Box Score Box Score
LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI football team scored one of the biggest wins in program history Saturday with a 14-13 upset of #10-ranked Furman University from Foster Stadium. The Southern Conference contest was the season opener for the Keydets.
VMI's last win over a ranked opponent was in the 2002 season, a 27-16 victory over #18 Wofford College and the team's last season-opening win was in the 2010 campaign.
VMI took a 14-13 lead with 17 seconds left in the third quarter on a three-play, 86-yard touchdown drive. Senior quarterback
Reece Udinski completed a 57-yard pass to true freshman
Rashad Raymond to set up a Udinski to
Chance Knox touchdown strike from 19 yards out.
Trey Rice knocked in the PAT to give the Keydets the lead.
The VMI defense stopped three Paladin drives in the fourth quarter, one on a fourth-down stop, one on a punt and the last on a fumble with 47 seconds left with Furman threatening at the VMI 24. The Keydets were able to kneel on the ball and run out the clock following Furman's first turnover of the contest.
The Keydets registered nine sacks on the day, many off the blitz.
Connor Riddle had a team-high 13 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and two sacks.
Stone Snyder had 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and 11 total stops, while Ethan Casselberry recorded 10 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Carter Johnson had nine tackles, one sack and pounced on the late Furman fumble to seal the win.
Udinski finished the game 27-38 with two touchdowns, one interception and 248 yards passing, his 19th 200-yard game. He also booted an important quick kick on 4th-and-4 with 9:35 on the game clock from the Furman 36 that pinned the Paladins inside their own three-yard line.
Junior
Jakob Herres caught five passes for 57 yards, pushing him past the 100-reception mark for his career. Jackson had six catches for 39 yards and
Max Brimigion caught three balls for 35 yards.
Furman got on the scoreboard first 3:53 into the contest on a Hamp Sisson to Wayne Anderson pass. Udinksi hit
Michael Jackson on an 11-yard score at the 4:17 mark of the second quarter to tie the game at seven. Furman took the lead again with just 15 seconds left in the half as Sisson found Ryan Miller in the end zone on an eight-yard pass, but the Paladins missed the extra point.
Furman (1-1) held a time-of-possession advantage, holding the ball for 36:31 and had four drives of eight plays or more. Sisson was 17-of-26 for 232 yards but was sacked nine times on the afternoon. Devin Wynn gained 93 yards rushing on 21 carries and Devin Abrams carried the ball 14 times for 47 yards. Ryan DeLuca hauled in seven passes for 149 yards.
VMI (1-0) travels to Western Carolina University next Saturday for a SoCon matchup at 1 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.
Quotes from head coach Scott Wachenheim:
Effort of the Front 7:
They played great. I was definitely surprised – Furman is really good up front. They have excellent offensive line coaches.
I thought we had an excellent plan to apply pressure and make it harder for them to run the ball. To play the way we did defensively was amazing given the quality of our opponent. I didn't expect that but I did think we were going to make it hard for them to move the ball.
Defense late in the game:
I thought we had them but then they hit that crosser for a big play and they were in field goal range. I never thought the game was in the bag.
On Furman's late fumble and playing to the end of the game:
We were playing and praying. We've had a lot of close games here at VMI during my time and a lot of breaks have gone against us. That was one that the ball hit his leg, but you've still got to recover it. I was praying that we would either create a turnover or that they would miss a kick. The kids came through – it was a huge play by our defense and I'm very proud of them.
On defeating the #10 team in the country after missing fall football:
The leadup to it shows the resiliency of our players. What else do you expect from a VMI Keydet? We reported to fall camp back in August and of course the guys were disappointed when they were told they had to go back home. In our program, we use the saying, "So what, now what?" That's what we were doing, and we constantly did that. We redesigned all our practices then came back for the spring season in the freezing cold conditions. We had some Covid opt-outs then we had some guys get Covid. We had guys in quarantine due to contact tracing from their roommates. Two weeks ago, we were down to two defensive linemen and they were practicing against trash cans. Our kids were resilient and just kept finding ways to get better. You look at today's game and they just kept finding ways to win the ball game. I couldn't be more proud of them.
On Reece Udinski and the final touchdown drive:
Reece never surprises me with his ingenuity. He's decisive and accurate and unbelievably tough. We called that play and we thought it would be there. Coach Cosh and the offensive staff had a great design on that play. They were blitzing on the edge and I didn't think we were going to get it off. Reece did and then Knox caught it. I was thinking, "Ooh, is this freshman going to make the play?" and he did! Furman's defense is very good and they know how to attack you, but I was very impressed with Reece and Chance on that particular play.
