Football's Rally Falls Short at UConn

Saturday, September 12

East Hartford, Conn.

12 PM ET

Army West Point

0-2

Connecticut

2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army West Point

UConn

Football's Rally Falls Short at UConn

September 12, 2015 | Football

Box Score

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Army West Point football team got to within five points late in the fourth quarter, but Connecticut was able to force a turnover and came away with a 22-17 win on Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field.

Army (0-2) was led by starting quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw. The sophomore ran for 129 yards for an average of 8.1 per carry and found the end zone early in the game. A.J. Schurr came in with the Black Knights down by 12 at 22-10 and fired a 71 yard pass to pay dirt for Army's second touchdown of the game with Joe Walker hauling in the pass. Daniel Grochowski connected on a 41-yard field goal to get the scoring started.

UConn (2-0) saw quarterback Byrant Shirreffs throw for 270 yards, while Arkeel Newsome led the ground attack with 73 yards and a touchdown. Overall l the Huskies ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Bobby Puyol had a good day with three field goals, including a 39 yarder to put the Huskies up 22-10 in the fourth quarter.

Army took advantage of an early UConn miscue on the opening drive as Shirreffs fumbled on a stretch for the first down on a third and long play. Jordan Smith forced the turnover and Andrew King scooped it up off the turf to give the Black Knights the ball. Army marched the ball into field goal range and Grochowski booted a 41-yard field goal to put the Black Knights up 3-0.

The Huskies answered with a chip shot field goal to tie the game with 2:13 left in the first quarter. The highlight of the drive was Shirreffs' pass to Thomas Lucas for a 34 yard gain down the left sideline. Army's defense bent but didn't break as UConn settled for a 23-yard field goal. Rhyan England made two tackles for losses, including filling a hole late in the drive to keep UConn out of the end zone.

Bradshaw got the lead back for the Black Knights with a 56-yard scamper with 8:48 left in the second quarter. The quarterback broke multiple tackles and saw daylight for the 10-3 lead. It was a career long rush for the signal caller.

Connecticut marched back down the field for 75 yards on seven plays with Newsome breaking tackles to get into the end zone for a six yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked by Jordan Smith and the Black Knights remained in the lead at 10-9 with 5:07 left in the second quarter. Shirreffs had a couple of big scrambles to keep the drive alive.

After a stop by the Huskies defense, Shirreffs connected with Thomas on back-to-back pass plays of 33 and 26, respectively, to get the ball to the Army 16 yard line. The Black Knights held strong in the red zone and forced a 25 yard field goal by Puyol with 36 seconds left. The three points gave Connecticut its first lead of the game at 12-10 and took it into halftime.

The second half started with Army failing on a 4th-and-5 from UConn's 32 yard line. The Huskies capitalized to take the 19-10 lead with Ron Johnson scoring untouched from the two yard line. A key play during the scoring drive was a Tyraiq Beals' 32-yard catch and run into the red zone.

The Huskies lead extended to 22-10 with Puyol connecting on his third field goal of the game with 5:33 left in the game. The UConn drive stalled on a nice play by Kenneth Brinson in the flat to force the 39 yard attempt. Newsome gained 29 yards on the drive to set up the scoring opportunity.

The Black Knights answered with Schurr rolling to his left and finding Walker breaking to the sideline. The UConn defender went for the interception and Walker outjumped him and turned up field for the 71-yard catch and run for the touchdown and with 4:51 left the UConn lead was down to five at 22-17.

Army got a stop on the ensuing possession, but Schurr was picked off down the sideline and the Huskies were able to run out the clock for the 22-17 win.

The Black Knights return to action on Saturday, Sept. 19, when they host Wake Forest at Michie Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon and can be seen on CBS Sports Network. Tickets are still available online, by calling the ticket office at 1-877-TIX-ARMY or in person at Gate 3 of Michie Stadium.