Preview: VMI football looks to get back on track in 2018

VMI football went winless in 2017, after a pair of promising seasons in coach Scott Wachenheim’s opening two campaigns, including a 3-9 finish in 2016 that featured a pair of last-second losses and a nailbiter with No. 5 The Citadel.

Wachenheim had to go young in his third season at the helm, with 30 first-year eligibility players – true and redshirt freshmen – seeing time in 2017.

The two-deep will be young again in 2018, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, where Wachenheim loses his top four tacklers from a year ago, including All-SoCon linebackers Allan Cratsenberg and Brian Lipscomb and All-SoCon safety Greg Sanders.

Three quarterbacks saw significant action in 2017, but the top passer statistically, redshirt freshman Duncan Hodges (692 yards, 54.7 percent completion rate, 3 TDs/10 INTs) transferred to North Alabama, leaving sophomore Reece Udinski (432 yards, 54.3 percent completion rate, 2 TDs/4 INTs) and Austin Coulling (364 yards, 47.1 percent completion rate, 0 TDs/4 INTs) to battle it out for the starting job, with a pair of true freshmen (Chance Newman and Syour Fludd) and a redshirt freshman (Sal Mancuso) also on the depth chart at QB.

The backfield will be a position of strength for the Keydets, who lose last season’s top rusher, Daz Palmer (374 yards rushing, 3.9 yards per carry, plus 202 yards receiving on 27 catches in 2017). Junior Tyain Smith, a bruising 6’2”, 220-pounder, and Alex Ramsey, a 6’, 225-pound redshirt sophomore, return, with redshirt junior Quan Myers, a 5’10”, 200-pound speedster, hoping to return to form after battling injuries the past couple of seasons.

The wide-receiver corps is headlined by sophomore Kris Thornton (33 catches in 2017) and junior deep threat Javeon Lara, who averaged a team-best 23.6 yards per catch in 2017.

Playing in the rugged SoCon, which had two teams (Wofford and Samford) reach the FCS playoff quarterfinals in 2017, will be no easier in 2018, with Wofford (No. 10), Samford (No. 11) and Furman (No. 23) in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25.

VMI also plays a pair of games against FBS opponents: the Sept. 1 season opener at Toledo, one of the preseason favorites in the MAC, and the Nov. 17 season finale at ODU, which is looking to get back to bowl eligibility after a disappointing 5-7 season in 2017.

Story by Chris Graham