A Look at Today’s Opponent: VMI

u Virginia Military Institute (VMI) (1-2) comes to Cullowhee to open its Southern Conference schedule on the heels of its bye week . . . Most recently, the Keydets scored 20 unanswered points over the game's final six minutes against Cornell, cutting the deficit to six inside the final minute but were unable to collect the onsides kick attempt in the home loss; u VMI enters the week seventh in the SoCon in scoring offense (18 .7 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (28 .7 ppg allowed) . . . the Keydets rank seventh in total offense (301 .3 yds/gm) including eighth in rushing offense (86 .3 yds/gm) and fifth in passing offense (215 .0 yds/gm) . . . Defensively, VMI is third in the SoCon in limiting teams to just 318 .3 yards per game, tied for fifth against the run (135 .0 yds/gm) and third against the pass (183 .3 yds/gm); u VMI was picked to finish seventh in the SoCon preseason coaches poll and was sixth in the media tabulations in the preseason; u VMI won on its last trip to Cullowhee, giving the Keydets their first victory in program history in

Cullowhee and marked the first time defeating Western Carolina since 1991, snapping a 17-game losing skid to the Catamounts in the series; u VMI redshirt sophomore quarterback COLLIN IRONSIDE was named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept . 21 . . . Ironside entered the Cornell game and helped engineer a comeback effort against the Big Red, finishing 16-for-18 with a career-high 275 yards while passing and rushing for a touchdown . . . He is a Business and Economics major and has previously earned SoCon Honor Roll status and has a 4 .0 GPA .; u Senior linebacker STONE SNYDER is a two-time All-American (Stats Perform, Athlon, HERO Sports, 1st team) and a two-time finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award for the top defensive player at the

NCAA FCS level . . . the two-time SoCon Defensive Player of the Year has led the conference in tackles the past two seasons and has 268 career tackles . . . He leads the SoCon this year (12 .0); u ABOUT HEAD COACH SCOTT WACHENHEIM: Is in his eighth season as head coach on post in

Lexington, Va . . . . In the Spring 2021 season, guided VMI to a 6-1 regular season record before falling to James Madison in the FCS Playoff, the first FCS playoff appearance in program history with

VMI also earning its first national ranking in program history . . . In the Fall of 2021, guided VMI to a 6-5 record representing the first back-to-back winning seasons for the Keydets since 1961-62; u Was named the Stats Perform FCS Coach of the Year, AFCS National Coach of the Year, and SoCon Coach of the Year (media & coaches) in the COVID Spring season . u DID YOU KNOW: Much like Western Carolina's Catamounts, VMI has a very unique nickname in the

Keydets . . . And no, a Keydet is not a Kangaroo, although the term "Keydets" has been used over the years to refer to VMI's athletic teams and the kangaroo has become the established mascot; u The source and/or meaning of the nickname "Keydets" is not as easy to find, according to VMIKeydets .com . The problem lies in the fact that there is no definite meaning that has been found for the word . There have been plenty of explanations offered – but none have been convincingly substantiated . The United States Military Academy claims that it was a word used to denote the gray of the standard uniform of a cadet . One less factual definition is that due to the Southern drawl of some of the members of the VMI Corps, the common term cadet was transformed into "Keydet" . u The story behind the kangaroo mascot is relatively simple: Back in 1947, two VMI cheerleaders saw a picture of a kangaroo on the front of the magazine and realized how uncommon the animal was as a mascot . As one of the mascots was finally procured, a contest was held to give the creature an appropriate name – the prize winning name was "TD Bound" . . . Sometime later, the kangaroo's name was changed to "Moe" in order that he might be associated in all sports at VMI and not just football .

ABOUT VMI

SCOUTING THE KEYDETS QUICK FACTS:

Location: ....................... Lexington, Va. Founded: ...............................1839 Enrollment: ............................ 1,685 Colors: ....................Red, White, & Yellow Conference: ................. Southern (SoCon) Facility (Capacity): ....... Foster Stadium (10,000) Superintendent: .....Major General Cedric T. Wins Athletics Director: ...................Jim Miller Senior Woman Administrator: .......Emily Fulton Head Coach: ......Scott Wachenheim (Air Force, '84) Record at VMI: ...................24-54 (8th yr) Overall Record: ........................ Same Basic Offense: ....................... Air Raid Basic Defense: .......................... 3–4

2022 SCHEDULE / RESULTS:

Sept. 4 at #22/19 Wake Forest L, 44-10 Sept. 10 BUCKNELL W, 24-14 Sept. 17 CORNELL L, 28-22 Oct. 1 at Western Carolina * 3:30 pm Oct. 8 ETSU * 1:30 pm Oct. 15 at Chattanooga * 1:30 pm Oct. 22 FURMAN * 1:30 pm Oct. 29 MERCER * 1:30 pm Nov. 5 at Samford * 3:00 pm ET Nov. 12 at Wofford * 1:30 pm Nov. 19 THE CITADEL * TBA

HEAD COACH SCOTT WACHENHEIM