Campbell's Aerial Assault Leads Gardner-Webb To 34-27 Win Over VMI
October 25, 2008 | Football
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb senior Devin Campbell
unleashed an aerial assault on Virginia Military Saturday
afternoon, passing for a career-best 392 yards and three touchdowns
as the Runnin' Bulldogs posted a 34-27 league win.
Campbell completed 16-of-22 passes for 224 yards and a pair of
scores in the first half as Gardner-Webb (4-4, 1-1 Big South)
staked itself to a comfortable 24-6 lead at intermission. The
Greenville, S.C., senior hit Dobson Collins on a 51-yard touchdown
play down the left sideline with 4:02 to play in the third for a
34-13 Bulldog lead, which would hold.
Campbell finished with 28-of-38 for 392 yards and three touchdowns,
including two to Collins – who caught nine passes for 139
yards on the day. Lyndon Leslie scored on a 22-yard pass play from
Campbell in the second quarter for the Bulldogs' other aerial
score.
VMI (3-4, 1-1 Big South) controlled the clock for much of the
fourth quarter, as a handful of costly holding penalties on
Gardner-Webb snuffed out no fewer than three more big gains through
the air – including one 40-yarder deep into Keydet territory.
A 30-yard scamper by Gabe Itoka with 11:36 cut Gardner-Webb's lead
to 34-20 with 11:36 in the game, and the Keydets drove 98 yards to
put up its final score with 1:51 remaining – but needed 7:08
to get downfield.
"We needed to get a conference win under our belts, and our kids
did a great job of coming out and playing hard today," said GWU
head coach Steve Patton. "If not for some costly penalties in the
second half we could've put some more points on the board, but we
controlled the football well and were really able to keep VMI off
the field for long stretches until the fourth quarter. Defensively,
we made some plays when we had to, and those blocked kicks early
(two by Cedric McGowan) set the tone for us with momentum."
Gardner-Webb piled up 456 yards and did a solid job of holding onto
the football, finishing with no turnovers and 29:48 in possession
time against the Keydets' ball-control option.
Campbell completed passes to nine different receivers in the game,
another season-high for the 6-foot-4, 196-pounder. In addition to
Collins' big day, the Bulldogs had fine efforts by James Perry III
(5 catches, 67 yards) David Montgomery (4-39, Nick Melton (3-28),
Lyndon Leslie (2-39, TD) and Jamal Patmon (2-22). Philip Peoples
led the GWU ground game with 40 yards on 11 attempts, as the
‘Dogs stuck mostly to the air game until the second half.
Campbell's passing numbers were the highest for a Gardner-Webb
quarterback since Jeremy Martin passed for 403 yards and four
touchdowns on Nov. 11, 2000, when GWU upset then No. 23 New
Hampshire on the road. His passing yardage marked a new season-high
for a player in the Big South Conference this season. It was the
fifth-best yardage game ever by a Big South quarterback.
VMI had its success on the ground, but was held under its
national-leading average by 30 yards – and racked up 126 of
its final tally in the fourth quarter. The Keydets rushed 52 times
for 321 yards, with quarterback Tim Maypray leading the way with
145 yards on 25 carries. Maypray had a costly fumble in the third
quarter just across midfield, which led to Gardner-Webb's 51-yard
scoring strike through the air. Maypray finished 2-for-4 through
the air for 53 yards and a 46-yard scoring pass to Michael
Rainey-Wiles. VMI finished with 388 yards of total offense, but its
defense allowed Gardner-Webb to convert 8-of-14 third downs and
record 24 first downs on the day.
Gardner-Webb's defense had another fine afternoon from Jeffrey
Williams, who topped last week's career-high by making 19 stops (10
solo) to go with a sack and two tackles for loss. Williams has 36
tackles in two career games against VMI. Marty Patterson added 10
hits and Cedric McGowan made his presence felt by blocking a field
goal, an extra point and recovering a fumble to go with seven
tackles.
VMI was paced defensively by Kyle Nikmard, who finished with nine
tackles.
Gardner-Webb will now head to the Empire State for its next league
game, as the ‘Dogs trek to battle Stony Brook on Saturday,
Nov. 1, at 3 pm ET on Long Island.
NOTES: Dobson Collins has caught 53 passes for 658 yards and seven
touchdowns this season, two more catches than he had in 11 games a
year ago during an All-Big South campaign ... Collins has caught 31
passes for 446 yards and five scores in his last four games this
season ... Devin Campbell is 55-of-79 for 701 yards, five
touchdowns and no interceptions in the Bulldogs' last three games
(165.04 efficiency rating) ... Jeffrey Williams has made 37 tackles
in the past two games, and leads Gardner-Webb with 81 tackles on
the season (10.1 per game) ... GWU is now 6-0 in the all-time
series vs. VMI ... Philip Peoples topped the 1,000-yard rushing
mark for his career, and now has 220 attempts for 1036 yards and
nine scores in three seasons ... Peoples leads GWU with 545 yards
rushing in 2008 ... Lyndon Leslie's 22-yard scoring reception was
the first of his career ... Ryan Gates made a pair of field goals
vs. VMI, giving him 13 makes on the season – which is just six
shy of a 21-year old single-season school record ... His 13 field
goals are the most ever by a GWU freshman, and is a freshman record
for the Big South Conference.
| Box Score: GWU 34, VMI 27 |
