For the primary time in 134 years of Army soccer, the Black Knights are convention champions.
Bryson Daily ran for 126 yards and 4 touchdowns as No. 24 Army beat 35-14 Tulane on Friday evening to win the American Athletic Conference championship in its first season as a member of the league.
Army (11-1) earned simply the second 11-win season in program historical past, each beneath coach Jeff Monken, and nonetheless has two extra video games left.
The Cadets jumped out to a 14-0 lead within the second quarter when Kanye Udoh’s 72-yard run arrange a 3-yard TD by Daily. Udoh ran for 158 yards and a landing on 20 carries. Army didn’t punt, commit a penalty or flip the ball over within the sport.
Tulane’s first half was a string of errors, beginning with a botched subject purpose try on the maintain that ended its first drive. The Green Wave (9-4) additionally dedicated turnovers on consecutive possessions, the second of which led to Daily’s third dashing landing of the primary half and a 21-0 lead.
Daily added one other dashing TD within the second half and is tied for the nationwide lead at 29 with Boise State star Ashton Jeanty.
Tulane, the very best scoring crew within the American at 39 factors per sport, didn’t get on the board till the ultimate minute of the primary half on a chilly evening in West Point, N.Y.
After successful eight straight to get into playoff competition, the Green Wave misplaced at house to Memphis on Thanksgiving evening to relinquish an opportunity to host the convention title sport.
Tulane was showing in its third straight AAC championship however misplaced it for the second straight 12 months.
Attention in New Orleans now turns to first-year coach Jon Sumrall, who may very well be a goal for a number of Power 4 faculties with vacancies, most notably North Carolina.
After getting blown out by Notre Dame two weeks in the past to finish a 9-0 begin to the season, Army’s College Football Playoff hopes light.
The Cadets, nevertheless, nonetheless have one other big sport left earlier than the postseason.
Army faces Navy subsequent Saturday in what stays a nonconference sport, despite the fact that the rivals now each play within the American. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy goes to the winner for the primary time since 2017 after each Army and Navy beat Air Force through the common season.
The Black Knights have gained the final two towards Navy and 6 of the final eight conferences.
Army soccer has spent most of its storied historical past as a soccer impartial, successful three nationwide titles within the Forties and claiming three Heisman Trophy winners (Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard and Pete Dawkins).
Army’s solely different foray right into a convention was a seven-year stint in Conference USA from 1998-2004. It was a catastrophe. The Black Knights by no means gained greater than three video games general or two convention video games in any season.
The program left CUSA, however remained caught in a rut for one more 10 years, till Monken, a former Navy assistant coach, took over in 2014. After successful simply six video games within the first two seasons beneath Monken, Army ripped off 5 seasons of no less than eight victories over six seasons.
Army entered the American coming off consecutive 6-6 seasons after tinkering with its conventional triple-option offense. The Black Knights obtained again to fundamentals this season and ran over their new convention rivals.
The Cadets got here into the title sport main the nation in dashing at 312 yards per sport and went for one more 335 towards Tulane. Daily threw solely two passes and accomplished them each for 17 yards.
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(Photo: Danny Wild / Imagn Images)
