Box Score LEXINGTON, Va. – On a rainy Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team was defeated 17-14 by VMI as both teams opened Southern Conference play at Foster Stadium. The Terriers scored first, but the Keydets had a 14-7 lead at the half. Wofford outgained the Keydets, but two lost fumbles and eleven penalties hindered the Terriers.  
 
Wofford opens the season at 0-3 and 0-1 in the Southern Conference, while VMI is 2-2 overall and 1-0 in league play. The game was played in heavy rain from tropical storm Ophelia The Terriers were led by Ryan Ingram with 136 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Keydets were led by Hunter Rice with 90 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with a passing touchdown.
 
"There was a lot of adversity with the weather and it got sloppy for both teams," said head coach Shawn Watson. "Those are things you just have to fight through. I am proud of the guys for the way they fought all the way to the end and we were driving on the last play with a chance to win. The weather limited our passing game but Pauly Seeley played well in his first game and made some plays. Ryan Ingram had a great game and the guys up front played well at times.
 
The Keydets had the ball first and after a first down a deep pass was intercepted by Maximus Pulley. Wofford had a rushing first down, but were forced to punt. VMI took over at the eight-yard line and after a sack had to punt. Amir Annoor returned the punt to the 30-yard line. Ryan Ingram rushed for a first down and then had a five-yard touchdown run to give Wofford a 7-0 lead with 5:40 on the clock in the first qua­­rter. With the ball back, the Keydets responded with a nine-play drive that covered 75 yards and ended with a seven-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 at 1:06 in the opening quarter.
 
Wofford then had first down passes to Devin Mathews and Jordan Davis to move across midfield before punting. VMI then went three-and-out, followed by Wofford gaining one first down and punting. After the Keydets had a first down, they punted back to the Terriers with 3:33 left in the opening half. Wofford went three-and-out and punted, with the Keydets taking over at the 47-yard line. They had four rushing first downs to give them first-and-goal from the six-yard line with 30 seconds remaining. A personal foul penalty on a play where Wofford intercepted the ball in the endzone gave the Keydets a first down at the three-yard line. A quick pass resulted in a three-yard touchdown reception and a 14-7 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the half.
 
To open the second half as heavy rain poured down, Wofford had a big play when Pauly Seeley found Kyle Pinnix for a 46-yard completion. The Terriers fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Keydets at the 14-yard line. After a 27-yard first down run, VMI fumbled on third down and they had to punt. Wofford then went three-and-out and punted, which was followed by a three-and-out by the Keydets. On the first play after the punt, Wofford fumbled and the ball was recovered at the nine-yard line. The Terrier defense held the Keydets to a 25-yard field goal as they took a 17-7 lead with 4:09 on the clock in the third quarter. Wofford went three-and-out and punted.
 
After VMI had one first down, they punted on the first play of the fourth quarter. Wofford went three-and-out for the fourth time in the game and punted. The Keydets then went three-and-out and the Terriers began their next drive at the 20-yard line. Once again the Terriers went three-and-out, which was followed by a three-and-out by the Keydets with 7:29 left in the game. On the first play of the ensuing drive by Wofford, Ryan Ingram went up the middle for an 83-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-14 at the 7:16 mark of the quarter. Maximus Pulley intercepted Collin Ironside at the 25-yard line to give the Terriers the ball back. A penalty negated a first down and the Terriers lined up for a 34-yard field goal. A bad snap prevented the kick and the Keydets took over at the 24-yard line. The Wofford defense forced a three-and-out and they took over at the 21-yard line with 2:20 left on the clock. A first down pass to Kyle Pinnix and a first down pass to Kyle Parsons moved the ball to midfield with 59 seconds left. Faced with a fourth-and-three with 21 seconds remaining, a pass was complete to Rickie Shaw for the first down. On second down with eight seconds left, an intentional grounding penalty called for a 10 second run-off and the game ended.
 
Wofford had a season-high 343 total yards, with 180 passing yards. VMI had 216 total yards, with 154 of those rushing yards. Both teams had 12 first downs. Wofford was 0-of-10 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down. VMI was 3-of-13 on third down. Wofford was called for eleven penalties and VMI was called for just one in the game. The Keydets had a 32:22 to 27:38 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. VMI Post-Game Notes
This was the 27^th meeting between the two teams, dating back to 1924. Wofford holds a 14-13 lead in the series after the Keydets have won three of the last four meetings.
 
Pauly Seeley made his first career start at quarterback.
 
The 83-yard touchdown run by Ryan Ingram was the longest of his career and the 12^th longest in school history.
 
Ingram ran for 136 yards, marking his first career 100-yard rushing game.
 
Maximus Pulley had his first two career interceptions. It was the first time a Terrier had two interceptions in a game since George Gbesee had two in 2017 against Western Carolina.
 
On defense, David Powers led the team with 13 tackles, followed by Eli Purcell and Brandon Maina with ten each. Chuck Smith had one sack for the Terriers.
 
Wofford is back home next Saturday when the Terriers host Chattanooga at 6:00 p.m. at Gibbs Stadium.   
 
Game captains were Bryson Dickerson, Ryan Ingram, Eli Purcell and C.J. Tillman.
 
Attendance at Foster Stadium was 3,787.