The Bucs football team hosted a conference game on Saturday against Southern Conference opponent Virginia Military Institute, where the Bucs lost 31-24 in overtime. The Bucs now stand at 1-2 and 0-1 in the conference.
A lightning delay pushed the game back an hour with kickoff being at 8:42.
The first half saw the Bucs and the Keydets in a defensive battle. The Bucs had a strong defensive showing on the pass rush and the run game. The Bucs got to VMI’s quarterback Reece Udinski three times in the first half.
Redshirt freshman defensive back Quinn Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded his first set of career sacks with two. The other sack was recorded by redshirt senior defensive end Nasir Player (Columbia, South Carolina).
“If we see something, we execute it,” said Player.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Bucs struggled in the early going. The first possession concluded with an interception thrown by redshirt sophomore quarterback Trey Mitchell (Knoxville, Tennessee).
However, things turned around with under six minutes in the first half when the Bucs capitalized on a missed field goal by VMI and turned it into a two-drive score when Mitchell connected with redshirt junior wide receiver Keith Coffee (Miami, Florida) with a 57-yard pass to put the Bucs up 7-0.
The next possession with VMI came to an early close when there was another lightning delay, with the game clock stopping at 5:11. After a 65-minute delay, the game resumed and VMI drove down the field with under a minute to play and scored a passing touchdown from Udinski to Rohan Martin for 13-yards.
“We started if off flat offensively, but we picked up in after the second delay,” say Sanders.
The second half turned for VMI’s favor in their first possession. A pass interference call pushed the Keydets into the red zone. With four plays, VMI punched it in with a three-yard run, giving the Keydets their first lead of the night at 14-7.
The Bucs tried to answer with a touchdown of their own but were only able to get a field goal, making the score 14-10.
The final quarter saw both teams exchange leads. The Bucs drove down the field 90 yards for a score. Mitchell connected with redshirt senior receiver Anthony Spagnoletti (Bealeton, Virginia) for a 20-yard touchdown. VMI quickly answered on the next drive, going 75 yards and one-yard score by Alex Ramsey.
Within five minutes, the Bucs answered again with a big play by sophomore running back Jacob Salyers (Jasper, Tennessee) rushing for a 61-yard score. VMI held on with 10 seconds left and kicked a 30-yard field goal to tie the game at 24 and send it to overtime.
In overtime, VMI won the toss and scored the first touchdown within the opening minutes. The Bucs turn came up next, but they were unable to get in the endzone, ending the overtime play with VMI taking the win at 31-24.
“A lot of our team handled it well, ” said head coach Randy Sanders, with the tough overtime loss.
The Bucs return home next week to host Austin Peay.
