Army upsets No. 17 Air Force, 23-3
The week prior to Saturday’s Army—Air Force contest … Black Knights’ Head Coach Jeff Monken and players were saying all the right things. However, with Army’s season, along with Air Force’s 2023 success (Ranked #17), those shared words were hard to embrace for those who follow Army football. In other words, the verbiage coming out of the Army football program appeared to be simply sound bites.
Well, we stand corrected, because the team in the Black & Gold showed the packed house at Empower Field in Denver, Colorado they were in for a show and a surprise outcome.
From Army’s first offensive series that saw quarterback Bryson Daily fake to running back Jakobi Buchanan (who made a key block) then sprint 62 yards and hit pay dirt, which put the Black Knights up 7-0. The exclamation point of the game came in the 4th quarter with 2:32 remaining, Army leading 23-3 and linebacker Leo Lowin made the hit on the Air Force ball carrier, who fumbled and was recovered by defensive lineman Dre Miller.
In between those two aforementioned points, Army showed up on both sides of the ball, but I will defer to GBK’s Joe Iacono, and today’s guest, former Black Knights linebacker, Alex Aukerman
Joe's Game Recap & Summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Army |
17 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
|
Air Force |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Post-Game Presser: Army Head Coach Jeff Monken
Post-Game Presser: OL Connor Finucane; LB Leo Lowin; CB Bo Nicolas-Paul & QB Bryson Daily
| Quarter | Time | Scoring Play | Army | Air Force |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1st |
13:06 |
Army - Bryson Daily run for 62 yds for a TD (Quinn Maretzki KICK) |
7 |
0 |
|
1st |
9:42 |
Army - Quinn Maretzki 45 yd FG GOOD |
10 |
0 |
|
1st |
1:53 |
Army - Bryson Daily run for 5 yds for a TD (Quinn Maretzki KICK) |
17 |
0 |
|
2nd |
13:14 |
Army - Quinn Maretzki 40 yd FG GOOD |
20 |
0 |
|
2nd |
2:31 |
Air Force- Matthew Dapore 30 yd FG GOOD |
20 |
3 |
|
2nd |
0:00 |
Army - Quinn Maretzki 38 yd FG GOOD |
23 |
3 |
|
FINAL |
23 |
3 |
NOTABLES:
• Army has won five of the last seven meetings vs. Air Force (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023)
• 3 points allowed is the fewest points by the Army defense vs. Air Force since shutting them out, 21-0 in 2017.
• Head Coach Jeff Monken is now 5-5 in his Army career vs. Air Force (2014-pres.).
• QB Bryson Daily is now one of four Army players to rush for over 150 yards and rush for two touchdowns vs. Air Force (since 1996), joining Carlton Jones (2004, 213 yards, two TDs), Michael Wallace (2000, 201 yards, three TDs) and Joseph Hewitt (1996, 161 yards, two TDs).
• Kicker Quinn Maretzki was perfect on 3-3 field goals (45, 40, 38), his second game this season converting on three field goals.
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