Football Holds Off Western Kentucky In Home Opener

Saturday, September 11

West Point, N.Y.

11:30 a.m. ET

Army West Point

2-0

Western Kentucky

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Western Kentucky

Army

Photo by: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Football Holds Off Western Kentucky In Home Opener

September 11, 2021 | Football

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point football opened Michie Stadium with a 38-35 win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights are 2-0 for the fourth time in the Jeff Monken era.

The Hilltoppers (1-1) found their rhythm early until Marquel Broughton picked off a pass for his third career interception. It was the team's second consecutive game forcing a turnover on its opponent's opening possession. The stop shut down a seven-play, 39-yard drive by Western Kentucky. Christian Anderson got the start under center looking to help the Cadets find their groove. He threw his first of five completed passes to Brandon Walters, but the drive came to a halt when the Cadets fumbled the ball. The first quarter ended scoreless after another Western Kentucky drive was cut short by the Army defense.

Tyrell Robinson came out energetic in the second quarter, rushing for 24 yards on the first play of the second quarter to get Army on the board first. Robinson recorded his third career touchdown and his longest rush since the 2020 season when he had a 50-yard run against Abilene Christian. Cole Talley secured the extra point for the Black Knights to make the score 7-0. The defense went to work on their side of the ball holding the Hilltoppers to two yards on their next drive forcing Western Kentucky to punt.

Back under center, Anderson found Braheam Murphy and connected for a 40-yard touchdown pass, his second 40-yard pass of the season. Army jumped ahead to a 14-0 lead over Western Kentucky, but the Hilltoppers found their way to the endzone with a 73-yard touchdown pass on the following possession.

The Black Knights' offense responded quickly compiling a 16-play, 75-yard drive that was completed by a one-yard touchdown run by Jakobi Buchanan to extend Army's lead to 21-7 with 2:07 left in the first half. However, Western Kentucky's offense drove 75 yards in under two minutes to cut Army's lead to 21-14 heading into the break.

Army, which received the ball to start the second half, scored on its first drive of the half. Anthony Adkins rushed for a three-yard touchdown, becoming the fourth Cadet to score, giving Army a 28-14 lead. The defense kept that momentum going on the other side of the ball, shutting down the Hilltoppers fourth down pass attempt on the Army 29-yard line to get the ball back in the Cadets' possession.

Army strung together a 14-play, 71-yard drive to get on the board first in the fourth quarter. Anderson was taken down during the drive but bounced back to inch the Cadets closer and closer to the endzone. Buchanan sealed the deal by rushing for a three-yard touchdown to lift Army to a 35-14 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The Hilltoppers fought back with a 21-yard touchdown pass to cut Army's lead to 35-21.

The offense worked on stringing together a drive to close out the game but was stopped on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Hilltoppers. In six plays, Western Kentucky had cut Army's lead to 35-28 with five minutes left. The Cadets kept fighting on the offensive side of the ball, with Anderson rushing for 30 yards during the series to get Army to the Western Kentucky's 14-yard line.

Cole Talley connected on a 31-yard field goal to add cushion to Army's lead, 38-28, with three minutes on the clock. Western Kentucky made one last push, scoring on a two-yard run with 22 seconds left.

NOTES

Prior to the start of today's game, the team honored the thousands of Americans that lost their lives 20 years ago on September 11, 2001.
This is the first time Army has beat Western Kentucky in the series history. The Cadets now trail 3-1.
The contest with the Hilltoppers was the team's first in front of fans at Michie Stadium since a 47-6 victory over VMI on Nov. 16, 2019 as COVID-19 restrictions stipulated that only West Point personnel and the Corps of Cadets could attend home contests in 2020.
For the second-straight week, the Black Knights forced the opposing team to turn the ball over on their opening drive. Marquel Broughton helped the team achieve the feat today, picking off a pass and returning it five yards.
This marks the fourth time in the Monken era that Army has opened up a season with back-to-back wins (2016-17, 2020). The 2016 team opened up its slate with three-straight.
With today's victory, Army has now won 11-straight games at Michie Stadium.
The 81 points that the Cadets have put up in their first two games are the most combined since the 2017 season when the program racked up 85 after defeating Fordham (64-6) and Buffalo (21-17).
Army earned the advantage in time of possession, dominating Western Kentucky 39:38-20:22.

"We were tough enough, we played with great effort and we executed when we needed to."#GoArmy | #LastoftheHard pic.twitter.com/WjBXa4wc3M
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 11, 2021

QUOTABLE
Coach Monken
[Ref. The atmosphere at Michie Stadium]
"It was great to be out there. It was great to have fans and I thought the Corps of Cadets did a fantastic job of cheering for their team. We're just an extension of the Corps out there. Really, those are our teammates and I thought they did a fantastic job. To look around in the stands and hear that roar again after a big play, it was a lot of fun. I know our players were charged up and excited and so I hope that the crowds will continue to grow and people will want to come out and see this team play."

[Ref. The team's second-half response]
"I think that's what they did. They responded, they didn't react. There were some things that didn't go our way, some things we screwed up. And they just responded. They came back and made the plays that we needed to. We certainly allowed them [WKU] to make it a lot closer than it needed to be and that was a little agonizing. But you know, sometimes it's just that way. Sometimes you get into a competition and you're fighting for your life and you've got to go all the way to the end. And that's what our guys did."

Marquel Broughton
[Ref. His first-quarter interception]
"We had been practiing that all week. I think I had that same play come earlier in the week and I got an interception on it. It's about my coaches putting me in the right place, my teammates pushing me to learn and watch film with them. It's something that we practice and we practice a lot. Repetition gets things going."

Tyrell Robinson
[Ref. What it means to start 2-0]
"It's a great foundation for the rest of the season. It gives us confidence, but we still have a lot to learn about this team and about this game.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Black Knights welcome the Huskies of University of Connecticut to Blaik Field at Michie Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 18. The game will kick off at noon.
For ticket information, please call 1-877-TIX-ARMY, email odiaticketoffice@westpoint.edu, or visit www.armygameday.com.

FOLLOW ALONG
For complete coverage of Army West Point football, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Football and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.