VMI won its first Big South Conference opener since 2005 and snapped a 10-game BSC losing streak while moving to 1-0 in the conference and 3-3 overall. Coastal Carolina dropped to 3-4 and 0-2 in the BSC.

The Keydets scored the final 37 points of the game to break open what was a close game in the first half.

The Chanticleers held a 20-10 lead following Marquell Willis' 5-yard TD reception from quarterback with 2:32 left in the first half, but the ensuing extra-point attempt by the Chants set the stage for VMI's decisive scoring run.

Redshirt sophomore Kris Ware blocked Justin Durham's extra point attempt and the ball was scooped up by freshman Juan Thrasher who raced down the left sideline for the fifth defensive two-point score in school history, cutting Coastal Carolina's margin to 20-12.

VMI marched 80 yards in nine plays on the ensuing possession and pulled within one point, 20-19, following redshirt freshman Chaz Jones' five-yard TD run an extra-point kick by freshman Greg Stevens with :35 left before halftime.

VMI never looked back in the second half, piling up 334 yards in total offense after halftime and outgaining the Chanticleers 246-20 in the third period alone.

After forcing the Chants to punt on their opening drive, the Keydets took over at their own 11 and used a record play on its second snap to take the lead for good. Junior quarterback Kyle Hughes hit slotback Zach Collins with a pass at the VMI 35 and the Universal City, Tex. native cut to the right boundary and followed his blockers to the endzone for a 90-yard touchdown pass - the longest pass and play from scrimmage in Big South history. VMI led 26-20 with 10:47 left in the third quarter.

A pair of 19-yard TD passes to sophomore slotback Micheal Rainey-Wiles, each from different VMI QB's, extended VMI's third quarter lead. Junior Tim Maypray connected Rainey-Wiles at the 8:01 mark to push the VMI advantage to 33-10 and Hughes followed with a 19-yard strike with 9.2 seconds remaining in the period to double the score, 40-20. The 11-play drive featured 11 rushing plays before the touchdown toss.

The Keydets closed out the scoring with a Maypray five-yard TD keeper with 3:32 left in the game, capping a 13-play, 84-yard drive that consumed 8:15 off the fourth quarter clock.

VMI's defense preserved the second-half blanking by ending Coastal Carolina possessions during the final two quarters with two punts, two possessions ending on downs, and a third quarter interception by Thrasher that set up a score.  

VMI piled up 546 yards total offense ? 336 on the ground and a season-high 210 yards through the air. Maypray produced his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year and gained a career-high 155 yards on 22 carries with one TD. Jones (53 yards-2 TD's) and freshman Bobby Epps (50 yards) combined for 103 yards rushing out of the fullback slot.

Coastal Carolina quarterback Zach McDowall completed 13 of 25 passes for 141 yards and a TD but was picked off twice. Redshirt sophomore Marquel Willis caught four passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.  

VMI opened the scoring on its first possession of the game moving 79 yards in 11 plays and scoring on a Jones three-yard run. Hughes took the game's opening snap at QB while Maypray lined up at wideout, and Hughes completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive including a 33-yarder to Maypray to the Coastal Carolina 11.

The Chants tied the game with 1:31 left in the period using a Keon Cunningham interception return to the VMI 21 and a zigzag TD run up the middle by sophomore running back Eric O'Neil one play later to knot the score as Durham's extra-point was good.

Coastal Carolina's defense produced another score on VMI's following possession when redshirt junior safety Brandon Autry grabbed a Maypray fumble and raced 31 yards for a touchdown to put CCU up, 14-7 with :16 left in the second quarter.

VMI closed the gap to 14-10 with 5:10 remaining in the first half when Stevens nailed a 24-yard field goal.

The Chants missed scoring opportunities in the first half, failing to convert field goal attempts of 40 and 42 yards.

The Keydets held a time of possession advantage of 35:18 to 24:42 for the game and converted all five red-zone scoring chances.

Redshirt freshman linebacker A.J. Gross led the Keydet defenders in tackles with 13 stops and five tackles for loss, including three sacks for -27 yards. Sophomore defensive end Damiso Alexander added two sacks to go along with his nine tackles.

VMI will have an off week next Saturday before resuming action Oct. 22 at Gardner-Webb with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. Coastal Carolina will play North Carolina Central next Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Conway, S.C.

GAME NOTES ?

---VMI quarterback Tim Maypray set a Big South single season rushing mark for a quarterback and now has 696 yards on the season. It was Maypray's fourth 100-yard game of the year. Maypray's 155 rushing yards was a career-high.                         

---Sophomore slotback Michael Rainey-Wiles had his first two touchdown reception game of his career.

---The 90-yard Kyle Hughes-Zach Collins touchdown pass was the longest pass play and play from scrimmage in Big South history, eclipsing the 87-yard TD pass from Hughes to Maypray vs. Charleston Southern on November 3, 2007. It was the second longest pass play in VMI history, eclipsed only by the 93-yard TD pass from Dave Brown to Mark Stock vs. Appalachian State on November 15, 1986. Coincidentally, VMI head coach Sparky Woods was Appalachian's head coach at the time. The Hughes-Collins 90-yarder was also VMI's third longest play from scrimmage in VMI history.

---Quarterback Kyle Hughes produced his first 100-yard passing game this season.

---VMI is now 2-0 in Big South games when scoring a defensive extra-point. VMI's last two-point defensive extra point was scored by Grant Harris vs. Charleston Southern on October 8, 2005.

---VMI defeated Coastal Carolina for the first time since 2003 when the teams met for the first time in Conway, S.C. 

VMI HEAD COACH SPARKY WOODS? “I think it was a great team victory. I think Coastal Carolina is a very good football team and they kept competing hard and for us to come out and shut them out in the second half and hold the ball like we did offensively was good. I thought our special teams were much improved and made a huge play on the blocked extra-point and two-point play. I'm so happy for everybody that's a part of VMI and all that they've done and I'm really proud of our players who stayed with us through some tough times in the early start. It's a great opportunity for us to go into the open date and try to get some of our players healed up, and it's a real positive heading into the rest of the conference season. Our preparation this week was great ? the demonstration (scout) squad was good and worked hard and tried to give us the best picture we could get. A very unselfish attitude by our players and our coaches and usually when you do that and play hard, you win. The defense was flying around the ball and we were in the right spot and played well at the point of attack and we tackled pretty well. I saw some young guys step up and make plays and I was pretty excited the way this one turned out. I can't think of anything else that can be better for us at this point of the season. We have a lot to build on and everyone should feel good about that.”