Turnovers Key In Road Victory at Rice

Saturday, October 7

Houston, TX

5:30 PM CT

Army West Point

4-2

Rice

1-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army

Rice

Turnovers Key In Road Victory at Rice

October 07, 2017 | Football

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

HOUSTON, Texas – The Army West Point football team forced six turnovers and turned five of those into points in a 49-12 triumph over Rice here Saturday night.

The Black Knights scored 35 of their final 49 points off of Rice turnovers. And four of those came within 3:44 of each other, spanning the end of the first quarter and early into the second.

Army controlled the majority of key categories throughout the game -- first downs, total offense, turnovers, time of possession, sacks and fourth-down conversions.

Kell Walker had a career-high game running for 127 yards on 10 carries. The sophomore racked up three touchdowns as well for his first career multi-score game. Ahmad Bradshaw also ran for over 100 yards, earning 115 to go along with his two scores.

The defensive unit was the star of the game, compiling six turnovers and Army's first pick-6 since Chris Carnegie sealed the win over Connecticut at Yankee Stadium in 2014.

James Nachtigal led the way with seven tackles, while both Alex Aukerman and Kenneth Brinson added to their season sacks total with one each in the contest. Brinson also added two fumble recoveries, while Max Regan, Scott Washle and Ryan Velez each recorded one.

Regan scored Army's pick-6 as well, marking the second touchdown of his career. It was Army's first defensive touchdown since he did so on a fumble recovery back in 2016 at UTEP.

HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army won its first road game of the season.
The Black Knights have won back-to-back games against the Owls for the first time in the series.
The Cadets have won four of their first six games for the second-straight season.
Army eclipsed the 25,000-point milestone as a program with Walker scoring in the first quarter.
The Black Knights forced six turnovers in a game for the first time since seven against Boston College on the road in 1995.
Army had two 100-yard rushers for the first time since the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl last season.
The Black Knights' 35 points scored in the first half were the most this season for them for an opening half.
Bradshaw is now tied for 10th all-time with Doug Black with eight career 100-yard games.
He also scored his sixth touchdown of the season and now has 19 in his career for 15th all-time.
Walker was the first player since Darnell Woolfolk against UTEP in 2016 to rush for three touchdowns in a game.
He also recorded a career high 47-yard run for a touchdown.
Luke Langdon scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter after punching one in from 1-yard out.
The Black Knights forced six turnovers for first time since earning five in 2012 against Air Force.
Army shut out an opponent in the first half for the first time since the Army-Navy Game, presented by USAA.
Brinson posted his first and second career fumble recoveries in the first quarter.
He also recorded his second sack of the season and has now 6.5 sacks in his career.
Aukerman has now recorded a sack in 5-of-6 games this season.
Aukerman now has 12 sacks in his career and is now fourth all-time in academy history.
Nick Schrage kicked off eight times for 512 yards for an average of 64.0 yards per kick.
Schrage punted four times for 189 yards for an average of 47.2 yards per punt.
Blake Wilson was 7-for-7 on PAT attempts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army was forced to punt on 4th-and-7 and a Schrage 42-yard punt pinned the Owls on their own 31 with 4:40 remaining in the opening period. The home team managed to move the chains following pickups of six, four and four yards to shift the ball to the Rice 41-yard line. On the ensuing playing, however, Regan intercepted Miklo Smalls' pass and ran it back 48 yards to complete the pick-6.
On the first play from scrimmage following the touchdown, Austin Walter fumbled on the Rice 25. Brinson scooped it up and ran to the Owls' 9-yard line for the fumble recovery. Andy Davidson's pickup of six yards on the next play moved the ball into prime position, before Bradshaw finished off the drive.
After a touchback from Schrage, the Black Knights created yet another turnover when Regan stripped the ball from Smalls on the first play following that Army touchdown. Regan returned the fumble four yards before being pulled down at the Rice 23-yard line. On the ensuing play, Walker broke free on a pitch to complete the drive and hand Army the 21-0 advantage.
The Owls finally settled in and picked up 18 and 12 yards on their next two plays following the Walker touchdown. But that would be all the Army defense would give them as Jaylon McClinton forced another fumble to create the Owls' fourth turnover of the game. Brinson recovered the fumble at the Owls' 33-yard line and a few plays later Walker found himself back in the end zone to hand Army a 28-0 lead.
Rice finally completed a full drive but was forced to punt after being stopped on third down. Mike Reynolds returned the 37-yard punt 12 yards to begin Army's drive from their own 21-yard line. Again Walker found a hole and rushed for a career-long 47 yards to create a 35-0 gap between the teams.
The Owls managed to get on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter when Emmanuel Esukpa rushed for a 22-yard touchdown following a conversion of 4th-and-1 on the previous play. The PAT was blocked by Wunmi Oyetuga for his second career block.
The Black Knights rebounded though with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ate up 5:25 off the clock. Jordan Asberry, Calen Holt, Bradshaw, Davidson, and Walker all saw carries during the drive but Bradshaw capped things off with a 7-yard scamper for his third career multi-touchdown game.
With 10:36 remaining in the game, Army registered one final touchdown after Aukerman forced the Owls' fifth turnover of the contest. Scott Washle fell on the fumble at the 48-yard line to put the Black Knights in good position. Army converted on four third downs and a fourth down to keep the drive alive before Langdon crossed into the end zone to extend the Black Knights' edge to 49-6.
Rice scored its final touchdown with 7:55 left after Jackson Tyner completed a 58-yard pass to Aaron Cephus. The Owls' failed to convert on the two-point conversion.

UP NEXT
The Black Knights are back home at Michie Stadium next Saturday for a noon kickoff against Eastern Michigan. CBS Sports Network will carry the game with Ben Holden, Jay Feely and John Schriffen on the call.