Late Score Sends Football Past Bucknell, 21-14

Saturday, October 17

West Point, N.Y.

12 PM ET

Army West Point

2-5

Bucknell

3-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Bucknell

Army West Point

Late Score Sends Football Past Bucknell, 21-14

October 17, 2015 | Football

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point football team used a late scoring drive in the fourth quarter to close out a 21-14 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium.

Army improves to 2-5 after the victory, while Bucknell moves to 3-3.

Army quarterback A.J. Schurr completed three passes for 100 yards, including a 68-yard completion to Edgar Poe for a score with 4:44 remaining in the game. Schurr also rushed 31 times for 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Poe hauled in three passes for 100 yards, Jeremy Timpf led the Black Knights' defense with six tackles and Chris Carnegie finished with an interception.

R.J. Nitti threw for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17 completions for the Bison, while Matt DelMauro rushed 18 times for 105 yards. Bucknell's Connor Golden totaled a game-best 13 tackles on the afternoon.

Bucknell had the ball just outside the red zone as a scoreless first quarter came to a close. The Bison dropped a pass on second down that brought down a third-and-long situation that forced Bucknell to pass. Nitti's pass near the sticks was broken up by Xavier Moss and the Bison were forced to try a 38-yard field goal. On the kick, John Voit busted through the line of scrimmage and blocked John Burdick's kick to keep the game tied.

Army and Bucknell alternated punts and on the Bucknell kick, the punt was bouncing and muffed by Army return man Nicholas Black. The Bison recovered and started their drive at the Army 49-yard line after a penalty following the recovery.

The Black Knights' defense forced a critical three-and-out and Army got the ball back at its own 14-yard line.

After Schurr was picked off by Golden on third-and-nine at the Army 44-yard line, Bucknell capitalized by scoring the game's first points. DelMauro ran for nine on first down, before Nitti threw a short pass to the left that Will Carter took 35 yards for a touchdown. Jordan Smith blocked the extra point and Bucknell led 6-0 with 5:28 to play in the first half.

The ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds to set up Army at its own 35-yard line. The Black Knights were able to take advantage of their best starting field position of the first half with a 10-play drive. Schurr ran for 37 yards on the drive and connected on a 25-yard pass to Edgar Poe that set up a three-yard touchdown run for the Army signal caller. Daniel Grochowski nailed the extra point and Army had a 7-6 lead with 1:52 left in the first half.

Bucknell quickly marched into Army territory with a run of 19 yards by DelMauro and a 27-yard completion by Nitti to Kaslander to the Army 27. Two false start penalties, the second coming on fourth down, made it fourth-and-17, but Bucknell converted when Nitti hit Kaslander over the middle for a gain of 27. A three-yard DelMauro on first-and-goal from the seven forced Bucknell to use its final timeout with 32 seconds left. Nitti threw to his left and hit Andrew Owens for a four-yard TD. The Bison converted a two-point conversion and led 14-7 at halftime.

Late in the third quarter, Army tied the score when Schurr capped a 12-play 72-yard drive with his second rushing TD of the day. A 19-yard run by Jordan Asberry moved the Black Knights across midfield and down to the Bucknell 38. Two plays later, a personal foul penalty pushed Army into the red zone. A five-yard run by Matt Giachinta came before Schurr rolled out to his right and tucked the ball under for a gain of 11 yards on third-and-6. Schurr punched it in from the three and Grochowski's extra point made it 14-14.

Each team punted and Bucknell had the ball at its own 34-yard line with 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. That drive failed to gain a first down and Army took over on its own 40-yard line two minutes later. Schurr's first-down pitch intended for John Trainor was off target, but the fumble was recovered by the Black Knights. The loss of five set the Black Knights back and they eventually punted to the Bucknell 29.

Army's defense made Bucknell punt again, giving the Black Knights the ball at their 25-yard line with 5:35 to go. Schurr launched a deep ball downfield and Poe out-jumped a Bucknell defender to haul in the pass at the 35-yard line before carrying it the rest of the way to put Army on top with 4:44 remaining. Grochowski was successful on the point after attempt to give the Black Knights a 21-14 advantage.

The Black Knights' defense, which held the Bison to only 69 yards in the second half, created a turnover on the first play of Bucknell's ensuing drive, as Carnegie picked off a Nitti's deep pass at Army's 40-yard line to give his team the ball back.

Asberry all but iced the game for Army with a 31-yard rush into Bucknell territory on the ensuing drive before the Black Knights ran for two more first downs to drain the clock.

Army travels to Houston, Texas next Saturday, Oct. 24, to take on Rice. Kickoff is scheduled for noon eastern time and the game will be televised by Fox Sports Regional.