LEXINGTON, Va. - Surviving a late charge by the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs, the VMI Keydets pulled out their second win of the 2011 season, 31-24, over the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Foster Stadium in Lexington.

The victory marked VMI's first-ever win over Gardner-Webb, who was 8-0 against the Keydets coming into Foster Stadium. Two Bulldog touchdowns in the middle of the fourth quarter kept things interesting, in a game the Keydets led 31-10 with five minutes to go in the contest, which was the Keydets' final action of the season. Byron Allen, however, picked off a Jordan Paul pass in the closing moments to secure the victory.

VMI quarterback Eric Kordenbrock capped his sophomore campaign with a solid outing, completing 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 278 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target of the day was Aaron Lewis, who reeled in eight catches for a career-high 138 yards, including an 83-yard bomb, setting up a touchdown.

Defensively, senior A.J. Gross had 12 tackles, moving him into eighth on the all-time school list, while he wrapped up his career ranked third in the Big South in that category with 353 career stops.

Opposite Kordenbrock, Bulldog quarterback Chandler Browning threw for 150 yards, completing 13 of his 19 passes. Lyndon Leslie caught seven of those passes for 61 yards. The Bulldogs utilized their running game as Kenny Little scampered for 142 yards on 29 attempts, one of which was for a touchdown.

The Keydets struck first on their first drive of the game, capping a 61-yard drive in just 2:06. The drive needed just five plays to reach pay dirt, as Kordenbrock threw three times, completing all his attempts for 43 yards. Running back T.J. Talley joined in the action, gaining 18 yards on two carries. Talley's first run of the day was for 12 yards and scampered for another six and the touchdown.

VMI extended its lead to 10-0 at the halfway mark of the first quarter after the defense forced the Runnin' Bulldogs to punt. Gardner-Webb punter Graham Purvis booted it 32 yards, but the Keydets got excellent field position on a 16-yard return from James Fruehan to the Bulldogs' 28-yard line.

Kordenbrock scrambled to his right before hitting Tracy Hairston on a six-yard pass. The Keydet drive stalled on the Gardner-Webb two yard line before Jeff Sexton punched a 19-yard field goal in for the 10-point lead.

Special teams once again gave the offensive unit great starting position after blocking a punt, setting up Kordenbrock on the Bulldogs' 24-yard line. The sophomore gunslinger continued to throw at a torrid pace, leading the Keydets down the field for their second touchdown of the day.

Kordenbrock connected his 11th pass of the afternoon, on just 12 attempts, finding Dexter Bridge wide open in the endzone. The 17 points marked the highest scoring quarter for VMI this season.

VMI's defense came to play, holding the Bulldogs to just 18 yards of total offense, dropping Gardner-Webb for negative rushing yards in the first stanza. On the offensive side, the Keydets piled up 122 yards, 103 of which were through the air.

Gardner-Webb came out running to start the second quarter, covering 52 yards from its own 47 yard line in the opening minutes of the second quarter. But on third and one, the VMI defense made an enormous stop, forcing the Bulldogs to kick a field goal. Trever Austin hit the field goal for Gardner-Webb's first points of the day, but VMI still held a 17-3 advantage. The Bulldogs chewed up 4:30 on the clock while covering 67 yards for their points.

After the two teams traded punts in the middle of the second quarter, Gardner-Webb mounted another drive, this team reaching the end zone. The Bulldogs capped an 11-play, 71 yard drive to make it a one-score game, 17-10 in favor of the Keydets. Gardner-Webb running back Kenny Little punched in a six-yard run for the Bulldogs' first touchdown of the afternoon.

With less than three minutes left to go in the first half, the Keydets got an electrifying play from Kordenbrock, who hit Aaron Lewis in the flats, but Lewis continued down the field for an 83-yard catch, VMI's longest play of the season. The Keydets' two longest plays of the season have both involved Lewis, who caught an 81-yard pass against Stony Brook. The 83-yard hook up between Kordenbrock and Lewis was the seventh-longest play in school history.

On the ensuing play, the Keydets extended their lead to 24-10 as redshirt freshman tight end Conner Mays caught his first career touchdown pass with one minute to go in the first half. VMI's defense did not allow any kind of drive to round out the second quarter as the Keydets' lead held up going into the break.

The Keydets were an offensive juggernaut in the first 30 minutes, collecting 232 yards on offense on just 27 plays, averaging well over eight yards per play. Kordenbrock was nearly automatic, connecting 15 of his 20 passes for 202 yards. The Keydets went four-for-four in the red zone, collecting three touchdowns and a field goal.

Gardner-Webb overcame a slow start in the first half, picking up 175 yards, 111 of which came on the ground, led by Little's 96 first half yards. Bulldog signal caller Chandler Browning went six-for-eight in the opening half, passing for 58 yards, but was sacked twice.

Neither offense could gain traction in the third quarter, swapping punts for a majority of the period. But with four minutes to go in the third stanza, the Bulldogs were halted on a fourth and four on the Keydet 49 yard line. Browning was looking for Lyndon Leslie, but the Keydet secondary had him covered and forced the turnover on downs.

Both teams could not find pay dirt in the third quarter as the Keydets clung to a 24-10 lead heading into the final act of the game.

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Keydet offense put together the first sustained drive of the second half, benefiting from an illegal substitution call against Gardner-Webb on a fourth-and-four situation with VMI set to punt. The Keydets marched 80 yards down the field, chewing up nearly six minutes of clock before Kordenbrock hit Lewis for his second touchdown of the afternoon, putting VMI up 31-10.

The Bulldogs, down but not out, answered back on the kickoff as J.J. Hubbard ran back a 79-yard touchdown, making it a two-score game with just over five minutes left, VMI ahead 31-17.

Gardner-Webb, forced to take a risk, opted for an onsides kick after the touchdown. But the gamble paid off for the Bulldogs as corner back Donald Buie III recovered the kick, setting up the offense on the Gardner-Webb 44.

The Bulldogs pulled within one touchdown of the Keydets as Jordan Paul punched in a one-yard run. The Bulldogs moved 56 yards down the field on seven plays and enjoyed a fresh set of downs after VMI was called for pass interference. 

For a second-straight kickoff, Gardner-Webb went for the onsides kick, but on the second try, VMI recovered the kick after the ball bounced first off a Gardner-Webb player and final pulled out of the pile by the Keydets' Miguel Marshall.

The Bulldog defense held strong on a Keydet third-and-nine, forcing VMI to punt the ball away with 2:25 left in the game. Murray got a good foot on it, pinning Gardner-Webb down on its own 13 yard line. After GWU was able to convert on a fourth down, thanks to a penalty, Paul threw three straight incompletions, setting up another fourth down. This one went to the quarterback's left, but the senior Allen stepped in front of it for the pick, securing the VMI triumph.

In addition to Lewis, Hairston had six catches for 79 yards, while Talley led the Keydets on the ground with 45 yards rushing. Allen had 11 tackles, while Greg Walker chipped in with nine.