CULLOWHEE, N.C. (AP) Tyree Adams passed for 229 yards and three scores, rushed for 117 more and another touchdown as Western Carolina Catamounts held on for a 52-50 victory over VMI Keydets on Saturday.

The game was the Southern Conference opener for the Catamounts (3-0, 1-0), who are undefeated after three games for the first time since 1976.

This was a nail-biter as the Keydets (0-4, 0-3) scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes, wrapped around an interception, closing to 52-50 when Reece Udinski threw to Jakob Herres on a fourth-and-10 with 22 seconds left in the game. Udinski's two-point conversion pass to Devone Humphrey in the back of the end zone failed.

Udinski threw 72 passes, completing 43, for 491 yards - all single-game records at VMI - and four touchdowns.

VMI led 24-21 at halftime, but early in the third quarter Adams put together back-to-back drives - with TD passes to Nate Mullen and Owen Cosenke - boosting Western Carolina into a 35-24 lead, which it did not relinquish.

Adams moved into fifth place in WCU's career passing yards with 5,461.

-----

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Copyright 2018 by AP. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of AP is strictly prohibited.