William and Mary Football Tops VMI, 62-31

Tribe compiles over 600 yards of offense in win

09/14/02

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary senior quarterback Dave Corley, Jr. (Columbia, SC) led a balanced Tribe offensive effort by completing 21 of 27 passes for 346 yards as W&M captured a 62-31 victory over VMI in its home opener at Zable Stadium.

The team's 62 points is the most since scoring 77 against Bridgewater College in 1932. In addition, the 609 yards of total offense for W&M are the most since October 2, 1993, when the Tribe rolled to 651 yards against VMI.

Redshirt freshman tailback Steven Hargrove (Alexandria, VA) rushed 11 times for 110 yards and his first career rushing touchdown, while sophomore Jon Smith (Cincinnati, OH) carried 16 times for 87 yards and three scores.

The Tribe used 214 yards on the ground along with 395 in the air to total 609 yards of offense in the game, averaging 9.2 yards per play on offense. Junior Rich Musinski (West Pittston, PA) led the College with 125 yards receiving on five catches, including an 80-yard catch and run from Corley in the second quarter.

Four Tribe scores were for more than 25 yards. In addition to Musinski's catch, Hargrove had a 50-yard touchdown run near the end of the first quarter while Smith burst through the line for a 29-yard score in the third quarter and red-shirt freshman Adam Bratton (Montoursville, PA) recorded a 29-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.

William and Mary won the turnover battle, as well, not turning the ball over while the Tribe defenders recorded two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Smith got the scoring started for the Tribe with a one-yard rush, before the Keydets bounced back on a 74-yard pass from Joey Gibson to Pedro Garcia. A 19-yard field goal by Greg Kuehn (Potomac Falls, VA) put the Tribe up 10-7, before VMI evened the score on a 23-yard field goal by Matt Sharpe.

On the next Tribe possession, Hargrove broke through with the long run to break the tie for good. Gibson completed a 9-yard pass to T.J. Snelling just before the half to narrow the score to 34-17, but the Tribe came out quickly in the second half. Smith found a hole and scored from 29 yards out, and then found paydirt again from five yards out later in the quarter to put W&M up 48-17.

The final two Tribe scores both involved sophomore quarterback Lang Campbell (Winchester, VA). Bratton recorded his first career touchdown reception on a 29-yard catch and run from Campbell in the fourth quarter, and then Campbell followed that up with a three-yard touchdown run after W&M recovered a fumbled punt deep in VMI territory.

The game marked the third straight that Corley threw for two or more touchdowns.

The Tribe moves to 1-2 with the victory, while VMI drops to 2-1 after the loss. William and Mary has a bye next week before returning to action on September 28th against Delaware at Zable Stadium.