The 1st Half for the Army Black Knights truly dictated a narrative of the game itself.
Yes, Dé·jà vu all over again. We referring to Army opponents time and time again finding themselves in a first offensive series against the Black Knights, where it is 4th & short, and they opt to go for it. But as we have seen throughout the year, the defense prevails.
Well, on Tulane’s first series of the game, they found themselves with a 4th & 2 at the Army 20-yard line. However, and somewhat surprisingly, they decided to go for what appeared to be an easy and early 3-points on the board. Well, that didn’t happen, as the Green Wave holder mishandled the snap and Army took over.
That is when and where the M.O.B. went into full effect, where the Black Knight went on a 10-play 80-yard drive that was capped off by QB Bryson Daily running a delayed keeper from 6 yards and hitting pay dirt. It was the senior captain’s 26th rushing touchdown on the season and gave Army an early 7-0 lead.
On Tulane’s next series, they received a taste of what the Black Knights’ defense is capable of and on a 3rd & 11, linebacker Elo Modozie sacked Green Wave QB Darian Mensah and on 4th & 19, special teams failed the visitors once again, as their attempted field goal was wide right.
And just like that from their own 20-yard line, running back Kanye Udoh burst up the middle behind the M.O.B. for 71 yards down to the Tulane 2-yard line and on the next play, Daily made his way into the end zone and an early 14-0 lead.
Special Teams were not so special once again for the Green Wave, as they fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Ironically, it was Army kicker Trey Gronotte who forced the fumble.
With a short field, drove all the way down to the Tulane 4-yard line against a very determined and desperate defense. On 4th & 3 … Jeff Monken decided to go for it, versus kicking the field goal. Well, Tulane won that battle and took possession. However, two plays later, Darian Mensah threw into the Army’s zone defense, and linebacker Andon Thomas made the INT.
Five plays later … well you guessed it. Daily hits pay dirt once again and a 21-0 lead.
To Tulane’s credit and with 1:36 remaining in the 1st half, they put 7 on the board with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Darian Mensah.
However, the Black Knights received the opening kickoff to start off the 2nd half and if there is anything that epitomizes the balance of the game and the outcome was Army’s first two offensive series of the 2nd half.
The initial series saw them go on an 11-play, 75-yard 6:31 drive followed by the next possession that completely took the winds out of the Tulane sails.
That drive took 10:44 off the clock and consisted of 16 plays for 84 yards all of which were on the ground and a 35-7 4th quarter lead.
Although Tulane did add another 7 points to their side of the scoreboard, the game had already been decided and we absolutely can’t overlook the job that DC Nate Woody’s defense did throughout the entire Championship contest.
The ‘D’ was by committee, led by linebacker Andon Thomas’ 8 tackles and a key interception.
But we will now turn over the AAC Championship Post-Game Analysis to GBK Analyst, Joe Iacono.
GBK's Joe Iacono Post-Game Analysis
Post-Game with Tulane Team and Army (Head Coach Jeff Monken, QB Bryson Daily, RB Kanye Udoh & LB Andon Thomas)
Parent's Perspective
Score By Quarter
Breaking Down The Scoring
Notables
• Army captured its second 11-win season in school history, the other coming in 2018, an 11-2 campaign under Head Coach Jeff Monken.
• Senior QB Bryson Daily scored his 26th rushing touchdown in the first quarter, breaking the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season in American Athletic Conference history.
• Daily's 29 rushing touchdowns are tied for the FBS lead with Boise State's Ashton Jeanty. Daily has played in two fewer games than Jeanty.
• RB Kanye Udoh rushed for 158 yards to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season. Daily and Udoh are only the third duo and the first since 2012 in Army program history to each rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (2012: Raymond Maples and Trent Steelman, 1984: Doug Black and Nate Sassaman).
• Army finished a perfect 6-0 in the regular season and extended it to 7-0 tonight with the conference title game at Michie Stadium. It is the fourth time under Head Coach Jeff Monken (2017, 2018, 2020) that Army has been perfect at Michie. Army is 45-17 (.725%) at home under Monken (2014-pres.).•
• ILB Andon Thomas intercepted a Tulane pass in the second quarter, his second interception of the season. Thomas finished with a team-best eight tackles
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