"We continue to work together, remain united," said VMI head coach Danny Rocco.

The Keydets failed to sustain a rhythm in their latest home game with the Spartans.

The Tribe has now won their last 11 games against the Keydets.

"Our relationships are a lot different, a lot stronger," Rocco said.

The extension will keep Rocco in Lexington through the 2028 season.

Coach Danny Rocco earns first victory as VMI head coach.

VMI opens Rocco era with Davidson on Saturday

The VMI basketball team fought its way to contention the entire contest but ultimately fell to host American University by a 69-61 score Tuesday night at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.

VMI Athletics announced Danny Rocco as its new head football coach on Saturday.

Jameson Wang threw two touchdowns — both to William Enneking — and Cornell held off VMI’s late rally for a 28-22 win on Saturday in the Big Red’s season opener.

VMI notched their first win of the season over the weekend, taking out Bucknell. The Keydets showed a balanced run game, led by a guy that should be pretty familiar to 1st and 10 fans.

Keydets opened up to a 24-0 lead on their way to a 24-14 victory.

Coach Scott Wachenheim felt good about how his team competed with FBS/ACC contender Wake Forest.

The southwest Virginia talent on the Keydets roster continues to form a unique bond, making a home away from home.

Scott Wachenheim made some coaching changes in the spring, promoting former wide receivers coach Patrick Ashford to offensive coordinator, and hiring Nick Reveiz as defensive coordinator. After a spring of learning, the Keydets have put their knowledge to the test. Utilizing full pads on the sixth day of camp, and showing what they know during live periods Saturday morning.

The summer camp is in its first session of the summer at William Fleming High School.

Sophomore QB Seth Morgan is working at his craft this spring, with a big improvement on his agenda.

Trey Bonham led the Keydets with 26 points.

The Keydets overcame a second half deficit to take a slim lead late.

Spartans used a 9-0 run in the second half on their way to a 72-56 victory under first-year coach Mike Jones.

Senior wide receiver Michael Jackson had 13 receptions for 177 receiving yards.

The Keydets trailed 38-20 before rallying back for the 46-45 victory.

Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene.

The Terriers and Keydets combined for 394 yards rushing.

Coach Scott Wachenheim has likened Jakob Herres route running abilities to that of Chris Cooley.

The Keydets picked up where they left off in that historic spring season, earning a 45-24 victory.

The Keydets are coming off of a historic spring after winning the Southern Conference Championship and earning their first FCS playoff berth in school history.

Virginia Military Institute head football coach Scott Wachenheim has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Lexington through the 2025 season.

The Keydets are coming off that spring season SoCon title, and auto bid into the FCS playoffs.
VMI put four players onto the first team All-SoCon preseason team this fall.
First team honorees include senior receiver Jacob Herres, offensive lineman Marshall Gill, defensive back Ethan Caselberry, and Linebacker Stone Snyder. The Keydets are the defending champs but they are not the favorites to repeat, as the media has chosen them second and the coaches poll has them third.

Wachenheim led the Keydets to a 6-2 overall record for the year, the program's first SoCon title in 43 years (1977) and the program's first-ever FCS playoff appearance.

Hokies score three runs in the 5th inning and three more in the 7th to earn the 7-5 victory.

The Keydets claimed the Southern Conference title this season for the first time since 1977.

This will be VMI's first appearance in the FCS Playoffs.

A late turnover cost the Keydets an opportunity for a comeback win.

VMI ranked for the first time as an FCS competitorLEXINGTON, Va. – The Keydets are nationally ranked for the first time since joining the FCS college football classification, checking in at No. This comes on the heels of a Saturday home win over Mercer, 41-14, a team VMI had never beat at home. “The VMI football team is honored that our efforts have been seen as worthy of inclusion in the FCS Top 25 poll,” said VMI head coach Scott Wachenheim. AdIn 1982, VMI was reclassified into the Division I-AA ranks which later became the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). It never attained a national ranking as an FCS member, but did receive votes in 1991, 2002, and 2019.

LEXINGTON, Va. – Reece Udinski ran for two touchdowns and threw for another and VMI beat Mercer 41-14. VMI is off to its first 3-0 start since 1981 and snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bears. “I think that the running game helped us out with the throwing game. Udinksi was 26-of-36 passing for 242 yards, including a 27-yard score to Leroy Thomas for a 34-0 third-quarter lead. Ethan Dirrim caught two touchdown passes for Mercer in the fourth quarter.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Neftali Alvarez scored 23 points, making a trio of 3-pointers, and seventh-seeded Mercer defeated Southern Conference tournament upstart VMI 73-59 in the semifinal round. After upsetting second-seeded Wofford in the quarterfinals, Mercer (18-10) will meet top-seeded UNC Greensboro in Monday’s championship game. The Bears have reached the semifinals once before in 2015, but never the title game. Myles Lewis led the Keydets with 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting and also pulled down 14 rebounds. Mercer’s bench also proved to be a factor, tallying 20 points to VMI’s three points from the reserves.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Jake Stephens scored 25 points as VMI narrowly beat Furman 91-90 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament. Greg Parham added 21 points and Trey Bonham had 14 points for VMI. Myles Lewis added 13 points. Noah Gurley scored a career-high 30 points plus seven rebounds and seven assists for the Paladins. The wins puts VMI in the SoCon semifinals for the first time since 2003.

Korey Bridy ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns to lead VMI to a 30-7 victory over Western Carolina. It was the second straight win for VMI (2-0, 2-0 Southern Conference), which opened its season with a 14-13 victory over then-No. VMI rushed for 199 yards as a team while Reece Udinski and Seth Morgan combined for 293 yards passing. While as a team, VMI racked up 6 tackles for loss. Saturday’s win was the first time VMI had defeated Western Carolina since 1991 and it was the first ever Keydets win in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI football team scored one of the biggest wins in program history Saturday with a 14-13 upset of #10-ranked Furman University from Foster Stadium. VMI took a 14-13 lead with 17 seconds left in the third quarter on a three-play, 86-yard touchdown drive. The VMI defense stopped three Paladin drives in the fourth quarter, one on a fourth-down stop, one on a punt and the last on a fumble with 47 seconds left with Furman threatening at the VMI 24. Furman got on the scoreboard first 3:53 into the contest on a Hamp Sisson to Wayne Anderson pass. VMI (1-0) travels to Western Carolina University next Saturday for a SoCon matchup at 1 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.

LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI held an eight point lead at halftime, setting up a momentous second half where they had a 32-9 run, on its way to a 85-56 win over Samford. The 29-point win is the largest conference victory under head coach Dan Earl as the Keydets moved to 10-1 at home this season. We did a pretty decent job against a team that presses,” Earl said. “I thought we also did a pretty decent job of playing with a big lead and time left. His nice for him to get a milestone like this,” said coach Earl.

Lexington, Va. – VMI’s spring football season practice schedule opened Friday afternoon at 430. The Keydets will be working out for three weeks ahead of their first contest, set for Februrary 20th at Chattanooga. “We want to play as many games as possible here at VMI. VMI quarterback Reece Udinski opens the spring season as the SoCon preseason offensive player of the year in voting by the league’s nine coaches. They are picked 6th this spring season.

Parham posted his third straight 20-point+ effort and Conway garnered career highs both in points and rebounds with 13 while hitting a career-high seven 3-point shots. VMI converted 26-of-30 free throws including 14-of-16 over the last 5:37 to hold off a Citadel rally. VMI moved to 7-1 on the season after leading at the half and out rebounding a foe. VMI HEAD COACH DAN EARL –”Preparing for The Citadel takes years off your life because they are so hard to prepare for. They (The Citadel) can certainly shoot the ball and we had some guys have some tremendous games scoring the ball.

LEXINGTON, Va. – Jake Stephens had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead five VMI players in double figures as the Keydets ended their seven-game losing streak, topping The Citadel 88-79. Garrett Gilkeson added 16 points for the Keydets. Myles Lewis chipped in 12, Sean Conway scored 12 and Greg Parham had 10. Kaiden Rice led the Bulldogs with 17 points.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Devin Wynn rushed for 102 yards and scored five touchdowns as Furman routed VMI 60-21 on Saturday. Thomas Gordon had 10 receptions for 148 yards and Sisson was 17-of-22 passing for 277 yards and the two scores. Furman took an early 15-0 lead on two 1-yard runs by Wynn but VMI responded with Reece Udinski's 45-yard TD pass to Jakob Herres and Alex Ramsey's 49-yard run. Wynn scored on two more short runs and Furman led 32-21 at halftime before blanking the Keydets (4-6, 3-4) in the second half. Udinski was 23 of 34 for 213 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for VMI.

Alan Tisdale #34 of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates with teammates after defeating the Miami Hurricanes. Hokies defy odds in winVirginia Tech gave up 563 yards of total offense and blew a 28-point lead at Miami last Saturday, but still managed to earn what might prove to be a legacy-preserving win. Miami drove down to the Virginia Tech 10-yard line in the waning seconds, but an incompletion as time expired ended the game. For one week anyway, the hot seat for Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente didn't get any hotter. It was also VMI's first win at The Citadel since 1995, since the last win over The Citadel in 2002 came at a neutral site in Charlotte.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - CHARLETSTON, S.C. (AP) - Reece Udinski threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Jakob Herres late in the game to help VMI snap a 12-game losing skid against The Citadel with a 34-21 victory on Saturday. Udinski threw three touchdown passes and was 25 of 35 for 335 yards. He also stretched his SoCon single season record to 252 consecutive passes without an interception. Herres had eight catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Rainey was 19 of 34 for 233 yards passing and ran for three short-yardage touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Udinski set a VMI school record for passing attempts with 60 during the game as he completed a career-high 27 attempts and threw for a career-high 305 yards. He broke the former record of 57 set by quarterback Joey Gibson against ETSU in 2001. The last time a VMI QB threw for 300 yards was October 31, 2015, when Al Cobb threw for 370 against Wofford. Things picked up for VMI in the second quarter when Quan Myers capped a 15-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard run at the 14:00 mark. Seconds later, the VMI defense stepped up when Devin Carper intercepted a pass at the ETSU 15-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown to put VMI up, 14-7.

LEXINGTON, Va. – Year three of the Scott Wachenheim VMI rebuilding project is underway in Lexington. The Keydets did see two-year starting quarterback Al Cobb depart. Wachenheim says a leading candidate under center is Salem product Austin Coulling. "He's got extremely strong arm and he's worked hard for the opportunity to take over starting quarterback when Al Cobb graduated. "I think I'm the only one with game experience but you know we help each other out as much as possible.