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2012 National Championship Team
VALDOSTA STATE 35, WINSTON-SALEM STATE 7 BRALY STADIUM, FLORENCE, ALA. DECEMBER 15, 2012
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FLORENCE, Ala. - Valdosta State used a dominating defensive performance to claim its third national championship as the Blazers upended previously unbeaten Winston-Salem State 35-7 in Braly Stadium.
The Blazers set the tone from the opening seconds of the game as Matt Pierce fielded the kickoff and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown. After a turnover on downs by the Rams, VSU marched 63 yards on eight plays to score when Cedric O’Neal burst through the line and ran 24 yards for the first of three rushing touchdowns by VSU on the day.
Cayden Cochran added a one-yard run to finish off a 13-play, 72-yard drive in the second quarter as Valdosta State built a 21-0 halftime lead. The shutout marked the first time in the 2012 season that WSSU had not scored in a half. The VSU defense allowed 249 yards of offense in the first half, but also came up with wo turnovers and sacked Ram quarterback Kameron Smith three times to thwart any scoring opportunity.
Winston-Salem State got on the board on its second drive of the third quarter as it marched 80 yards on eight plays. VSU almost stopped the scoring drive as Dominique Wheeler, who ended the previous Ram possession with an interception, just missed coming up with his second picked-off pass of the half. Five plays later, Smith hooked up with Jameze Massey from 29 yards out to close WSSU to within 14 points.
The Rams threatened to close to within a touchdown on their ensuing drive as they marched to the VSU 1, however, Jeremy Grable stripped Smith of the ball on a quarterback keeper and VSU recovered to perserve its lead.
The turnover spurred VSU’s longest scoring drive of the year as the Blazers took the ball and moved it 80 yards on 17 plays while taking 7:30 off of the clock. The VSU running game picked up 50 yards on the drive while Cochran found Quin Roberson from 17 yards out for the eventual score that pushed the VSU lead to 28-7.
A muffed punt led to a Cochran 1-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring with 3:32 to go in the game.
Overall, the Valdosta State defense came up with six turnovers, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries, in the game and recorded five sacks, including two by Tyler Josey. The Blazer offense tallied 316 total yards, 140 of which came on the ground from O’Neal. VSU totaled 207 rushing yards in the game, the most surrendered by Winston-Salem State on the season.
The victory capped off a run of 10 straight wins for Valdosta State.
Individual Statistical Leaders
Rushing: VSU - O’Neal 24-140/td; Scott 11-38; Cochran 8-14/2td. WSSU - Lewis 16-58; Sherman 4-28; Smith 12-17. Passing: VSU - Cochran 18-26-0, 109yds/td. WSSU - Smith 16-37-2, 269yds/ td. Receiving: VSU - Roberson 6-38/td; Lewis 6-24; O’Neal 2-24. WSSU - Massey 9-168/td; Butler 4-69; Brantley 2-42. Defense: VSU - Pope 10tckls/1tfl/1fr; Pierce 5tckls/2pbu; Josey 5tckls/4tfl/2sacks. WSSU - Owens 12tckls/1tfl/1sack/1pbu; Fields 10tckls/1tfl/1sack; Rowe 8tckls/2pbu.
Team
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Valdosta State 14 7 0 14 35 Winston-Salem State 0 0 7 0 7
VSU
Team Stats
First Downs Rushing Attempts Net Rushing Yards Comp. - Att. Passing Yards Total Plays - Yards Sacks By - Yards Interceptions - Yards Fumbles - Lost Penalties - Yards Punts - Average Yards Third Down Conversions Time of Possession
WSSU
The Road to Florence
Second Round - Valdosta State 49, West Alabama 21
Valdosta State exacted revenge for one of its two regular season losses as the Blazers defeated West Alabama 49-21 ... The Tigers jumped out to an early lead as they scored two touchdowns in the first 6:19 of play ... VSU evened the game with two second quarter touchdowns, only to have UWA score its third touchdown right before the half for a 21-14 halftime edge ... The Blazers dominated the remainder of the game, with Austin Scott and Cedric O’Neal combining for five touchdowns while limiting West Alabama to just 61 yards of total offense in the second half.
Valdosta State tallied 525 yards of total offense to defeat Carson-Newman 48-26 ... The two teams traded scores in the first half, with Carson-Newman scoring the final 10 points of the frame for a 20-14 halftime lead ... The Tigers opened the second half by wrapping a pair of field goals around a Seantavious Jones touchdown for VSU, but did not crack the scoreboard again while Valdosta State got four more touchdowns ... The Blazers passed for 246 yards and rushed for 279 more ... Meanwhile, after tallying 338 yards of offense in the first 37 minutes, CNU got just 58 over the remaining 23 minutes of action.
In a game of one of the nation’s top offenses versus one of the nation’s top defenses, Valdosta State tallied 498 yards of offense to defeat Minnesota State-Mankato 35-19 ... The total yardage marked the most surrendered by MSU all season as the Mavericks entered the game ranked third nationally as it allowed 267.7 yards a game ... Minnesota State-Mankato jumped out to an early 10-0 lead only to have VSU respond with 21 straight points ... After MSU’s second field goal of the game, the Blazers added a touchdown run by Cayden Cochran to seal the victory.
2012 National Championship Bracket
