To sum it up, this win defined Army Black Knights’ football. Yes, we can nitpick of the Coulda Woulda Shoulda, but we will save that for Gordon Larson’s Weekly Monday Morning Quarterback feature.

What we saw to the VERY LAST SECOND was a resilient Army football team, who offensively utilized the fullback foursome lead by Ja’Kobi Buchanan, who bulled and barreled over and through the Missouri defense. Of course, the occasion and effective passing and option pitches balanced out the offense. On the other side of the ball, Army’s defense demonstrated a “bend, but don’t break” mentality, making timely plays, some leading to turnovers or timely stops.

And how fitting was in the end, with just seconds remaining on the clock, that kicker Cole Talley, showed his own re resilience by kicking the game-winning field goal, after missing one earlier in the game.

•Army was only 5/14 on 3rd down but went 5/5 on 4th down conversions.

•Army’s “3 Amigo’s” at Quarterback (Christian Anderson, Tyhier Tyler, and Jabari Laws) went 6/9 for 95 yards and a touchdown.

•Army’s fullbacks ran for 134 yards on 34 carries. This return to traditional Army power football was a welcome sight for the Army faithful.

•Zach Harding once again showed why he may be Army’s MVP, punting 3 times for a 44-yard average. Harding stuck all 3 punts inside the 20-yard line, including one punt that was downed at the Missouri 2.

•MLB Arik Smith was the defensive MVP of the Armed Forces Bowl with 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

•Army forced 1 fumble and didn’t turn the ball over. As we said in our preview article, this would probably be a recipe for success.

•Missouri rushed for 195 yards and 5.3 yards/carry average. In the first half, Mizzou was gashing the Army defense for multiple long runs.

•Both teams played “Army football.” Mizzou controlled the clock for over 18 minutes in the first half. Then, in the second half, Army turned the tables and controlled time of possession for over 20 minutes. In the third quarter, each team had only one possession!

•Army is now 4-0 in the Armed Forces Bowl (2010, 2017, 2018, 2021)

•Tonight marked Coach Jeff Monken’s first win over a Power 5 school since 2017 and the third overall in his tenure.

Army starts slow and Mizzou opens with a touchdown

•The Black Knights won the toss and deferred to the second half.In the Armed Forces Bowl, the team that has won the coin toss has now won seven straight games.

•Behind Freshman Quarterback Brady Cook, and second-string Running Backs Elijah Young and Dawson Downing, Mizzou marched right down the field and scored on a 30-yard option keeper by Cook to take a 7-0 lead.

•Army answered with a classic, fullback heavy, 13-play, 49-yard drive that ended in a missed 43-yard field goal by Cole Talley. Before the field goal, Army was moving the ball effectively and had a 2nd and 4 before a false start penalty backed them up and forced them to settle for a field goal attempt.

•On Missouri’s next possession, after more effective running by Cook, Downing, and Young, the Tigers looked poise to take a 14-0 lead when they reached the Army 1-yard line. Army’s defense stiffened and forced a 3-yard loss on 2nd and goal and Andre Carter sacked Cook on 3rd and goal to force a 22-yard Harrison Mevis field goal to put Missouri ahead 10-0 at the end of the 1st quarter.

Army scores quick and Mizzou gets two more field goals to take a 16-7 lead into halftime

•Army scored on a 6-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by a Christian Anderson to slotback Tyrell Robinson 42-yard pass to start the drive. Christian Anderson scored on a 22-yard run/pass option bootleg and Ja’Kobi Buchanan threw a key block to spring Anderson for the touchdown.

•On Missouri’s next possession, they continued to pound the rock with Downing and Young. They went 67 yards in 16 plays but bogged down in the red zone again and were forced to settle for a 25-yard Mevis field goal to take a 13-7 lead.

•Army went 3-and-out on their next series and Zach Harding boomed a 55-yard punt to the Mizzou 15-yard line.

•The Tigers mixed runs and passes to go 64 yards in 11 plays and Mevis came on for his third field goal of the half to put Missouri ahead 16-7 heading into halftime.

•Army received the 2nd Half kickoff and started their first possession on their own 25-yard line after another fair catch by Robinson. The Black Knights proceeded to do what they do best and took 8:25 off the clock on a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. This was a fullback heavy drive that concluded with a 10-yard Ja’Kobi Buchanan touchdown run after Christian Anderson hurt his ankle and Tyhier Tyler came in at Quarterback.

•On Mizzou’s next possession, they began moving the ball down the field with relative ease again but Coach Woody’s defense stiffened around midfield this time. When Mizzou got to the Army 43-yard line on 4th and inches, the Army defense stuffed Dawson Downing for a 1-yard loss to create a turnover on downs and Army took over on their own 44-yard line in great field position.

• 3rd quarter ended on a Ja’Kobi Buchanan 4th and 2 conversion from the Missouri 48-yard line.

Army takes the lead; Missouri scores late to take it back; and Jabari Laws and Cole Talley combine to give Army a storybook victory

•The Black Knights moved the ball down the field with a series of fullback dives and a few runs by QB Tyhier Tyler. Mizzou’s defense stiffened in the red zone and the Black Knights were forced into a 4th and 2.After an Army timeout, the analytics were a “go” for Coach Monken and the Black Knights. OC Brent Davis dialed up a rollout pass for Tyler, and he hit a wide-open Brandon Walters in the end zone to take a 21-16 lead with only 10:20 remaining in the contest.

•Missouri got the ball back after the Army kickoff and began moving. When they got to their own 47-yard line Safety Marquel Broughton stripped Dawson Downing and Andre Carter recovered the fumble to give Army the ball in plus territory at the Missouri 48.

•Army had a chance to salt the game away but went 3-and-out. Thankfully, Zach Harding came in and hit another near-perfect punt to pin Missouri on their 2-yard line.

• After one first down, on 3rd and 10, Arik Smith sacked Cook for an 8-yard loss, forcing the Tigers to punt.

•Army regained possession at their own 40-yard line with 3:48 remaining. Again, they went 3-and-out and punted the ball back to the Tigers who took over on their own 17-yard line with 2:44 left to try and go ahead with a touchdown.

•Mizzou passed their way right down the field and capped their go-ahead, 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive with a Cook – Keke Chism 6-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point try failed and Missouri led 22-21 with 1:11 remaining.

•Army fair caught the kickoff and started their drive on the 25-yard line with 2 timeouts and needing a field goal to win. Jabari Laws came in at quarterback for the Black Knights and after a QB draw for a first down and a few completions to WR Isaiah Alston, Laws had the Black Knights in field goal range. K Cole Talley came in to make a 41-yard field goal as time expired to give the victory to Army, 24-22.

Army opened this game as a 7-point favorite after it revealed that Missouri was missing a number of key starters including star RB Tyler Badie who Coach Drinkwitz sat to prepare for the NFL draft. Coach Drinkwitz also made the decision to start Freshman QB Brady Cook over the more experience Connor Bazelak.

Drinkwitz had a great game plan for his Freshman QB. He kept the ball on the ground and tried to win the time of possession battle and gash Army’s defense for long runs. He also kept Cook’s throws and reads simple and low-risk.

Anyone who thought this would be a walk in the park for Army was shown immediately that even backup SEC talent and speed is on an entirely different level. For much of the night, Missouri’s offensive line dominated Army’s front seven, with Andre Carter and Arik Smith being the lone bright spots for Army’s front seven. Cedrick Cunningham and Marquel Broughton had maybe their best games of the season as both of them were involved in key play after key play coming up from the secondary.

After a lot of talk after the game against the other academy about “culture,” Coach Monken mentioned in his post-game presser that this win showed what Army culture was all about. Army “weathered the storm” and overcame multiple momentum shifts to come away with the victory.

This win was particularly special for Army fans because of the way it ended. It was truly a “made for Hollywood movie script,” as QB Jabari Laws confirmed in the press conference. Laws went from being Army’s starter in 2019 to overcoming two torn ACLs to come into the Armed Forces Bowl with 1:11, 2-time outs, and needing to drive down the field to set up Cole Talley’s game-winning field goal. Jabari didn’t disappoint.

As a GBK writer and analyst, I can honestly say it has been an absolute pleasure to interview Jabari all season long. He has always had a super positive attitude, a contagious smile, and is always as respectful as you would expect a West Point cadet to be. I am very excited Jabari got to end his career this way. No, this doesn’t make up for the Navy loss, but sometimes, the good guys win.

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