the horn sounded and the Spiders carried a 14-10 lead into the locker room.
The momentum led to a 14-play, 58-yard Richmond drive to open the second half. On fourth-and-two, Spinner completed a touchdown pass to tight end Ben Teufel in the left corner to give Richmond a 21-10 lead with 8:05 to play in the third quarter. It was Teufel's first touchdown of the season.
VMI answered with a 27-yard touchdown run by sophomore back Sean Mizzer to trim the lead to 21-17, before Edwards connected with Spinner on Richmond's longest pass play of the season, a 56-yard touchdown, at 1:46 of the third.
Wilson's second rushing touchdown of the game moved the Keydets within striking distance. When the Keydets converted the two-point play on a T.J. Snelling end run, the visitors trailed 28-25.
The Spiders got more breathing room with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that consumed 6:01 of the fourth quarter clock and culminated on a Spinner to Stacy Tutt 20-yard touchdown. Tutt finished the game with six receptions for 54 yards and his second receiving touchdown of the season.
VMI linebacker Derik Screen led all tacklers with 15 stops, while senior linebacker Philip Janney led the Spider defense with 10 tackles.
VMI converted three Spider turnovers into 17 points. Two of the turnovers came from two interceptions by cornerback Musa Sarki, who now has fout int's on the year and 12 for his career to move him into a tie for third place on th all-time VMI list.
VMI plays Coastal Carolina next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (Excerpts of story courtesy UR Sports Information).
