WCU Preseason Preview: Game #11 - VMI

Throughout this preseason, we will preview all of  Western Carolina's 2024 football opponents. For the 2024 season's eleventh regular season game, the Catamounts will host the Virginia Military Institute Keydets, on Hall of Fame / Senior Day in Cullowhee. 

Game # 11 - VMI Keydets

The Bulldogs finished the 2023 season with a 5-6 overall record and were 4-4 in conference. The Keydets were picked to finish seventh in the 2024 coaches poll. 

            

                    

When: Saturday, November 16, 2024

Time: 1:00 pm

Where:  EJ Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network

   -Play-by-Play:  Gary Ayers • Daniel Hooker • Producer: Jeff Bryson

TV/video: ESPN3

Live Stats:  WCU Live Stats

Fan Message Board:  Keydet Sportstalk
Game Notes:    Western Carolina    -     VMI      -    SoCon Notes
Mascot:  Moe (Kangaroo) 

Enrollment: 1,685

School Colors:  Red, Yellow & White

The Series: Western currently leads the series with VMI, by a 24-5 margin. The Cats and Keydets first played on the gridiron in 1978, and the Cats owned a sixteen-game winning streak over the Keydets until the spring of 2021 when the Keydets broke that streak on their road to a SoCon Championship.  The Cats do hold an 11-1 record for games played in Cullowhee and are 8-2 over the Keydets since their return to the Southern Conference in 2014.  

The last game played vs. VMI:  November 18, 2023 -  Lexington, Va.  - Fourth-Quarter Rally Falls Short in 27-24 Road Loss at VMI – Behind back-up quarterback Brody Palhegyi, #18/14 Western Carolina erased all but three points of a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit as the final drive ended just a couple of yards short on a long fourth-down play as VMI scored the upset win, 27-24, on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action on Alumni Memorial Field at Foster Stadium.

Head Coach:   Danny Rocco -  Rocco hit the ground running in 2023, taking a team that went 1-10 the previous season and coaching them to a 5-6 record and an even 4-4 mark in conference play in his first year in Lexington. The 2023 season marked just the fourth time in 20 years that VMI Football had won five games and/or four conference games in a single year. The Keydets capped off Rocco's first year in resounding fashion, defeating No. 14 Western Carolina, giving VMI its first top-25 win since October of 2021. 

Danny Rocco's record vs. Western Carolina:  1 - 0

Kerwin Bell's record vs. VMI:  2 - 1  

Last Season's Record 2021 (VMI):   5-6 overall, 3-2 home, 2-4 away,  4-4 SoCon

VMI was picked to finish 7th in the 2024 Coaches' preseason poll while logging five all-conference selections. First team honors went to  Hunter Rice., Sr., RB:  -  Tyriq Poindexter, Sr.,  DL;  Dorien Starnes, Sr., LB; and second team  Eric Rankin, Sr., RS; & Ivan Thorpe, Jr., WR

Rocco and his staff made an impact in 2023, as VMI won five games for just the fourth time in the last 20 years, reclaimed the Silver Shako Trophy with a win over The Citadel and ended the season with a top-20 victory over #14 Western Carolina.

2023 VMI Statistics  (11 games)

Rushing Offense: 1296 yards
Yards per game: 118
Yards per rush: 3.2 yards
Rushing 1st downs:81
TDs rushing: 15
Passing Offense: 2010 yards or 183 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 6.3 yards
Passing 1st downs: 88
Passing Att-Comp-Int: 316-190-10

TDs Passing: 7
Total Offense: 3306 yards or 301 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 13-6
3d Down Conversions: 53 of 156 (34%)

4th Down Conversions: 4 of 12 (33.3%)
Field goal attempts 6 - 13
PAT-Attempts: 17 of 20
On-side kicks: 0 - 1
Red Zone Scores: 20 of 29  
Red Zone Touchdowns: 16 of 29 
Punts - Yards: 69 - 2921 - Avg per punt: 42.3