GREENVILLE, S.C. – The VMI Football Team visited the Furman Paladins on Saturday, holding strong early before falling by a score of 32-14.

VMI would tie the game up with 1:15 to play in the second quarter (7-7), but Furman responded with a score less than a minute later, seizing the momentum and scoring 25 unanswered.
The Keydets now drop to 1-10, 0-7 in the SoCon while Furman moves to 6-5 overall and an even 4-4 league play. VMI returns home next week for its 2025 season finale, hosting Western Carolina on Senior Day, with kickoff scheduled for noon.

Key Stats
- Furman outgains VMI 448-244, wins time of possession battle 36:13-23:47
- Chandler Wilson gets the start, going 8-for-16 with 56 yards (15 rushing)
- Nana Utsey finishes 4-for-10 with 68 yards, a fumble and a rushing touchdown
- Stephen Dean III leads VMI tacklers with 12.0; Isaiah Grevious and Henry Berling each record 9.0 stops
- Leo Boehling totals 73 yards and a score on the ground
- Noah Grevious totals 72 yards receiving on six catches
- Owen Sweeney, Morgan McPhaul each have two receptions
- Trey Hedden finished with 275 yards and two scores to Evan James while Ben Croasdale and Jayquan Smith each had rushing scores

Rocco's Remarks
On the Defense
"The defense got off the field and got some stops. Looked like it was going to be a tight, low-scoring game but other than the one drive, just never really felt like our offense was able to sustain anything," said Head Coach Danny Rocco. "We got into a little bit of a rhythm running Leo (Boehling), but our defense is just out there too much. There are things we can do better, but at the end of the day we're out there way too long."
On Finishing with Utsey
"We wanted to get Nana out there at the end. There's a chance we might play him more next week and I wanted to make sure he got some real live game action. His first play early in the game he mishandled it, maybe had some contact, so I didn't want that to be his lasting image of this game so we wanted to give him a chance and once again he showed what he's capable of doing."  

How it Happened
First Half
- The teams traded possessions early, with Furman missing a field goal attempt halfway through the first (0-0, 5:33 1^st)
- After a turnover from VMI set up Furman inside the red zone, EJ Wilborne and the defense would hold on 4^th and goal as the game remained scoreless midway through the second
- With flags aiding the Furman field possession, the Paladins punched in the first score with 5:09 in the second (7-0)
- Chandler Wilson would register a 16-yard run, find McPhaul on a third down and set up an 18-yard scamper from Boehling to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:15 remaining in the half, but the Paladins would answer to take a 15-7 lead into the break

Second Half
- Furman would open the scoring with a touchdown midway through the third, moving into the red zone at the end of the quarter, punching in another score with 13:31 in the 4^th (29-7)
- After Ian Williams would hit a 51-yard field goal, VMI turned back to Utsey, who would engineer a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive, capped off with a 17-yard rushing touchdown from the freshman quarterback