Postgame Notes: Army vs. VMI

November 16, 2019 | Football

TEAM

Army is now 17-2 in its last 19 games played at Michie Stadium dating back to the 2016 season. This marks Army's fourth consecutive winning season at home.
Army head coach Jeff Monken picked up his 40^thcareer victory at West Point. He ties Tom Cahill (1966-73) for fourth all-time at Army in wins.
The Black Knights honored the U.S. Army Special Operations Command with their insignia on the back of their helmets.
West Point honored 29 senior players prior to today's kickoff: Jake Baumert, Rashaad Bolton, Cole Christiansen, Kjetil Cline, Glen Coates, David Cooper, Jacob Covington, Jaxson Deaton, Jake Ellington, Scott Flanick, Chris Gregg, Malik Hancock,Kelvin Hopkins Jr., Cam Jones, Jarrod Jones, Jack King,Donavan Lynch, Jaylon McClinton, Ryan Parker, Zach Potter, Elijah Riley, Zach Saum, Jack Sides, Connor Slomka, Rod Stoddard, Noah Utley,Ryan Velez, Kell Walkerand Amadeo West.
Game captains Cole Christiansen, Kelvin Hopkins Jr., and Elijah Rileywere joined at the coin toss by Zach Saum, Glen Coates, and Edriece Patterson.
VMI won the coin toss and elected to defer.

OFFENSE

The Black Knights finished with 594 rushing yards, good for third most in program history and the most since Nov. 18, 1989 vs. Colgate.
West Point's 643 total yards of offense (594 rushing, 49 passing) is the most since netting 671 vs. Lafayette on Oct. 15, 2016.
Army's 99-yard drive in the third quarter was its first since putting together an 18 play, 99-yard drive at Ohio State on Sept. 16, 2017. It is Army's third drive this season of 95 yards or more.
Kelvin Hopkins Jr. finished with a career-high 208 rushing yards, his first career game over 200 yards. He is the first Army quarterback to rush for 200 or more yards in a game since Ahmad Bradshaw had 244 at North Texas on Nov. 18, 2017.
It marks Hopkins' sixth career game with 100 or more rushing yards. He now has 1,684 career yards on the ground, good for 22^ndin program history.
His 63-yard rushing touchdown was the 24^thof his career, now moving him into a tie for 10^thin program history with Gil Stephenson (1948-50).
Hopkins paces Army this season with 619 rushing yards on 127 carries (4.9 average) with seven scores.
Connor Slomka's career-high three rushing scores now gives him seven touchdowns on the season and 16 for his career. It's his second career multi-rushing TD game, with his last one coming against UTEP in 2017.
He is the second Army player this season to score three touchdowns in a game, joining Sandon McCoy. Slomka finished with 64 yards on 11 carries and is second on West Point with 572 yards this season.
Jabari Laws' first quarter rushing touchdown was the fourth of his career. He finished with 97 yards on nine carries (all in the first half) with a long rush of 27 yards. He now has 484 yards on the season on 76 carries (6.3 average).
Kell Walker's 59-yard rushing touchdown was a career-long rush for him. His previous best came on a 51-yard scamper against Navy on Nov. 8, 2018.
Walker now has 1,677 career rushing yards in his Army career, good for 23^rdin program history. The rushing score was the third this season and the 11^thof his career.
Christian Anderson ran for 82 yards on seven carries. He recorded a long rush of 48 yards and tallied a four-yard TD run, the third of his career.
Cam Harrison made three catches for 48 yards. Over his last six games that he's played in, Harrison has made 21 grabs for 388 yards.

DEFENSE

Army has allowed 13 points over the last two games (7 vs. UMass, 6 vs. VMI). The last time Army allowed 13 points or fewer over a two-game span was in 1977, when Army allowed seven to Holy Cross (10/29) and six to Air Force (11/5).
The Black Knights limited VMI to just 40 rushing yards on 21 attempts. Over the last two contests, Army has held its opponents to just 66 combined rushing yards.
Cole Christiansen made 10 tackles (3 solo), marking his ninth career double-digit tackle game. The senior captain now has 262 career tackles, moving him into 22^ndall-time at Army. His 148 solo tackles are good for 21^st.
Kwabena Bonsu recorded the first two sacks of his career. He now has six tackles for loss this season, good for second on the team.
Malkelm Morrison and Edriece Patterson combined for a sack. It was Morrison's first of his career, while Patterson now has five in his career. Morrison added a pass breakup.
Jeremiah Lowery matched his career-high in tackles for loss with 1.5. He had five stops in the game (2 solo) with a quarterback hurry.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickoff specialist Landon Salyers recovered a fumble. It was Army's 17^thtakeaway this season. Army scored a touchdown off the takeaway, giving it 75 points off of those takeaways this season.