Adams, Spencer lead Western Carolina victory

LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) Tyrie Adams threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns, Donnavan Spencer rushed for 137 yards and two scores, and Western Carolina held off VMI 43-35 on Saturday.

Spencer's 42-yard touchdown run gave the Catamounts (2-7, 1-5 Southern Conference) a 37-22 lead with 8:06 remaining in the game. VMI (4-5, 3-3) rallied, first scoring on a 10-yard pass from Reece Udinski to Jakob Herres, then a 62-yard hookup from Udinski to Leroy Thomas.

Now leading 37-35, Western Carolina ran out the final 3:10 on the clock. However, with 4th-and-1 at the VMI 42 and needing one play to seal the game, Adams threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Daquan Patten on the final play.

Adams and Spencer connected on a 78-yard TD pass and Adams also hit D.J. Thorpe for a 13-yard score for a 14-13 Western Carolina lead after one quarter and the Catamounts went on to lead 20-19 at halftime.

Spencer and Patten both went over 100 yards receiving, with 110 yards and 103 yards, respectively. Western Carolina had 539 total yards.

Udinski finished 23-of-31 passing with two touchdowns and an interception for VMI. Ramsey had 29 carries for 143 rushing yards with three touchdowns and Herres caught seven passes for 105 yards.