GAME NOTES: Army Welcomes Rice on Saturday

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point football team returns to Michie Stadium on Saturday to take on Rice for a 12 p.m. kickoff in the home opener.

The game can be seen live on CBS Sports Network or heard on the Army Sports Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV • CBS Sports Network
RADIO • Army Sports Network
GAME NOTES • Army Notes • Rice Notes
LIVE STATS • sidearmstats.com/army/football
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_Football

SATURDAY'S ARE FOR GAMEDAY
• The Army West Point football starts its 92nd season at Michie Stadium this coming Saturday for its home opener against Rice.
• The contest will air live around the nation on CBS Sports Network at 12 p.m., and the game can also be heard on the Army Sports Network.

THE OPENING KICKOFF
• The Black Knights are 1-0 for the 96th time in their history and for the second time under head coach Jeff Monken
• Army is 96-28-3 all-time when kicking off a season and has won three of its last four openers.
• The Black Knights have won two of their last three home openers.
• The Black Knights are coming off a 28-13 over Temple at Lincoln Financial Field last Friday night.
• It was the first-ever win for Army at the home of the Philadelphia Eagles after 13 tries.
• The rushing attack was stellar with 329 yards on the ground, for a total of 67 attempts, and racked up four touchdowns.
• The defense enters Saturday's game at Rice with three interceptions, which is tied for the nation's lead with seven other teams.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• The Black Knights currently lead the nation in turnover margin, along with seven other schools.
• Army picked off three passes in a game for the first time since Wake Forest in 2015 and is halfway to its output from last season (6).
• The Black Knights finished 113th (-0.92) in turnover margin in 2015.

DAZZLING DEBUT
• Fullback Andy Davidson made his offensive debut for the Black Knights last Friday night at Temple and rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
• The sophomore played special teams and linebacker in 2015, but was a running back in high school at Emmaus High School in Allentown, Pa.
• Both TD runs came in the second half with the second scamper coming late in the game to seal the deal with a 17-yard scamper.
• Davidson's longest run of the day was 19 yards.

FOURTH QUARTER WARRIORS
• Monken preaches to his players to close out games and be fourth quarter warriors.
• Last Friday night at Temple, the Black Knights shut down the Owls, allowing only 20 yards of total offense in the final 15 minutes.
• Army also intercepted two passes in the final frame as well.
• The offense did their job with 12 minutes of possession time in the fourth quarter.
• The Black Knights were also 2-for-2 on fourth down in the final quarter, which helped seal the win.

DOMINANT DEFENSE
• The Black Knights' defense allowed only three points in the second half against Temple.
• The Owls had 80 total yards in the final 30 minutes, including only 15 in the fourth quarter.
• Army forced three turnovers, all through the air with first-career interceptions by Marcus Hyatt, Mike Reynolds and Kenneth Brinson.
• In total, Army held Temple to 3-for-9 on third down.

ARMY-RICE SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the seventh meeting all-time between the Black Knights and Owls with the first meeting happening in 1958. Army won the contest 14-7 as part of the last undefeated season for the Black Knights.
• This is the third season in a row that these two schools have met on the gridiron.
• Rice has won the last five meetings since the 1958 game.
• The Owls won a rain-soaked game last season thanks to a Zach Wright touchdown catch with 24 seconds left in the game to pull out a 38-31 victory.
• Rice has won all three meetings at West Point heading into Saturday.

ABOUT THE OWLS
• Rice opened its 105th season with Conference USA action at Western Kentucky last Thursday and dropped a 46-14 decision to the Hilltoppers.
• The Owls return a total of 16 starters from 2015, including nine on defense and six on offense.
• Running back Darik Dillard leads the ground attack, but he was stymied last week at WKU with only 19 yards rushing.
• Tyler Stehling assumes the role of starting quarterback for the first time in his career. He threw for 183 yards and had two interceptions while running for 85 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
• Rice returns All-Conference-USA linebacker Alex Lyons, who posted seven tackles in the loss. Safety JT Ibe led the team with eight tackles at WKU.

Army West Point Athletics

GAME NOTES: Army Welcomes Rice on Saturday

Players Mentioned

Kenneth Brinson

Andy Davidson

Marcus Hyatt

Mike Reynolds

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