In the span of a week, Army went from the low of lows to a Rocky Mountain High.
On a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon at the old Mile High Stadium, the Black Knights posted as significant a victory as they have in the last half-century.
Army scored on its first three possessions and stunned a partisan Air Force crowd of over 50,000 by seizing a 17-0 lead over the first 13 minutes. The rest of the game played out much like service academy games have in recent years, two teams slugging it out as Army held on for a 23-3 victory over a Falcons team that was 8-0 and ranked No. 17 by the Associated Press and No. 25 by the College Football Playoff committee.
This is Army’s first win over an AP-ranked team in 53 tries since 1972 when the cadets beat Air Force. It’s only the second time Air Force has failed to score a touchdown in the last 20 years; the other was the Fog Bowl at West Point won by Army 10-7 during the 2020 COVID season. It was also the first time an Army team led a Top-25 team by at least 20 points since the 45-8 win over No. 18 South Carolina in September 1958.
The postseason is out of the question for Army (3-6) but now all it has to do is beat Navy on December 9 in Foxborough, Mass., and the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy returns to West Point for the first time since 2020.
It was a turn of fates for the Black Knights, who owned the nation’s worst turnover margin (-11) over the past five games, all losses. In this clash, Army recovered four fumbles and Bo Nicolas-Paul had two interceptions – Air Force had entered the game with only five turnovers.
Army’s offense, which had been woeful for three weeks, played brilliantly in the opening quarter. Junior Bryson Daily returned as the starting quarterback, though his numbers resembled more like a working man’s runner: career highs of 36 carries and 170 yards. The big one was a 62-yard scamper on the fourth snap of the game, outracing two secondary defenders.
Air Force’s vaunted rushing offense, at 300 yards per game, was held to just 155. The Falcons were stopped on a fourth-down-and-1 at their own 33 on their opening drive. The failed gamble resulted in a 45-yard field goal by Quinn Maretzki 83 seconds later for a 10-0 lead.
Air Force quarterback Zac Larrier had a forgettable game: he completed only nine of 22 throws for 93 yards and he was held to 45 net yards on 20 carries.
On the first drive Larrier had the ball slip out of his hand as he cocked for a throw and Nicolas-Paul swept in for the fumble recovery. Army followed with a typical drive by an option-based team, rolling 43 yards on 11 plays and Daily going off the right side from 5 yards for the stunning 17-0 lead with 1:53 left in the opening stanza.
Maretzki added a 40-yard field goal less than two minutes into the second quarter and a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the first half – a Nicolas-Paul interception at midfield with 19 seconds left set up the latter.
Army was coming off setbacks to Syracuse (29-16), Boston College (27-24), Troy (19-0), LSU (62-0) and last weekend to previously 1-7 UMass (21-14).
Army hosts Holy Cross (6-3) from the Football Championship Series on Nov. 11 and Coastal Carolina (6-3) on Nov. 18. Navy is 3-5 following a 32-18 loss at Temple on Saturday.
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
(a story update is coming soon)
2023-11-05 01:08:24
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