Adams, Spencer lead Western Carolina victory

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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.