Carnegie's Interception Seals Victory Over Connecticut

Saturday, November 8

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.

3:30 PM

Army West Point

3-6

Connecticut

2-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UCONN

Army

Photo by: USA Today Sports Images

Carnegie's Interception Seals Victory Over Connecticut

November 08, 2014 | Football

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Chris Carnegie's 99-yard interception return for a touchdown with less than a minute to play closed Army's 35-21 victory over Connecticut at Yankee Stadium. Carnegie's pick-six was one of several key plays for the Army defense on a day in which the offense ran wild for 325 yards.

Carnegie's second of two interceptions in the game came after Connecticut trimmed Army's lead to a touchdown with two minutes to play and then recovered the ensuing onside kick at midfield. Huskies' quarterback Chandler Whitmer quickly moved the Connecticut offense into the red zone with runs of 26, 10 and seven yards before throwing the deciding pick. Whitmer was flushed out to his right and threw off balance toward the goal line where Carnegie leapt in front of the pass and took it the distance for six.

Army held a two-touchdown lead for much of the game and went ahead 28-14 with 4:22 to play when Angel Santiago wiggled his way to paydirt from a yard out to cap an eight-play 52-yard drive. The Huskies quickly answered a little more than two minutes later when Whitmer connected with Noel Thomas for a touchdown prior to recovering the onside kick.

The Yankee Stadium crowd of 27,453 saw Santiago rush for two touchdowns on the day as he directed Army's effective rushing attack with a game-high 97 yards on 25 carries. As a team, Army averaged 5.5 yards per rush and its stable of backs had six players run for at least 20 yards. Raymond Maples went for 53 yards on six tries, Larry Dixon bullied his way to 43 yards on 11 touches, Terry Baggett had a pair of runs for 38 yards, Joe Walker tallied 31 yards on five carries with two touchdowns, Trenton Turrentine racked up 28 yards on four runs and Matt Giachinta ran three times for 22 yards.

Jeremy Timpf had a team-high eight tackles, Josh Jenkins added seven and Scott Washle contributed six for the Army defense which limited Connecticut to three successful third-down conversions in 10 tries. In addition to his two interceptions, Carnegie was credited with five tackles and broke up another pass in his direction.

Army won the opening coin toss and elected to receive the football to start the second half, which gave the Huskies the game's opening possession. Connecticut marched the ball to midfield, but their drive stalled when Whitmer's pass down the sideline to Dhameer Bradley was ruled incomplete because Bradley stepped out of bounds before making the catch.

The resulting Connecticut punt pinned Army back at its own 11-yard line, but the tough field position did not deter the Black Knights' offense as it engineered its longest scoring drive of the season. Army's 16-play 89-yard drive ate up 8:50 of the first quarter clock and was capped off by a one-yard plunge from Santiago. The march featured three third-down conversions, including a 35-yard pitch to Baggett on third and four from the Connecticut 35, which kept the drive alive. On fourth and two at the Huskies' six-yard line, Army successfully executed a fake field goal when holder A.J. Schurr ran to the right side and was tackled at the one. Two plays later Army was on the board and the Black Knights led 7-0 after Daniel Grochowski's extra point.

Connecticut's next drive was extended on a running into the punter penalty that awarded the Huskies a first down at the Black Knights' 47-yard line. Whitmer rolled out to his right and threw down the middle of the field where Hayden Pierce tipped the ball in the air and Carnegie came down with the interception at the Army 15. Whitmer finished his day 19-for-31 with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had a team-high 68 rushing yards and a score on the ground.

Army started the second quarter with another long scoring drive, this time using 11 plays to maneuver 85 yards down the field, and took a 14-0 lead. It started the drive with first downs on back-to-back runs by Santiago (17 yards) and Maples (13 yards), before an eight-yard carry by Turrentine. Santiago kept it three more times, including consecutive seven yard carries and Turrentine gained another Army first down on a nine-yard run down to the Huskies' 23. Three plays later Giachinta bruised his way to a 12-yard pickup and on first and goal Walker went in untouched from four yards out for the score.

After a punt by the visitors, Army moved the ball into Connecticut territory again, but Santiago coughed up the ball on third and two to give the ball back to the Huskies. Junior Joseph landed on the loose ball and they took advantage by scoring six offensive plays later to cut the Army lead in half.

Two plays of 26 yards, a pass from Whitmer to Noel Thomas and Max Delorenzo's run set up the Huskies with a first and goal at the Army six before Whitmer plowed ahead on two runs for Connecticut's first points of the evening. Army went into the break with a 14-7 cushion.

Army regained its two-possession lead at the start early in the third quarter with an impressive drive running the football. Connecticut struggled to find an answer as the Black Knights' rushing attack picked up chunks of yardage at a time. Maples started things off with a 17-yard gain, Walker had carries of 15 and 10 yards, Maples ran again for eight and Giachinta churned out seven on his carry to the Connecticut 14. On fourth and one, Santiago pushed the pile ahead for the first down and two plays later Walker scored his second TD of the contest from two yards out. Walker's TD was the only score of the third quarter as Army led 21-7 heading into the fourth.

The 3-6 Black Knights are back in action on Nov. 15 when they travel to Western Kentucky for a Noon kickoff.