1981. That’s how long it has been since VMI Football has had a winning season.
Last week’s Keydets’ win at ETSU has put the football world on notice, though.
VMI (2-1, 1-0 SoCon) hosts Robert Morris (0-3, 0-0 Northeast Conference) at Foster Stadium on Saturday with an eye on a 3-1 start.
How long has it been since VMI was 3-1 in a season? Keep in perspective that the Keydets have won three or more games in a season just four times in the past 15 years.
Robert Morris won’t be a pushover. The Colonials are coming off a narrow 34-31 loss to Dayton this past weekend.
RMU had a season-high 447 yards total offense in the loss. Redshirt sophomore quarterback George Martin threw for 282 yards on 25-of-42 passing, and tight end Matthew Gonzalez, a senior, had a career-high 124 yards on eight receptions.
Redshirt sophomore running back Alijah Jackson also had a big game in that one, going for 135 yards on 24 carries.
So, yeah, the Colonials will be a test for the VMI defense, which has been good at not breaking, despite bending.
ETSU gained 460 yards in the 31-24 OT loss to VMI this past weekend, but the Keydet D controlled third downs (the Bucs converted just 1-of-12 third-down opportunities), and were solid in the red zone (ETSU had one TD and one field goal in its three drives into the red zone).
Junior quarterback Reece Udinski has built on his successful 2018. Through three games, Udinski has thrown for 737 yards and seven touchdowns, with no passes intercepted, completing 58.6 percent of his passes.
He’s been getting help from a rejuvenated running game. Redshirt junior running back Alex Ramsey is averaging 63.3 yards per game in 2019. For reference, VMI as a team averaged 62.5 yards per game on the ground in 2018.
The Keydets have nearly doubled that output through three games in 2019, averaging 124.7 yards per game.
Story by Chris Graham
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