WOFFORD at VMI
SATURDAY, September 25, 2021 - 1:300 pm
Foster Stadium
Lexington, Virginia

THE VMI GAME
Wofford opens Southern Conference play on Saturday at defending Southern Conference champion VMI ... The Terriers are 1-1 on the season after a 24-22 road win at Elon to open the season and a 31-10 loss at home to #24 Kennesaw State ... Wofford and VMI have met 24 times, with Wofford leading 13-11 in the series ... In the 2021 spring season the Keydets won 36-31 in Spartanburg on a touchdown with less than a minute remaining to end a streak of eight straight wins by the Terriers in the series ... This season VMI is 2-1 overall  with a home win over Davidson, a loss at Kent State and a 31-21 win at Cornell on Saturday ... VMI was 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the SoCon during the spring season ... They won the 2021 spring Southern Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA FCS playoffs for the first time ... The Keydets are receiving votes in both the Stats Perform FCS Poll and the FCS Coaches Poll.

GAME INFORMATION
Radio - Wofford Digital Network (Jim Noble, Thom Henson and Van Hipp)
TV - ESPN3
Nexstar Network - The Lowcountry's CW (Charleston), North Alabama's CW (Huntsville/Florence), My 12 (Charlotte), The CW Virginia (Lynchburg/Roanoke), CW62 (Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville)
Stats - LINK
VMI Information - LINK
Wofford Game Notes - LINK
Wofford Football Media Guide - LINK
Southern Conference Information - LINK

TERRIER TOP NOTES
Here are the top notes of interest heading into the VMI game:
    • The Terriers return 18 starters from the 2021 spring season, including six on offense, nine on defense and three specialists. Eleven other players who started games also return.
    • Wofford was 64th in the nation in total defense and 34th in the nation in total offense during the spring season.
    • The rushing offense was ranked fifth overall at 232.8  yards per game. Wofford has been ranked in the top ten in rushing offense for 22 straight seasons.  
    • Wofford scored first in all five games during the spring season, but the opponent has scored first in both games this fall.
    • The 2020-21 season marked the end of a streak of three straight Southern Conference Championships and four straight FCS Playoff appearances.
    • The Wofford defense has allowed just ten 100+ yard rushers in the last 82 games.
    • In the SoCon Preseason poll, the Terriers were selected to finish eighth, the lowest since 1999.
    • Four players were recognized by the coaches on Preseason All-SoCon team. First team honors went to DL Micheal Mason and OL Zak Kurz. OL Al Hogan and RB Nathan Walker picked up second team honors.

ABOUT WOFFORD
At quarterback, Jimmy Weirick started all five games, with Peyton Derrick seeing time in four games ... Weirick was 40-of-70 passing for 553 yards and three touchdowns, while Derrick was 12-of-21 with a passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns ... Irvin Mulligan was the leading rusher with 342 yards on 51 carries, while Ryan Lovelace had 277 yards on 56 carries and Nathan Walker had 45 carries for 219 yards - all three top rushers had at least two touchdowns ... The top receiver was KeiAndre Sanders with nine catches for 108 yards ... Tight end Landon Parker had 155 yards on eight catches and two touchdowns ... The offensive line replaced all five starters from the 2019 and only allowed seven sacks (1.4 per game) to rank 20th in the nation ... Linebackers Joe Beckett (35), Brandon Brown (33) and John Beckley (30) were the top tacklers ... Beckley recorded two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss, while Micheal Mason had 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack ... Darron Paschal and Miles Richardson had the two interceptions for the team ... Dawson Henis and Walker Gliarmis handled the placekicking duties, with Atkins Roberts kicking off 21 times and Landon Parker leading the SoCon with a 45.0 yards per punt average.

SOCON OPENERS
The Terriers have won their SoCon opener 15 times as members of the conference, including nine straight (Furman 2010, Samford 2011, Western Carolina 2012, The Citadel 2013 and 2014, Mercer 2015, ETSU 2016, Furman in 2017 and VMI in 2018) before a loss to Samford in 2019. Wofford got back in the win column against Mercer in 2020-21.

COACH JOSH CONKLIN SHOW
Wofford Sports Properties, the multimedia rights partner for Wofford College Athletics, has announced the return of the Coach Josh Conklin Show. The show is part of an expanded selection of coaches shows that began in the spring. The shows, sponsored by R.J. Rockers, are hosted by the voice of the Terriers, Jim Noble. The Josh Conklin Show begins in September and will debut every Monday during the football season. The first episodes of the Jimmy Garrity (women's basketball) and Jay McAuley (men's basketball) will debut in late December. Fans can listen to the "Wofford Terriers Coaches Show" podcast in a variety of ways, including on the iTunes, Amazon, Google and Spotify podcast platforms, along with www.woffordterriers.com/podcast. A video version can be found on YouTube.

GOAL LINE CLUB
Help carry the ball for the Terriers and sign up to be a 2021 Goal Line Club member. Pledge as little as $1 to contribute to an athletic endowed scholarship. Established in 2012, the Goal Line Club has proven hugely successful in helping raise scholarship dollars for the Wofford College Athletics Endowment. Goal Line Club members have donated a combined total of more than $368,538 for the Goal Line Club Endowed Scholarship Fund since the inception of this initiative. Click HERE to donate!

TERRIER CLUB AUCTION
The Terrier Club's annual auction has become known for its one-of-a-kind items, artwork and Wofford memorabilia. This year's auction represents a cornerstone of the Terrier Club's year-long campaign commemorating its 75th anniversary and is a great way to invest in Wofford College student-athletes and their sports programs. Bidding opens at 8 a.m. on Friday, September 17 and will close at noon on Thursday, October 7. In addition to items available for auction this year, Terrier fans will also be able to donate directly to the Wofford athletic team(s) of their choice. To register or to view auction items, click here; there will be weekly updates with new offers throughout.