Football Takes Care of Mercer, 49-3

Saturday, October 24

West Point, N.Y.

12 p.m. ET

Army West Point

6-1

Mercer

0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mercer

Army

Football Takes Care of Mercer, 49-3

October 24, 2020 | Football

Box Score Postgame Notes vs. Mercer Mercer Post Game Press Conference Game Highlights

WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Army Black Knights took care of business on Saturday afternoon, improving to 6-1 on the season after a 49-3 victory over the Mercer Bears at Michie Stadium.

Running back Sandon McCoy led the way, finishing with a team-high three touchdowns on eight carries, while Tyrell Robinson scored his first-career touchdown on a 53-yard reception.

Defensively, the Black Knights held Mercer to 221 total yards of offense and just one field goal and no touchdowns on the day. Linebackers Jon Rhattigan and Spencer Jones led the way with seven tackles apiece. The defensive unit had three interceptions, including a pick-six by Jabari Moore. Rhattigan and Cameron Jones also tallied interceptions on the day.

The Bears got on the board first, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Caleb Dowden.

However, Army answered with 49 unanswered points of their own, as they took full control of the game and the clock, possessing the ball for 35 minutes and 10 seconds of the game.

Robinson got the Black Knights on the board first with a 53-yard reception, his first-career touchdown. McCoy followed with back-to-back touchdowns, followed by a fellow b-back reaching the end zone as Cade Barnard rumbled home on a three-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, making it 28-3, Army.

With just over five minutes left in the third quarter, McCoy scored his third touchdown of the day, making it his third three-touchdown performance in his career.

Leading 35-3, Moore returned his interception 29 yards to the end zone his third-career touchdown to push the lead to 42-3.

Senior Jordan Blackman capped off the scoring with his first-career touchdown, making it 49-3, Black Knights.

Sitting at 6-1 after the victory, the Black Knights were offered and accepted a bowl bid to the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., becoming the first team to do so this season.

NOTES
• Following the victory, Army accepted a bid to the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. This marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Black Knights will be going bowling. Army is 3-0 in those games.
• Army improved to 6-1 on the season and 5-0 at home.
• The Black Knights are now 21-2 at Michie Stadium dating back to the start of the 2017 season. The Cadets currently own a seven-game win-streak on their home turf.
• Army limited Mercer to three points, marking the fourth time this season that it has held its opponent to fewer than 10 points. This is the first time since the 1968 season that Army has held four opponents to single digits.
• This is just the fourth time since 1970 that Army has won at least six games in its first seven tilts. The Black Knights started the 1996 season with a 7-0 record. They opened the 1985 and 1988 seasons with a 6-1 record.
• Army has scored a touchdown on its first offensive drive five times this season.
• This was the first time since the San Jose State contest on Oct. 26, 2019 that Army scored through the air on its first drive. • The Black Knights converted a season-high four fourth down conversions, going a perfect 4-of-4 on the afternoon.
• Army's defense had three interceptions, the most in a contest since it had three against Morgan State on Sept. 21, 2020.
• Army's defense has now caused 13 turnovers on the season (9 interceptions, 4 fumbles).
• The Black Knights defense has now accounted for three defensive touchdowns this season. • Army's B-back group accounted for four of the Cadets' TDs. Sandon McCoy rushed for three, while Cade Barnard added for the other.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"What an exciting day for our team - to play as well as we did and to win the game and accept a bid to a historic bowl game, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport – just a really thrilling day for our team. I'm just proud of their effort and how hard we played and how well we executed for most of the day. There's a few things that we had to correct, and those probably stood out to everybody, but our guys after the first drive on defense did a tremendous job of slowing them down and I'm really happy with the offense being able to sustain some drives and get the ball down there in scoring position and punch it in for touchdowns." – Head Coach Jeff Monken

WHAT'S NEXT

The Black Knights have a bye next weekend and will be back in action on Nov. 7 as they are set to host CIC rival Air Force at 11:30 a.m. ET. The game will be televised live on CBS Networks.