Three VMI Interceptions Hand Samford an Easy 45-7 Win
Three interceptions. That was the game. VMI threw three picks, passed for just 61 yards, and lost 45-7 at Samford to fall to 0-4.
The first one set the tone. LaShon Young returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown at 13:36 of the first quarter, barely a minute and a half in. Emerson Russell ran in a 16-yard score late in the quarter, and by halftime Gabarri Johnson had thrown touchdown passes of 23 yards to Marquise Henderson and 16 yards to Preston Bird for a 28-0 lead. It was 35-0 after Johnson's own 1-yard run early in the third and 42-0 after Domonique Thomas ran 13 yards.
VMI's one score was a 5-yard Leo Boehling run with 3:12 left in the third. A 26-yard Ty Ippolito field goal in the fourth ended the scoring. The Keydets did run for 151 yards, but Samford ran for 221, passed for 267 and finished with 488 total yards to VMI's 212.
Six different Samford players scored a touchdown, one of them on defense, and VMI has yet to win this season. Johnson was the quiet star. He completed 22 of 26 passes (that is 85 percent) for 222 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing score. Samford had no turnovers of its own, so there was nothing to take away from this one. The Bulldogs are 1-3, and they will take this one without a lot of questions.
Fantasy owners who played Johnson got a season-high 30.3 points. Henderson added 17.3 and Russell 14, his best game of the year.