LEXINGTON, Va. - After a battle against Samford, the VMI Football Team faces another tough test Saturday as they welcome the 17
th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs to town.
KEY STATS (vs. Samford)
- Samford (preseason No. 2 in SoCon) totals 438 yards to VMI's 336, led by Jay Stanton's ground with time of possession nearly even
- Hunter Rice rushes for career-high 119 yards and a score, now has four touchdowns in last four games
- Aidan Twombly records third touchdown of the season, totals 73 yards on six catches
- Collin Ironside throws for 182 yards and a touchdown, sacked four times
- Christian Dunn and Eric Rankin each record 12.0 tackles, Rankin adds a sack (1.5 TFL)
- Jack Culbreath punts seven times, averages 48.1 yards per kick including career-high 76-yard boot
- Isaiah Lemmond totals 72 yards on five catches
- Evan Eller, Alex Oliver each record 9.0 tackles
SCOUTING THE MOCS – After narrowly missing out on the FCS Playoffs in 2022, the Mocs enter Saturday ranked 17th in the Stats Perform FCS Poll and are 15 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 poll. The Mocs are led on the line by reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Jay Person, who currently leads the league in tackles for loss with 11.5, while his two forced fumbles ranks 11th nationally. Linemate Ben Brewton is a force as well, leading the SoCon with 4.0 solo sacks and 4.0 assisted sacks as the defensive unit is 4th in the red zone (0.667) and 7th in turnovers gained (15). Offensively, UCLA-transfer Chase Artopoeus leads a Mocs offense that ranks 1st in the country in offensive first downs, 12th in passing offense (283.2), 12th in red zone offense (0.921) and 15th in scoring offense (34.8).
THE SERIES – Chattanooga holds the all-time series record 18-9-1. Last year, Chattanooga's defeat of VMI snapped a two-game win streak for the Keydets in the series. The last two matchups in Lexington have been down-to-the-wire as VMI prevailed 31-24 and 37-34 (OT). All-time, VMI is 6-8 against Chattanooga at home.
