CONWAY, S.C. - VMI's bid for a second straight gridiron win over Coastal Carolina fell short Saturday as the Keydets were outlasted by the Chanticleers, 20-6, on a warm, humid night at Brooks Stadium.

The Keydets dropped to 0-2 in Big South Conference play and 1-4 overall while Coastal Carolina opened its conference schedule with a victory and claimed its third straight home game to go 3-2 overall on the season.

The Chants also avenged their worst Big South loss delivered by the Keydets in Lexington last year, 47-20.

Coastal Carolina outgained VMI, 418-213, and held most of the total offense advantage through the air with 245 yards to the Keydets' 75 passing yards. The teams were nearly even on the ground with CCU posting a slim 173 to 168 margin.   

Coastal quarterback Zach MacDowell completed 14 of 20 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown to and running back Eric O'Neil added 78 rushing yards on 13 carries to spark the home team attack.

VMI was led in rushing by senior quarterback Kyle Hughes and senior back Howard Abegesah with 55 and 54 yards, respectively.

VMI converted just 5 of 18 third down conversions while Coastal Carolina made good on 8 of its 13 third down tries. The Keydets did, however, convert four of six fourth-down opportunities.        

VMI opened the game with its most impressive drive of the year -moving 81 yards in 17 plays with 16 snaps consuming steady yardage on the ground and 7:10 off the clock. The Keydets converted three of four third down conversions and one fourth down try on the march.  Hughes capped the possession with a one-yard TD endzone dive over a pile, but Jeff Sexton's extra point attempt was blocked and VMI led 6-0 with 7:50 left in the opening quarter. .

Coastal answered with a six-play, 74-yard scoring drive that produced a 41-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Zach McDowell to Adrian Sullivan with 5:44 left in the period. The extra point boot by pushed the Chants ahead, 7-6.

Each team squandered scoring chances by coughing up the football on its next possession. VMI moved to the Coastal Carolina 29 before a fumbling halted the threat. The Chants returned the favor by losing a scoring opportunity at the VMI 10 when redshirt sophomore Byron Allen smothered a Chant fumble.     

The remainder of the first half played out with each defense holding the upper hand. VMI was forced to punt three times after a trio of three-and-out possessions. The Keydet defense forced the Chants to punt twice before the clock sent the teams sent to the halftime break with CCU holding its one-point advantage.

VMI held the ball in the first quarter for 12:26, but the Chants turned the tables in the second half with over 10 minutes of ball possession and continued that trend in the second half. 

A defensive struggle ensued in the third quarter with the Keydet defense forcing the Chanticleers to settle for field goals of 33 and 37 yards by Justin Durham, the later coming at the 9:08 mark of the fourth quarter to put the hosts ahead, 13-6.

VMI's ensuing possession proved to be a turning point of the game as the Keydets started at their own 40-yard line following an out-of-bounds kick by Coastal. VMI moved inside the CCU 20, and had a third-and-one at the 16-yard line with over five minutes remaining in the game. But a fumbled snap for a one-yard setback followed by a Michael Rainey-Wiles sweep run that netted just one yard halted the drive on downs and snuffed out the Keydets' best chance of the night to pull even.

VMI forced Coastal to punt on a three-and-out and took over at its own 37 with 3:07 left, but had an 11-yard pass to senior back Tim Maypray to the VMI 49 called back by a procedure call. The Keydets were flagged for an illegal shift one play later, and Hughes was picked off by linebacker Adrian Jacobs who returned the interception 22 yards to the VMI 13 with 1:36 left. Coastal capped the game's scoring with a 13-yard bootleg run by quarterback James Childers in the final minute of regulation.

VMI returns home next Saturday to entertain first-time visitor Stony Brook at Foster Stadium on Parents' Weekend. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m.

VMI Head Coach Sparky Woods -

"I think our lack of depth showed through a little bit tonight. It was a humid night and they were playing fast. Our inability to get off the field on third down on defense, and our inability to sustain drives on offense kept us out there. I think that was a big factor. I really thought we played with great effort throughout the game and couldn't ask them to give anymore. The thing we have to do is create some more depth, so we have guys right now that maybe coaches don't have the confidence in putting them in that need to go in, so we can have some more gas in the fourth quarter."

"We go 1, 2 ,3 downs and then we'll waste a down. Sometimes we can overcome it, and sometimes we can't. Bottom line is that they were able to stay on the aggressive more than we were as a result of them able to convert."