Black Knights run past Roadrunners, 28-16

The Black Knights of Army West Point traveled to San Antonio, Texas to take on the Roadrunners of UTSA. It was the second meeting of the two teams in as many years, and the Roadrunners were hoping to avenge last year’s loss to Army in the Alamodome. The Black Knights were determined not to let that happen as they grabbed an early lead and never let UTSA catch up.

Quarterbacks Christian Anderson and Jemel Jones did not make the trip due to injuries; so Army Head Coach Jeff Monken a couple of underclassmen, Cade Ballard and Tyhier Tyler shared the quarterback duties for the Black Knights. Ballard, who is a freshman received his first career start, and sophomore Tyler made his college debut in the game.

Here’s how it unfolded:

USTA let the opening kick roll through the end zone to start on their own 25. Sincere McCormick got loose for a 25-yard run and first down at the Army 49, but the Army defense held UTSA for the next three downs forcing them to punt. The ball rolled out of bounds at the Army 10 yard line where the Black Knights started their first possession.

Slotback Tyrell Robinson and fullback Sandon McCoy combined for a first down at the 21, and fullback Jakobi Buchanan teamed with fellow fullback Cade Ballard for another first down at the 34. On the next play, the other member of the fullback quartet, Anthony Adkins broke loose off tackle for a 66-yard touchdown run to give Army an early 7-0 lead. It was a 90-yard drive in 5 plays and took just 2:43 off the clock.

UTSA returned the next kickoff to their own 23, and the Black Knights held them to 4 yards in three downs forcing UTSA to punt. Army had two penalties on the kick. A running into the kicker penalty was declined, but a personal foul penalty wiped out a 13-yard return by Robinson, and Army took over on their own 25.

Three fullback dives picked up a first down to the 36. Robinson took a pitch for another first down at the UTSA 47, but the Roadrunners held Army two 2 yards on the next two plays bringing up a third and 8. An attempted pass to Reikan Donaldson was broken up and Zach Harding came into punt to the UTSA 14 yard line.

Narcisse passed the Roadrunners to 3 first downs ending with a third down and 9 at the Army 33 as time ran out in the quarter.

Narcisse overthrew his target to bring up a 4th and 9; so UTSA decided to go for a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 at the start of the quarter.

Robinson returned the kick to the 24, where the Black Knights started their third possession. Tyhier Tyler came in at quarterback to start the third drive. Army was held to one yard in two plays, and Ballard came back and attempted a pass that fell incomplete, and Harding came back in to punt the ball 49 yards to the UTSA 26.

Narcisse threw incomplete on first down, but McCormick found a hole for a big first down to the 40. McCormick picked up another 4 yards, but two incomplete passes brought up a fourth down, and UTSA was forced to punt it away again. Robinson fielded the ball on a bounce and returned it 20 yards to the Army 26.

Tyler came back out at QB and gained 7 yards on first down. Buchanan added 4 for a first down on the 27. Tyler broke loose for another first down at the UTSA 49. Buchanan followed up with a 10 yard gain and another first down at the 39. Tyler gained 4 to the 35 and Adkins made it a third and 1 at the 30 before Buchanan picked up 4 yards for another first down at the 26. Tyler ran for 4, Adkins added 3, and McCoy punched for two yards and a first down at the 16. Buchanan and Tyler combined for another first down at the 5 and then Buchanan bulled his way into the end zone to increase the lead to 14-3 with 5:06 left in the half. The drive went 74 yards on 13 plays and took 6:27 off the clock.

The kick return man for UTSA hesitated before returning the ball out to the 11-yard line. Narcisse picked up a quick first town to the 24. Narcisse scrambled for another first down at the 33, but defensive end Ryan Duran sacked Narcisse for an 8-yard loss to the 25. Narcisse connected with Franklin for a 24 yard gain to the Army 45. Two-pass plays gained 2 yards, but on third and 8, Narcisse scrambled for 13 yards to the 28. Narcisse was flushed from the pocket and had to throw it away. Franklin was wide open for another first down at the 15, but Narcisse was run out of bounds for a two-yard loss to the 17. A pass interference call on Cam Jones gave UTSA a first and goal at the 2-yard line. Another pass interference call on McDuffie moved the ball to the 1-yard line and UTSA scored on the next play to close the lead to 14-10 at the half.

Army started on its own 25. Two running plays gained just two yards, but a holding call on UTSA gave Army a first down on the 37. The two Army quarterbacks were dropped for losses on three straight plays, and Harding came in to punt the ball 59 yards to the UTSA 9 yard line.

An 8-yard completion and a 3 yard run by McCormick gave UTSA a first down at the 21. McCormick ran for another 5 to the 26, and Narcisse passed for another first down at the 37. McCormick was stopped for no gain, and cornerback Julian McDuffie dropped Dingle for a 4-yard loss on a reverse to bring up a third and 14. Narcisse threw incomplete and the Roadrunners were forced to punt. The ball went out-of-bounds on the Army 30.

Senior slotback Artice Hobbs ran outside for 3 yards, and Tyler followed with another 4 before Buchanan converted on third down. An unnecessary roughness call on UTSA gave Army another first down on the UTSA 37. McCoy was stopped for no gain, but Tyler broke loose off left tackle for a 37-yard touchdown to increase Army’s lead to 21-10.

A 46-yard return was negated by an illegal block call on UTSA and the Roadrunners started on their own 25. A quick pass to the flats gained 8 yards and McCormick was held to a 1 yard gain bringing up a third and 1. A big hit by linebacker Jon Rhattigan stopped Narcisse a half-yard short of the first down and UTSA lined up to go for the 4th down conversion, but Army was called for disconcerting signals to give the Roadrunners a free first down. Narcisse completed a pass to the Army 40 for another first down, and an illegal block limited the next play to a five-yard gain to the 35. Two plays picked up another 4 yards and McCormick gained a yard to the Army 31 as time ran out in the quarter.

McCormick was stopped short on third down, but Narcisse bulled his way to a conversion on 4th and 1. Narcisse was injured on the play and Frank Harris came in to replace him at QB for the Roadrunners. Harris completed a pass for a touchdown but the PAT was blocked as UTSA closed Army’s lead to 5 points at 21-16.

Robinson called for a fair catch and Army started on their own 25. Robinson was stopped for a three-yard loss on first down, but UTSA was called for a face mask to give Army a first down. Ballard came into the game and found Cam Harrison open for a 53-yard completion, and a roughing call gave Army a first and goal at the 5. Ballard carried in on the next play to increase Army’s lead to 28-16 with 12:47 left in the game.

UTSA returned the kickoff to their own 22. McCormick broke off tackle for 22 yards and a first down at the 43. McDuffie was called for targeting on the next play and had to leave the game. McCormick ran for 16 yards to the Army10. Two incomplete passes brought up 4th and 10, and Harris was forced out of bounds to turn the ball over to Army on downs at the 3 with 10:15 left on the game clock.

Robinson ran a counter off tackle for 6 yards to the 9, and Buchanan followed with a big 5 yard gain for a first down at the 14. Adkins was stopped a half-yard short on third down at the Army 23, but Monken went for it on 4th down and, but Buchanan bulled his way for two yards to move the chains. Hobbs ran for 4 and Tyler added another 4 to bring up a third and 2, and McCoy ran 5 yards for the third-down conversion at the Army 38 as UTSA called a timeout to stop the clock with 4:52 left. Tyler gained 7 yards on first down and Buchanan dove for another first down at the 48 as UTSA called another timeout. Tyler fumbled the ball on the next play and UTSA recovered on the Army 48 with 3:47 left in the game.

Harris completed a pass to the Army 28, but two passes fell incomplete and a QB draw was stopped for a 6 yard gain to bring up a 4th and 4 at the 22. Marquel Broughton broke up the pass attempt and Army took over on their own 22 with 2:50 left in the game.

Ballard came in at QB to lead the team to a key first down as the clock ran down to 1:16 allowing Ballard to go into the victory formation.

• Total Offense: UTSA outgained Army West Point in total yards, 383-3

• Rushing Offense: Army ran for 305 yards and held UTSA to 197 yards on the ground

• Passing Offense: UTSA had 186 yards passing and Army had 53

• Penalties: Army had 5 penalties for 51 yards while UTSA had 9 penalties for 85 yards

• Turnovers: Army lost the turnover battle 0-1

• Time of Possession: Army held the ball for 33:29

• Conversions: Army converted 6 of 10 third downs and 1 of 1 fourth downs. UTSA converted 6 of 15 third-down attempts and 1 of 3 fourth-down attempts.

We will provide additional statistics and analysis in our Monday Morning QB article.

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