Box Score RICHMOND, Va. - VMI outscored the No. 6 Richmond Spiders 19-7 in the second half of action, but were unable to overcome a 27-0 halftime deficit, falling to the Spiders 34-19 Sat., Sept. 17 at Richmond's Robins Stadium.
VMI's 19 straight points scored after intermission were countered by a first half that saw the Keydets turn the ball over a season-high three times alone on two misplayed punt-returns and a fumble in the end zone, which led to13 Richmond points.
VMI (0-3) battled back in the second half however, holding the Richmond (3-0) offense to only seven points and 113 yards of total offense. Redshirt-senior Tracy Hairston collected a career-high 212 all-purpose yards on 157 kickoff return yards and 55 receiving yards as well as a touchdown reception.
After the opening Keydet drive stalled at its own 46-yard line, the ensuing punt by VMI senior Cam Murray was blocked by Spider Rodney Barnes. Ben Edwards collected the ball after the block, and scampered 34 yards for the scoop and score to give the Spiders an early 7-0 lead after a Wil Kamin extra-point.
On the following Keydet possession, VMI opened up the drive as sophomore quarterback Eric Kordenbrock found redshirt-sophomore tight-end Mario Thompson on a seam route that went for 44 yards to the Richmond 34 yard line.
The Keydets then ran redshirt-senior Chaz Jones on the next five plays to the Spider six-yard line but a Jones fumble on the one-yard line was recovered in the end zone by Richmond's Colin Pehanick for the touchback.
Following the VMI turnover, Richmond marched 66 yards on nine plays, with the big strike being a 48 yard pass from Aaron Corp to Tre Gray to the VMI 12. However, the Keydet defense held its ground and forced a 41-yard field goal from Kamin as Richmond took a 10-0 lead with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
After the VMI defense forced a Nick Hicks punt at the 12:40 mark of the second quarter, the kick bounced off a VMI player at the 20 yard line and was recovered by Richmond's Pehanick at the VMI 20. The Keydet defense held strong once again after the turnover, holding the Spiders kicker Kamin to another 31 yard field goal to stretch the Richmond lead to 13-0 with 9:19 left in the second frame.
The Keydets forced another Richmond punt with 6:10 left in the quarter, and the punt resulted in another VMI muffed return that was recovered by Richmond at the VMI 32. After senior linebacker Emilio Calvin forced a fumble on a Kendall Gaskins run that was recovered by Richmond, Corp hit Gray on a crossing pattern that resulted in a 37-yard touchdown pass to give Richmond a 20-0 after the PAT.
On a third and six deep in Richmond territory, VMI sent an all-out blitz as Corp hit Stephen Barnette on a slant route and ran 69 yards to the VMI four-yard line. On the next play, Corp hit Gray once again for the touchdown, stretching the Richmond advantage to 27-0 just before the half.
VMI got on the board midway through the third quarter thanks to a big return from Hairston following a Richmond touchdown that brought the score to 34-0. Hairston took the return a career-high 74 yards to the Richmond 15 yard line before being brought down by Richmond's Doug Howell. A four-yard Jones run brought the ball to the Richmond 11 before junior kicker Jeff Sexton nailed a 28-yard field goal to cut the Richmond advantage to 34-3 with 7:09 left in the third quarter.
The Keydets forced the first Richmond turnover of the contest at the 14:16 mark of the fourth-quarter, as redshirt-sophomore Weston Reber sacked backup Richmond quarterback John Laub for a loss of 13 yards. Reber also managed to strip Laub and forced a fumble that was recovered by junior defensive lineman Shawn Chapman.
The turnover resulted in VMI's first touchdown of the night six plays later after an 11 yard pass from Kordenbrock to sophomore Alec Thompson resulted in a first down to bring to ball to Richmond's 36 yard line. Jones then rushed four times for 15 yards, resulting in a 3rd and six where Kordenbrock hit Hairston in the back right corner of the end zone from 21 yards out on a spectacular individual effort by the Keydet wide out. The PAT from Sexton brought the tally to 34-10 with 11:17 remaining in the contest.
Following a Richmond three and out, VMI took over at their own 30 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Kordenbrock once again hit Mario Thompson on a seam route, this time Thompson scampered 70-yards to pay dirt for his first career touchdown , VMI's longest pass of the season, to the and cut the lead in half at 34-17 with 8:55 left in regulation.
The Richmond offense stalled with Laub in the contest, as Richmond was forced to punt once again. Trent White broke a 47 yard return to the Richmond 19, and a 10 yard unsportsmanlike penalty was tacked onto the end of the run to give VMI the ball at the Richmond nine. However, VMI was unable to punch it in, turning the ball over on downs after a Kordenbrock incomplete pass that was intended for Hairston.
Richmond took over on their its one yard line, and took a safety with just over three minute left in the contest to run the score to the eventual final of 34-19. VMI took over at their 43, but the drive stalled at Richmond's 33 yard line with 1:44 remaining to seal the contest for the Spiders.
After a rough first half, Kordenbrock settled down in the second stanza and finished the contest going 15-of-35 for 231 yards and two touchdowns, while Jones rushed for 88 yards on 21 carries, The Keydets were led defensively by redshirt-senior A.J. Gross who had 12 tackles, nine in the first half, and by classmate Emilio Calvin, who had six tackles as well as a sack, two tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble. Mario Thompson's 114 receiving yards is a new career-high, and Thompson is the first receiver to over the century mark in receiving yards in a contest since Mario Scott had 107 yards receiving against Stony Brook on Oct. 9 of last year.
Corp finished the contest with 220 yards on 12-of-18 passing with two touchdown passes to Gray, who had four catches for 96 yards. Barnette added three grabs for 89 yards, while Turner had 21 rushing attempts for 84 yards. Darius McMillan had 11 tackles to lead the Richmond defense.
The Keydets continue their road swing next weekend, as VMI ventures to Ohio to take on FBS opponent Akron on Sat., Sept. 24 from InfoCision Stadium. Kick-off is slated for 2 p.m.
VMI Quotes
Head coach Sparky Woods' opening statement:
"I just want to start out and congratulate Coach Lineburg and Richmond. They're a really fine football team, an undefeated football team right now. They're talented and a well-coached team. I think Wayne has done a really remarkable job. I'm really disappointed in our first half. We felt like it was just a shame. We could've had an outstanding football game. We had a lot of respect for Richmond coming into the game. Our special teams in the first half kept it from being a fun game to be a part of. I was proud of our team for coming back in the second half. I thought we played better in the second half, after shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers. It was a shame the game got so out of hand in the first half. I was proud of our guys for coming back and playing hard in the second half. We just need to put two halves together to beat a really outstanding team like Richmond. Congratulations to Richmond, we have a lot to fix."
Halftime motivational talk:
"It wasn't anything in particular. We just talked about fixing special teams. We needed to make sure where the ball was. We just talked about executing and doing our responsibilities better. We moved the ball decently in the first half. We just got taken out of the game due to our special teams. When you get way behind, it changes your view as I'm sure it did Richmond's. I was proud of how we competed throughout the game."
Quarterback Eric Kordenbrock:
"When one guy makes a mistake, it messes up the other 10 guys. Overall, I think we came out flat the first half. Richmond's a great team, not to take anything away from them, but we definitely should've been in a closer game than what it was. I think we showed that when we came out in the second half. We executed as Coach Woods has taught us to do. If we do that in the future, we should be a pretty good team."
Second-half play:
"Everyone was just clicking together. We knew where to go with the ball. Tracy [Hairston] made a great play. That's something you would see at any level of college football, even the pros. That was a great catch. The big thing was we just came out [in second half] and played football. We didn't think about anything else. We just did what we're supposed to do, full speed. Which is what you're supposed to do, what you need to do to win games."
Overcoming the deficit:
"It's difficult but we're trying to get this program started again. We're trying to get it back to where it used to be. At halftime, we all just looked at each other and said, 'We need to play like it's 0-0 and we want to win the game.' We need to have a winning attitude all the time, not just when you're in practice. Coach Woods is doing a good job of making us turn around and get back on that streak."
