Looking at Game 11, VMI

Who: VMI Keydets

When: November 15, 2014 at 2:00 pm (EST)

Where: Bob Waters Field at E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC

Series History:  Western Carolina currently leads the series 17-3. The Cats and Keydets first played in 1978 and last played in 2002, with the Cats owning an eleven game winning streak over VMI. Western Carolina was the last SoCon team the Keydets played in Lexington before their departure from the Southern Conference.

Their coach:  Sparky Woods  - Sparky Woods enters his seventh season as head coach of the VMI football program, and continues to make his mark throughout the program by implementing the philosophy and knowledge attained over an impressive coaching career. Catamount fans might also remember Woods as the head coach of Appalachian State from 1984 -1988.

Last year’s record:   2-10 overall,  1-4 Big South

How they got there:  The Keydets opened the season on the road at CAA's Richmond, dropping the opener to the Spiders, 0-34.  The following week, VMI returned home and picked up a win against Glenville State, 34-27. Remaining at home, the Keydets were beaten the following week by North Greenville, 24-37.  VMI then traveled to Virginia, picking up their third loss of the season, 0-49.  Robert Morris of the Northeast Conference was next to visit Lexington, and pulled out an overtime victory, 21-37. Entering conference play in the Big South, Charleston Southern was next up in Lexington, and the Bucs were able to pull out a hard fought win, 17-25. The Keydets then went on the road for three straight Big South games, at PC, at CCU, and at Liberty.  The Keydets fell at PC, 35-49, the traveled to Number 3 nationally ranked Coastal Carolina, CCU had little trouble with the Keydets, winning 27-66. In the final conference road game at Liberty, the Keydets kept it close, losing to the Flames, 7-17.  The road weary VMI team returned to Lexington for the final BS home game of the season, and the final game against a Big South opponent in Lexington before their departure to the SoCon.  The Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb traveled to Lexington, and fell victim to the Keydets, 27-9.  The following week, renewing their rivalry, VMI traveled to Charleston to meet the Citadel, falling 10-31.  To close out the season, Bucknell of the Patriot League traveled to Lexington, winning 35-23 over the Keydets.

The last game vs. VMI:  Nov 2, 2002  -  Western Carolina quarterbacks Pat Cilento and Brian Gaither combined for 350 yards passing and four touchdowns to lead Western Carolina past VMI, 35-23, in the final Southern Conference game played at Alumni Memorial Field in Lexington. The Catamount win was the 11th straight for Western over the Keydets and snapped VMI's three-game win streak. With the win, WCU improves to 5-5, 3-4 in the Southern Conference, while VMI fell to 5-5 and 2-4 in the SoCon.

Letterwinners returning/lost:  34 - 20
Offense:  15 - 9
Defense: 18 - 9
Special Teams: 1 - 2

Starters Returning/Loss:  14 - 10

Offensive starters - Returning/Lost:   6 - 5

Defensive starters - Returning/Lost:  7 - 4

Specialist Returning/Lost:  1 - 1

2013 Statistics:
Scoring:  19.6 points per game
Rushing Offense:  89 yards per game
TDs rushing:  9 rushing touchdowns
Passing Offense:  238.8 yards per game
TDs passing:  20 passing touchdowns
Total Offense:  327.8 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost:  22 - 11
Penalties-Yards:  76 - 597 yards (49.8 yds per game)
On-side kicks:  0 - 4
3rd Down Conversions:  58 of 167  (35%)
4th Down Conversions:  6 of 16  (38%)
Field Goals - Attempts:  9 of 16
Red-Zone Scores:  20 of 29  (69%)
Red-Zone Touchdowns:  16 of 29  (55%)

Losses/Weaknesses:
Key Losses -  Eric Koenbrock - QB, Patrick Goulden & Will Lucas - OL, James Rogers - WR, Mario Thompson - TE, Weston Reber & Ty Garvin - LB

Strengths:  At the SoCom Media Day, the Keydets were picked to finish in eighth place.  VMI had one player selected on the all conference team, Andrew Marcotte, senior offensive line.  Redshirt Sophomore Hayden Alford (QB) will probably get the starting nod, Alford  replaces starter Eric Koenbrock, and played in 4 games, completing 8 passes for 98 yards and no interceptions.
Returning Leaders:  Derrick Ziglar - RB, Deon Watts - RB, Same Patterson - WR,

Stat leaders -
Rushing -
Derrick Ziglar  148 attempts, 768 yards, 69.8 avg game,  5 tds
Deon Watts  56 attempts,  182 yards,  16.5 avg. game,  1  td

Passing -
Hayden Alford  8 completions, 13 attempts  98 yards

Receiving -
Sam Patterson  38 receptions,  646 yards,  17.0 avg,  8 tds
Derrick Ziglar  25 receptions, 336 yards,  13.4 avg,  1  td

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