It was a cool cloudy day, a good day for football in Ann Arbor as the Black Knights of Army West Point jogged onto the field at Michigan Stadium. This was the first meeting since 1962 for the Wolverines and the Black Knights, who have played each other 9 times since 1945, with Army holding a slight 5-4 edge in the series.

The Wolverines were favored by 23, but ended up eking out a 3 point win in double overtime. The Michigan defense struggled to stop the Black Knights through 60 minutes of regulation and the first overtime, but came up big in the second overtime to thwart the upset attempt.

Here’s how it went down.

Michigan won the toss and deferred to the second half; so Army received the opening kickoff and let it go for a touchback to start their first possession on the 25. Three plays gained 6 yards before Zach Potter came in to punt the ball away.

Michigan picked up a quick first down on a 11 yard pass completion by Shea Patterson. Army held the Wolverines for two downs, but Michigan got another first down on Patterson’s second completion. On the next play, middle linebacker Arik Smith forced a Patterson fumble and defensive lineman Kwabena Bonsu recovered to turn the ball back to Army on their own 40.

Fullback Connor Slomka got the call 3 straight plays for 9 yards to put Army into a 4th and 1 situation on the 49. To no one’s surprise, Monken went for the conversion, and Slomka picked up the needed yardage. After 4 straight runs up the middle, senior slotback Kell Walker got the pitch for a 31 yard gain to the Michigan 18. Fullback Sandon McCoy came in to pick up 5 yards to the 13, and quarterback Kelvin Hopkins ran it 8 yards to the 2. Slomka came back in to complete the touchdown drive on two straight to give the Black Knights an early 7-0 lead.

Michigan elected to return the ensuing kickoff, and Jackson Giles broke a tackle to return the ball to the 30 where the Wolverines started their second possession of the day. The Wolverines picked up a first down, but on the second series of the possession Patterson overthrew one open receiver and Elijah Riley dropped a receiver short to bring up a Michigan fourth down. The Wolverines faked a punt and picked up a first down to the Army 42. Army appeared to hold the Wolverines on three plays, but a pass interference call gave Michigan a first down on the 3 and the Wolverines quickly took advantage running the ball in for a TD to tie the game.

With 24 seconds left in the quarter, Army started their first possession from the 25. Kell Walker dropped a pitch from Hopkins on the first play, and Michigan recovered on the Army 21 putting them in position to score a go-ahead TD. But, on the next play Elijah Riley broke through to force another Michigan fumble and Army had the ball back to end the quarter in possession of the football.

Army picked up a first down out to their own 38, but a play later, Connor Slomka was called for a personal foul, which set Black Knights back 15 yards, and the Black Knights were unable to dig themselves out. Michigan went for the block on the punt, but Potter got it away and it rolled out of bounds 64 yards downfield at the Michigan 6.

The Wolverines picked up 2 first downs, but then linebacker Cole Christiansen forced a third Michigan fumble that safety Cam Jones recovered to give Army the ball back on the Michigan 40. The Wolverines held Army to 5 yards in 3 downs, and Monken elected to go for the conversion on 4th down and 5. Michigan was called for pass interference, which gave the Black Knights an automatic first down on the 25. Three plays later, Army faced another fourth down on the Michigan 17, and once again Monken elected to go for the conversion. Slomka picked up 3 yards for a first down at the Michigan 14. Three plays later, Army had a first and goal on the Michigan 1, and Hopkins kept the ball for the go-ahead score with 2:51 left in the half.

Michigan returned the ensuing kickoff to their 23 where the Wolverines started their final possession of the half. The Wolverines picked up a first down to the 36 and then gained 8 yards in two plays before calling a time out to stop the clock on the 46. Michigan made another first down to midfield on the next play, but a false start penalty forced Michigan to take another time out to avoid having time run off the clock, leaving Michigan with first and 15 and 30 seconds remaining in the half. Patterson rolled out with a Black Knight in hot pursuit, and was called for intentional grounding; so Harbaugh had to settle for an unsuccessful field goal attempt to end the quarter and Army with a 14-7 lead.

Michigan appeared to have a big return on the opening kickoff of the second half, but a personal foul penalty backed them up to their own 16, and the Wolverines were only able to gain 1 yard in three plays before punting it away. Akyah Miranda fielded the punt on the Army 23 and returned in 12 yards to the 35.

Slomka ran for a 2 yard gain to the 37, and then Hopkins took advantage Michigan overplaying the run and found speedy slotback Artice Hobbs open for a 34 yard gain to the Wolverines' 29. Hopkins, Slomka, and McCoy combined for another first down at the Michigan 14. Slomka and McCoy combined for another first down at the four, and Hopkins picked up 3 yards to the one, but just when it appeared that Army was poised to score again, a costly false start penalty on Slomka put the ball back to the 6. Hopkins gained 1 yard to bring up a 3d and goal on the 5. Hopkins dropped back to pass the ball but was was rushed, and a Michigan defender picked it off and returned the ball to the 21, stopping the threatened score and giving control back to Michigan.

Michigan got a quick first down, but then it looked like Army was about to stop the drive when captain and senior cornerback Elijah Riley was called for pass interference to give Michigan another first down on the Army 49. On the next play, Patterson found a receiver wide open for another first down at the Army 30, and then threw a ball just over the reach of middle linebacker Cole Christiansen for a completion at the Army 2. Army stopped Charbonet short of the goal on the first attempt but Charbonet found a hole on the next play to carry the ball in for the tying score with 2:25 left in the quarter.

Once again, Army let the kickoff go for a touchback and started again on their own 25. A holding penalty on Simpson Cooper took them back 10 yards to the 15. An 8 yard pickup by Walker was followed up by an 9 yard pass to Hobbs to bring Army back to a more manageable third down and 3, but Walker was stopped for no gain as time ran out in the quarter.

Monken elected to punt the ball away rather than go for the conversion on 4th and 3. The Michigan return man fumbled the ball, but the Wolverines recovered to keep possession of the ball on their own 32.

Senior safety Jaylon McClinton was injured making a tackle on the next play, but walked off the field on his own power. Patterson completed two well thrown passes to move the ball to the Army 27. A 2 yard gain was followed by a 4 yard pass to bring up a third down and 3. Army stopped Michigan for no gain on third down, and Harbaugh elected to go for the fourth down conversion. McClinton dropped Charbonet for a 4 yard loss to turn the ball back to Army on downs at the Army 21 with 9:58 left on the game clock.

Slomka carried the ball twice for a first down to the 34, but Michigan stacked the middle to stop him for a 1 yard gain on the next play. Hopkins was held to 3 yards on second down to bring up 3d and 6. Slomka gained another 3 to make it 4th and 2, but Monken decided not to go for it again, and Potter came in to punt it 43 yards to the Michigan 16.

Michigan drove the ball to the Army 44 before the Black Knights held them two 8 yards on 3 downs to bring up another 4th down situation. Harbaugh went for the conversion, but Charbonet came up 6 inches short of the first down and Army took over on their own 42 with 2:26 left in the game.

Hopkins led the team to Michigan 35, where Michigan stopped Slomka for no gain, and Army had to take their last timeout with 17 seconds left on the clock.

With 2 seconds remaining in the game, Hopkins spiked the ball and Monken sent his plebe kicker, Cole Talley out to attempt a 52 yard field goal. The kick fell 8 yards short of the uprights and for the second year in a row, the Black Knights went into overtime against a top 10 team. In the post game interview, Monken mentioned that Talley was playing with a sore leg at that point in the game.

Possession Army: A third down run by Slomka came up short, but Michigan was called off-sides to give Army a first down on the 14. Two running plays got to the 6 and Hopkins carried in from there for the 7 point lead.

Possession Michigan: The Black Knights held Michigan to 5 yards on their first two plays, but Shea found a receiver open for a 9 yard completion and a first down at the 12. Army was called for pass interference on the next play to give Michigan a first down on the 2, and Michigan ran it in to tie and take the game into a second overtime.

Possession Michigan: It was Michigan’s turn to go first. Patterson went to the air to attempt a quick score but his pass into the end zone went out of bounds. His second attempt was dropped when Riley hit the Michigan receiver as he was attempting to make the catch. Patterson’s third pass attempt was well wide of his target and Harbaugh sent his kicking team in to put three points on the scoreboard.

Possession Army: With the game on the line, the Michigan defense stiffened and held Army to minus yardage on their first two plays; so with 3d and 11, Hopkins dropped back to pass. Michigan came with a full out rush and forced a fumble that was recovered by the Wolverines to end the game.

- Michigan held Army to 191 Rushing Yards and 43 Passing Yards in regulation.

- The Wolverines had 101 Rushing Yards and 223 Passing Yards in regulation.

- Connor Slomka led the Black Knights with 86 yards in 26 carries for a 3.3 average

- Kelvin Hopkins completed 2 of his 4 pass attempts for 43 yards with no TDs and 1 INT.

- Artice Hobbs was the receiver on both completed passes.

- Army converted all 3 of it’s 4th down attempts, while Michigan completed 1 of 3.

- Army edged out Michigan for Time of Possession controlling the ball 31:35 to Michigan’s 28:25

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