Lexington, Va.- VMI scored 21 unanswered points on three straight possessions in the second half to pull away from Norfolk State and defeat the Spartans, 34-9, before a Parents' Weekend crowd of 7,840 Saturday in Lexington. It was the first football meeting between the two schools.

VMI sophomore running back Sean Mizzer rushed for 104 yards on 17 carries, and sophomore wideout Zohn Burden caught five passes for 124 yards and a touchdown to help the Keydets even their record at 2-2. Norfolk State fell to 1-2.

Leading 13-3 at the half, VMI capitalized on a fumbled pitch by Spartan running back back Monte Anthony that was recovered by freshman defensive end Eric Hall at the NSU 17. VMI quarterback Jonatahn Wilson hit receiver Greg Carlson for a 16-yard pick up on the first play of the drive, and one play later, Wilson sneaked into the endzone to extend VMI's lead to 20-3 with 5:56 left in the third quarter.

A 41-yard pass play to Burden, VMI's longest pass play of the young season, keyed a nine-play, 67-yard drive on VMI's next possession that was capped by a 13-yard sweep run by sophomore slotback Gary Price. Matt Sharpe's extra-point pushed the lead to 27-3 with :14 left in the third quarter.

After forcing NSU to punt, the Keydets assumed their biggest lead of the game when they engineered a three-play, 62-yard drive highlighted by a leaping 38-yard TD reception by Burden in the right corner of the endzone. A Mizzer 17-yard run on the first play of the drive moved the ball into NSU territory. VMI led 34-3 with 9:22 left.

The Spartans found the endzone when Terrell Johnson scored on a 44-yard draw play with 2:53 remaining in the contest.

Wilson completed 11 of 18 passes for 124 yards and was not intercepted. Senior slotback T.J. Snelling finished with 76 yards on nine carries and one touchdown.

Sharpe opened the scoring in the game with a 31-yard field goal with 10:21 left in the first quarter. The Keydets started the drive at the NSU 17-yard line when Spartan punter Antonio Gomez tried to run to escape the VMI rush and was tackled. VMI failed to take advantage of the excellent field position - moving just three yards on the next three plays - and had to settle for the Sharpe field goal.

Norfolk State tied the score at 3-3 with 13:35 left in the second quarter when Gomez sailed a 38-yard field goal through the uprights. The Spartans moved 77 yards on 15 plays, and consumed 6:42 off the clock. The drive started at the NSU two-yard line after VMI's Titus Green had the ball stripped (recovered by Jamaal Richardson) as he was heading to the goal line. The Spartans converted a trio of third-down opportunities on the possession.

VMI took advantage of good field position later in the half when Sharpe booted a 40-yard field goal with 5:06 left to put the Keydets up for good, 6-3.

The Keydets stretched the lead to 13-3 when Snelling scored on an 11-yard option pitch around the right end with 2:08 left in the second quarter. Snelling keyed the drive by opening up the possession with a 19-yard run, and also hauled in a 12-yard pass to the NSU 10.

Spartan quarterback Willie Mitchell completed 25 of 49 passes for 290 yards while running back Terrell Johnson led the NSU ground attack with 70 yards on seven carries.

VMI outgained NSU for the game, 411-385.

Sophomore strong safety Maury Pauling and cornerback Musa Sarki led the Keydet defense with eight tackles each while the VMI defense broke up seven passes on the day.

NSU linebacker Kevin Talley led all tacklers with 14 stops including two for loss.

The Keydets return home next Saturday to face Georgetown at 1:00 in the first meetings between the teams since 1910. Norfolk State will play Bethune-Cookman next Saturday in Norfolk at 7:00.


VMI HEAD COACH CAL MCCOMBS

On what turned the game in VMI's favor: "The thing that really got us going was a couple of good pass plays to get better field position. The option play was a big play for us. It was executed perfectly by Jonathan (Wilson).

On the team's progression on a whole: "We're getting better. I think we're a better team today then we were last week. I think that we could be a better team next week."

On VMI's defensive performance: The thing that I like about our defense is that we're not giving up nearly as many big plays as we have in the past. They only had one truly big play (a 44-yard touchdown run with 2:53 remaing in the game). Our defense never stopped and was pretty stingy about letting them in the end zone."

On VMI's defensive strategy: He's (Norfolk State head coach Willie Gillus) trying to shorten the game, rush the football and not turn it over. Our whole game plan was to see if we could stop the run and make them have to throw. They threw 49 times today."

NORFOLK STATE HEAD COACH WILLIE GILLUS

Overall Comments: "I thought we did a good job moving the football. We just didn't finish drives. We did a better job passing the football, but we couldn't run the ball well enough to have a balanced offense."

On playing VMI for the first time: "They are a tough and disciplined team. We look forward to seeing them in Norfolk in a few years. They are a worthy opponent."

On the second half: "VMI just wore us down in the third and fourth quarters. Our defense was worn down and they took advantage of that."

VMI NOTES

- Running back Sean Mizzer ran for 104 yards, marking his third straight 100-yard rushing game. It was the second time in his career to accomplish the feat. It was Mizzer's sixth 100-yard game of his career.
- Wide receiver Zohn Burden racked up 124 yards receiving on the day. It was the first 100-yard game of his career and a career-high for yards receiving in a game. It was the first 100-yard game for a VMI receiver since Pedro Garcia hauled in 113 yards against Chattanooga last year.
- The 41-yard pass play from quarterback Jonathan Wilson to Burden in the third quarter was VMI's longest pass play of the season. It was Wilson career-longest pass and Burden's career-longest reception.
- The win gave VMI two September victories for the first time since 1995 when VMi knocked off Liberty and East Tennessee State in successive weeks.


NORFOLK STATE NOTES

- Quarterback Willie Mitchell's 290 yards passing were a career-high.
- Wide Receiver Darryl Johnson made nine catches for 104 yards. Both were career-high marks.
- Running back Terrell Johnson went over the 1,000-yard career rushing mark with his 44-yard touchdown run.
- Kicker Antonio Gomez kicked his first career field goal.