Monday, November 16, 2015

Game #11: VMI





In game eleven of the 2015 season, the Catamounts remain on the road, this time, traveling from College Station, Texas to Lexington, Virginia.

The Cats and Keydets first played on the gridiron in 1978, and the Cats own a twelve game winning streak over VMI. Western has 9 straight wins over the Keydets in Lexington, and the Keydets last won in at home in 1988. Western currently leads the series with VMI, by an 18-3 margin.




Virginia Military Institute  


The Series  - This will be the 22nd time Western Carolina and VMI have played on the gridiron and the first time the Cats visit Foster Stadium since the 2002 season when the Keydets ended their first run as members of the Southern Conference. The Cats leads the series 18-3 and has taken 12 straight in the series. The Keydets last defeated the Cats on November 9, 1991, which also stands as their last win over Western in Lexington.

When: Saturday, November 21st at 1:30 pm
Where: Foster Stadium (10,000), Lexington Virginia
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
TV / video: ESPN3 - Wade Branner  - play by play announcer, Dave Harding  - color analyst.
Game Notes:  Western Carolina    -     VMI


Head Coach: Scott Wachenheim 
Scott Wachenheim was named VMI's newest head football coach on Dec. 14, 2014. Wachenheim comes to VMI from the University of Virginia where he has served the past five seasons and as Cavaliers offensive line coach since 2011. Prior to his tenure in Charlottesville, Wachenheim was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Liberty University for three seasons (2006-08).



Last Year's Record: 2-10 overall (home 2-3, road 0-7), 1-6 SoCon

Offensive starters - Returning/Lost:  9 / 2
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost:  7 / 4
Offensive Formation:  Spread
Defensive Formation:  Multiple 3-4

Last Season's Game vs. VMI  (Nov, 15,2014): Offense, Seniors Lift Catamounts to 42-27 Victory over VMI -  Quarterback Troy Mitchell accounted for six touchdowns including a career-best five TD passes and added a 55-yard touchdown run to highlight a strong offensive performance for the Catamounts on Saturday afternoon as Western Carolina closed the home portion of its schedule with a 42-27 Southern Conference victory over VMI on Hall of Fame Day at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.

2015 Keydets Statistics (YTD 10 games):
Rushing Offense: 1113 yards
Yards per game: 111.6
Yards per rush: 3.3 yards
TDs rushing: 14
Passing Offense: 2745 yards or 274 yards per game
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 237-403-22
Total Offense: 3858 yards or 386 yards per game
Passing 1st downs: 122
Rushing 1st downs: 59
Fumbles-Lost: 13-9
Penalties-Yards: 42 - 340 yards
3d Down Conversions: 63 of 160  39%
4th Down Conversions: 13 of 25  52%
Field Goals - Attempts: 9 of 11
Red-Zone Scores: 32 of 42 (76%)
Red-Zone Touchdowns: 24 of 42 (57%)
Punts : 50 - 1927 yards
Avg. per punt: 38.6 yds
Sacks: 8
PAT-Attempts: 23 of 26 - 88%
Field Goals-Attempts: 9 of 11

The Keydets, led by new head coach Scott Wachenheim, were picked to finish eight in the preseason coaches & media polls released Wednesday. VMI kicker Dillon Christopher was named to the Second Team Preseason All-SoCon team as the Keydets only representative,

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Al Cobb is expected to return to the field after missing The Citadel game two weeks ago with an injury sustained after the Oct. 31 Wofford. Cobb currently leads the SoCon in total offense and passing yards per game

Who has the Kwydets played prior to the WCU game?
The Keydets are 2-8 overall, 1-4 at home and 1-4 away.  In conference games, VMI is 1-5 (win over Mercer), 0-3 at home and 1-2 away in the SoCon games.

The Keydets traveled to Ball State to open the season, losing 36-48. In game 2, Morehead State made the trip to Lexington, and VMI picked up their first win 43-40,  For game 3, the Keydets visited Richmond, losing to the Spiders 42-10. VMI opened their conference play at Furman, losing a close on 24-21 to the Paladins.  For game 5, Bucknell made the trip to Lexington, and beat the Keydets in overtime 28-22. Samford was the next SoCon opponent to make the trip to Lexington, where the Bulldogs handed the Keydets their worst loss of the season, by a final score of 49-13, Next to visit the Keydets was #6 Chattanooga, the Keydets almost pulled off the biggest upset of the season, losing by six points, 33-27. In game 8, the Keydets traveled to Macon, where they picked up their first conference win of the season, a 28-21 victory over the Bears. Up next was Wofford who handed the Keydets a 41-20 loss in Lexington. VMI then traveled to Charleston where they dropped a 35-14 loss to the Citadel.


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