VMI VS. UT Chattanooga

On Saturday, October 4, the Chattanooga Mocs descended upon Foster Stadium to face off against the Keydets. The Keydets are coming off a loss to the University of Richmond, which showed off the offensive potential of the Keydets. That was a non-conference game where the Keydets were heavily favored in the point spread. Looking at the point spread gives an idea of how the game is predicted to shape up, and the ESPN Sportsbook had VMI losing by 17 points against Richmond. Now, in this last game against UTC, the Mocs were favored to win by over 14 points. While that was correct in predicting the winner, VMI should have won. An accumulation of small mistakes throughout the game, and especially in crunch time, made them fall short. Unfortunately, this game marked the start of conference play, meaning it was very crucial. Looking at UTC and who they have played so far this season, the Mocs were entering this game with a 1-4 record. The Keydets came into the game with a similar record of 1-3, but the strength of schedule played was much stronger. The Mocs' only win was waxing a team that is constantly considered one of the worst Division I football teams. Granted, the Keydets' only win leading up to the matchup was against Ferrum, a Division II team transitioning from Division III. What made it seem like the Keydets should have won before the game started was the comparison of the teams' losses. Besides their one win, Chattanooga lost by more than 18 points every game. Even losing to Citadel by 18, which Citadel has recently been a comparable benchmark to VMI. VMI's losses have been close, aside from Navy (a close to nationally ranked team). In Foster Stadium, the spectators showed up in mass. The classes of 1980, 1990, and 2000 made their timely pilgrimages for reunions, which brought some of the true fanatics for Keydet football. Many of these utilized the newly allowed NIL shops for athletes, providing fans with a way to get memorabilia for individual players. Many alumni wore an array of jerseys, giving the stadium the vibe of a professional sporting event rather than the traditional representation of pride through collegiate T-shirts. On the opposing side, the Sigma Nu Chapter of Ole Miss showed up to watch the game. In support of their origin at VMI, they took a 14-hour bus ride to the Institute to watch Keydet football. Now, it is a big change from watching #4-ranked Ole Miss, yes, but they, like many, were excited to watch some college football on a beautiful day in the mountains. To start the game, UTC started with the ball, and VMI kept the first drive to a 6-yard 3-and-out. The first offensive drive had potential with a good number of yards gained, but the drive ultimately fizzled out because of a sack that forced VMI to punt. The next UTC offensive drive followed in the footsteps of the first by only gaining 8 yards. A constant theme throughout the game was solid VMI defense, which allowed very few yards on non-scoring drives. Now that does not mean much if they are still scoring, but since UTC only scored 3 touchdowns, that is a good defensive outing. The first drive of the second quarter by UTC was a 9-play touchdown through a slew of 10+ yard passes. The Keydets responded with a field goal of their own from Ben Shrewsbury at 37 yards out. The drive by the Keydets was a slog, consisting of 15 plays for only 59 yards, which took up nearly 7 minutes of the play clock. Both teams exchange punts for their next drives. However, Ben Shrewsbury delivered what is called a punt dot, or the perfect punt, which is a punt going out of bounds at the 1-yard line. While the punt pinned UTC at their 1-yard line, they proceeded to march down the field to score their second touchdown, which came exclusively from rushes. This drive marked the end of the half, leaving the Keydets down 14-3. To start the second half, UTC received a targeting penalty, which disqualified one of their starting members of the secondary. With the help of the targeting penalty, the Keydets were able to get into the red zone. Once in the red zone, the Keydets were able to get to the 3-yard line through a long pass. After getting within walking distance, VMI threw an incompletion, ran the same run play twice in a row for 2 yards, and got no gain on the third run play, which subsequently turned the ball over on downs within arm's reach of the goal line. Thankfully, the defense forced a 3-and-out, leading to a short punt. With the great starting field position, the offense gained 1 yard on 2 plays and then threw an interception. Then, within 2 plays, UTC threw an interception to the president of the class of '28, Anthony Allen, who returned it 75 yards for a touchdown. With the 2-point conversion and touchdown, VMI was now down 14-11. UTC responded with a touchdown of its own. VMI tried to respond with a field goal, but it was a miss from 48 yards out. A couple of drives later, Ben Shrewsbury knocked a second field goal through the uprights. Following that were punts, including the second-to-last drive, in crunch time, which was halted by penalties. Two holding penalties caused the drive to go for negative yardage. With the last drive, the VMI offense had 3 incompletions and a sack fumble loss for -8 yards that resulted in a turnover on downs. If the Keydets can minimize mistakes, the future weeks will look a lot prettier as they head into conference play. The combined offensive and defensive performances from Richmond and this game would create an excellent contender within the SOCON, but until they can find an equilibrium, they may struggle to achieve their full potential. VMI will continue to have this bipolar play, leaving fans on the edge of their seats, so close to celebrating victory.