Game Preview: Can VMI get back on track with this weekend against Furman?

VMI was an eyelash away from a 4-1 start. But now, after blowing a late lead at home to Mercer on Oct. 1, and suffering back-to-back losses on the road to Samford and Chattanooga, the Keydets are facing a must-win game with Furman this weekend if they want to keep their hopes for the program’s first winning season since 1981 alive.

VMI (3-4, 1-3 SoCon) and Furman (1-6, 1-3 SoCon) square off at Foster Field in Lexington, Va., on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

AFP editor Chris Graham will join VMI alum and former Keydets assistant coach Rick Cruze on the radio broadcast on the VMI Sports Radio Network. The pregame show begins at 1:15 p.m.

Listen to the live audio feed on VMIKeydets.com.

Quick Hits: VMI vs. Furman

• Furman gave Michigan State all it could handle in its Sept. 2 season opener at East Lansing before falling 28-13. The Paladins also offered tough tests to a pair of FCS Top 10 teams (The Citadel, in a 19-14 loss, and Chattanooga, in a 21-14 loss). Furman was winless until last weekend, when it defeated East Tennessee State, 52-7.
• Quarterback Reese Hannon threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns in the win over ETSU. For the season, Hannon has thrown for 1,377 yards (65.9 percent completion rate) with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.
• Watch out for wideout Andrej Suttles, who has hauled in a team-high 35 catches and averages 14.8 yards per catch with six touchdowns through the air.
• The Furman D is generally pretty stout, allowing opponents to gain 374.9 yards per game total offense.
• VMI quarterback Al Cobb has been taking care of the ball well this season. After throwing 18 interceptions as a redshirt sophomore in 2015, Cobb has been picked off just five times in seven starts in 2016. His completion rate has also ticked up (to 64.8 percent, from 61.2 percent in 2015). Cobb is throwing for 242.4 yards per game this season.
• Wideout Aaron Sanders has been building well on his breakout 2015 season. Sanders averaged 7.6 catches per game as a junior (84 catches, 892 yards), and in 2016 he is at 7.9 catches per game (55 catches, 494 yards).