Box Score WEST POINT, N.Y. - After a sluggish first half, the VMI offense made things interesting after halftime, but couldn't overcome the Army Black Knights and the Keydets fell, 29-7, before a crowd of 32,410 at Michie Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The rushing tandem of sophomore Jared Hassin and senior Patrick Mealy combined for 265 of Army's 316 yards rushing for the game and the Black Knights raised their overall season mark to 5-3 and matched their win total of 2009.
VMI dropped to 3-5 on the year in the non-conference tilt which was VMI's second consecutive trip to Army in as many years.
The Keydets never led throughout the afternoon, but closed within 19-7 as the game headed to the fourth quarter. After an Alex Carlton 41-yard field goal pushed the Black Knight lead to 22-7, the Keydets marched to Army 32 before the game took a decisive turn back in favor of the hosts.
Facing a first and 10, VMI freshman quarterback rolled right and eluded a heavy Army rush before uncorking a pass that was picked off by senior free safety Travis Donavan at VMI 21 and returned 37 yards. As Donavan was being wrestled to the turf after crossing midfield, he pitched the ball back to a trailing teammate, senior Jordan Trimble who ran the remaining 42 yards to the end zone for a touchdown to effectively douse the Keydet hopes for the remainder of the afternoon. The extra point by Carlton proved to be the game's final point, and Army held on to its 29-7 margin for the remaining nine minutes of the game.
Army held a 381-282 advantage in total offense, including a 316-123 margin on the ground. But the Keydet offense was able to generate better numbers in the second half with 206 yard total offense and 13 first downs after posting just three first downs in the first half.
VMI had the ball just 11:34 in the first half, but boosted that number to 17:59 after halftime.
The two teams traded possessions to start the game, but on Army's second drive, the Black Knights converted two key 4th down conversions - one from the VMI 25 and the second which resulted on a 1-yard Trent Steelman run, giving the Black Knights the 7-0 advantage on the drive that was assembled in 12 plays for 80 yards and ate up 5:38 on the game clock. A 16-yard pass to Hassin from Steeleman to the VMI 9 set up the game's first score four plays later.
VMI took over with the ball inside its own five to begin the second quarter. The ensuing Marc Ray punt against the wind gave Army great field possession after a Josh Jackson 8-yard return to the VMI 33. The Black Knights quickly added another touchdown only two-plays later on a Hassin 38-yard run slashing down the right sideline, extending the Black Knight lead to 14-0 early in in the second-quarter.
Following a 26-yard punt by Ray on VMI's next drive, Army once again took over in VMI territory at the Keydet 45. The VMI defense held on a 4th and 2, taking over on downs on their own 12 after after a personal foul called on the VMI defense after the play whistle. Kordenbrock, VMI's third quarterback of the first half, then led the most productive VMI drive of the second quarter, guiding a 7-play, 33-yard drive that stalled on the Army 43.
Army would add to its lead with 2:35 left before intermission, as VMI had a 3rd and 17 from its own 7-yard line. Kordenbrock, throwing from his own end zone, completed an 11-yard pass to senior wideout Mario Scott that was wiped out by a VMI holding penalty resulting in a safety to give Army the 16-0 lead with 2:35 left in the half.
Army seemed poised to add to the lead with a 3rd & 1 from the VMI 21, but an explosive sack by redshirt junior Kris Ware forced the Black Knights to settle for a Carlton 43-yard field and Army assumed a 19-0 lead at the break.
In the first half half, VMI managed just 76 yards of total offense to 217 for Army. VMIwas plagued by penalties, committing 7 for 56 yards, to just three penalties for 25 yards for the hosts.
VMI took the ball to start the second half and produced a 22-yard Kordenbrock pass to T.J. Talley VMI 49, however a Gabe Itoka fumble later in the drive caused the drive to stall at the Army 48, resulting in a 41-yard Ray punt that pinned Army at its own 11.
The Keydet defense forced an Army punt on the ensuing drive, setting the stage for VMI's most productive drive of the afternoon. A key play on the drive was 10-yard pass from Kordenbrock to Brian Barnson a on 3rd and 9 to bring the ball to the VMI 39. Three plays later on a 2nd and 10 from the VMI 39, Kordenbrock found Tracy Hairston on a crossing route for a 30-yard gain, putting the ball on the Army 31. Moving the ball to the Army 1 after a Chaz Jones 11-yard rush, VMI finally punched it in to get on the board on a Jones one-yard run on fourth down with 4:18 left in the third quarter, pulling the Keydets within 19-7.
VMI caught a break on the ensuing Army possession, as a fumble by the Army quarterback Steelman was recovered by VMI's Charlie Jones, giving the Keydets the ball at their own 44. The drive started out well, as Kordenbrock found Itoka on a screen pass that went for 17-yards, but the drive stalled at the Army 40, resulting in a VMI punt.
Army then used its longest offensive play from scrimmage this season on the ensuing, a 54-yard run by Hassin to bring the ball from their own 19 to the VMI 27. The big play resulted in another Carlton field goal from 41-yards out to extend the Black Knight lead to 22-7 with 12:15 to play.
Hassin led all ground gainers with 158 yards on 14 carries while Mealy piled up 97 yards on 18 attempts.
Kordenbrock completed 15 of 27 passes for 139 yards for the visitors and VMI utilized eight different receivers led by Itoka with five catches for 35 yards.
Donavan led Army on the defensive charts with nine tackles while VMI redshirt-junior outside linebacker Eric Church had a career-high 16 tackles including 11 solo plays and a tackle-for-loss.
VMI returns home for its final game at Foster Stadium against Coastal Carolina next Saturday. Kickoff is 1:30 and the game will be carried live on ESPN3.com.
VMI HEAD COACH SPARKY WOODS
"Congratulations to Army, I think they're a really improved football team, a very physical team. I thought they won the battle at the line of scrimmage. We had a hard time running the ball against them early in the game, and then protecting the ball as well.
"I thought defensively we played two downs and not the third, credit them with converting. They did a nice job of managing the ball - they did turn it over a couple times late in the game but not early when the game was still in question.
"I thought they had a really good kicking game - their field goal kicker was good. I thought overall that the stronger team won the game today. As hurt as we were, I'm proud of our guys for continuing to play hard against a real tough team. Overall we've got to do some things on offense to try to create some more points. We stayed on the long end of the field most of the time as a result of them doing a good job of making first downs, and then running us down there long. It's hard to go that far against a really good defense, as they have. I thought it was a hard-fought game and I'm proud of our guys for playing hard, but overall they played a lot better and they're the stronger team."
(Ref.: freshman quarterback Eric Kordenbrock)
"Eric made some plays, he did a nice job. It's hard to evaluate the quarterback when you have so much pressure. They do a good job - they come back at you. You've got to survive that, you can't turn it over. I hated the last interception. It was a nice play by their free safety - heads-up by lateralling the ball. We contested the play because we thought his knee was down on the lateral back to the other guy, but apparently not. We shouldn't have thrown the interception. We got beat on protection. Number nine (Steve Erzinger) does a good job of coming underneath and getting in the quarterback's face.
"I thought Eric played well, I thought Adam (Morgan) did some things at times, trying to get something started. Cam (Jones) was poised but he missed some opportunities early so we thought were going to have to throw the ball a little bit more, so I chose to go with Adam. Then with Eric, we just kept working at that push. I thought Gabe (Itoka) and Chaz (Jones)ran the ball at times but they're tough. We had four shots down inside the one, finally squeezed it in on the last one. They have a strong team. "
