LEXINGTON, Va. - Having been at home the last two weeks, the Keydets hit the road for the first of two conference games away from Lexington, starting with a matchup at ETSU on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Johnson City.
KEY STATS (vs. Chattanooga)
- VMI holds Chattanooga to its lowest time of possession of the season (23:38, 5th nationally entering Saturday), holding the ball for over 36 minutes
- Keydets go 10-of-18 on third-down conversions (Chattanooga ranks 13th nationally in that category)
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Hunter Rice posts career-high 208 rushing yards and three TDs, eclipsing the 100-yards mark for the third consecutive game including a career-long 67-yard touchdown run
- Rice's three touchdowns marks his fourth career game with two or more scores, is the third time this season he has scored two touchdowns (11th player to accomplish that feat), and second three-score game of career (Mercer, 2021)
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Ivan Thorpe has a team-high 7 catches and 66 yards, with
Egypt Nelson (56 yards) and
Aidan Twombly (38 yards) each recording four catches
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Eric Rankin leads the VMI defense with 8.0 tackles, 1.0 sacks
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Alex Oliver,
Evan Eller,
Josh Knapp each collect 6.0 tackles
SCOUTING THE BUCS – While the result was a loss, ETSU is also coming off a strong performance against a nationally-ranked conference opponent, taking now No. 2 Furman to the wire before falling 16-8 in Greenville. Special Teams has made plays for the Bucs all year, with linebacker Teddy Wilson collecting four blocked punts (1
st in the nation) this season and getting two punt return touchdowns (Ton'Quez Ball, Ray Coney). ETSU's two wins on the season came against Carson-Newman and most recently Wofford (41-10). Another strong suit of the ETSU team is their rushing offense (152.6 ypg) and rushing defense (127.4 ypg), ranking third in the SoCon in both categories.
THE SERIES – The two sides have met 28 times over the years, with the Bucs leading the all-time series 18-10. VMI's last win in the series came in 2019 as the Keydets prevailed 31-24 in overtime. Last year, the Bucs prevailed 44-21 in Lexington.
