Army One Step Closer to CIC Trophy with 21-0 Victory

Saturday, November 4

USAF Academy, CO

1:30 PM MT

Army West Point

7-2

Air Force

4-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army

Air Force

Army One Step Closer to CIC Trophy with 21-0 Victory

November 04, 2017 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Video Highlights

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Army West Point football team blanked service-academy rival Air Force on Saturday afternoon, 21-0.

The Black Knights are now one step closer to winning the Commander-In-Chief's trophy, which will be decided on Dec. 9 when Army and Navy clash in the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA.

With the outcome, the Cadets shut out the Falcons for the first time in program history. The Black Knights' win marked the first time Air Force has been shut out since 1992 and the first time the Falcons have been blanked at home since 1980.

It was also Army's first shutout of a service-academy opponent since a 27-0 victory over Navy on Nov. 29, 1969. Army's last shutout of any opponent came in a 55-0 win over Fordham on Oct. 29, 2011.

Saturday's contest was controlled by Army from start to finish. The Black Knights limited the Falcons to a season-low 190 total yards. The Cadets also held the No. 2 rushing offense in the nation to just 95 yards on the day.

Senior quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for 265 yards in the game, which broke Army's all-time quarterback single-game rushing record. The mark was previously held by Trent Steelman when he posted 212 against Eastern Michigan on Oct. 20, 2012.

Kell Walker and Darnell Woolfolk were Army's next best rushers with 67 and 54, respectively, on the day.

James Nachtigal and Cole Christiansen led the defense with 10 tackles each. Nachtigal, Alex Aukerman and Kenneth Brinson all added sacks, while Aukerman recorded two tackles for a loss of eight yards.

ARMY GAME NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS

Bradshaw ran for a career high 266 yards, including 164 in the first half.
Bradshaw has eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark this season and was the first player to do so since Larry Dixon in 2014.
Bradshaw now has 2,425 rushing yards in his career.
With his impressive game, Bradshaw passed recently inducted Army West Point Hall of Famer Charlie Jarvis for eighth all-time on the career rushing list.
The senior is now tied for 11th in Army history with 21 rushing touchdowns.
He also now has 10 career 100-yard rushing games, which is tied for seventh all-time.
Walker recorded the second multi-touchdown game of his career with the other coming in a victory over Rice earlier this season.
Brinson recorded a sack and now has 7.5 in his career.
Aukerman added his sixth sack of the season and has 13.5 in his career, which is tied for third in Army history with Cameron Craig.
Christiansen has a career-best 10 tackles with seven in the opening half.
The Black Knights did not punt in a game for the second time this season and they are 2-0 in those contests. The last time they did not record a punt was during their season-opening victory over Fordham.

HOW IT HAPPENED

On the second play from scrimmage, Bradshaw rushed for 48 yards to put the Black Knights in good field position at the Air Force 24-yard line. Three plays later Bradshaw finished off the five-play, 75-yard drive with a 21-yard touchdown run for his 21st career score.
Midway through the second quarter, Air Force had moved the ball into Army territory. The Black Knights then pressured the Falcons to throw two incomplete passes and rush for a loss of two yards to force the home team into a punting situation. After a 25-yard punt, the Cadets took over from their own 25. The Black Knights slowly chipped away a few yards here and a few yards there before Walker found the end zone following a 27-yard scamper. Blake Wilson then converted the PAT to hand Army a 14-0 edge.
The Black Knights came up with a huge stop from their own 16-yard line on fourth down with just under 10 minutes remaining when Rhyan England hurried Air Force quarterback Arion Worthman into throwing an incomplete pass. The Cadets took over and used 7:44 off the clock to punch one last score in. During the 14-play, 84-yard drive, Army converted on three third downs. Walker was the man to push it across the goal line and with the score he notched his second multi-touchdown game of the season.

UP NEXT

Army returns to West Point next Saturday for its home finale against Duke. That contest is slated for 12 p.m. and will be the last home game for 16 firsties. The game will be carried live on CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Jay Feely, and Tina Cervasio on the call.