Kanye Udoh scored a pair of touchdowns and rumbled for 128 of his career-high 158 yards in the second half as No. 21 Army withstood the absence of star quarterback Bryson Daily and shined defensively in a 20-3 victory over visiting Air Force on Saturday afternoon in West Point, N.Y.
In their first Commander-In-Chief game of the season, the Black Knights (8-0) won their 12th straight game overall after learning Daily was unavailable due to an undisclosed illness/injury that is not expected to be season-ending.
Dewayne Coleman made his first career start and spent most of the day handing the ball to Udoh, who carried 22 times and scored untouched on a 12-yard TD about five minutes into the second half and untouched on a 25-yard score with just under two minutes left.
Udoh scored two TDs for the third time in his career and scored for the second time after Max DiDomenico had a 71-yard interception return after Air Force converted a third-and-19.
Udoh’s big day helped Army gain 207 yards rushing on 43 attempts. He also had a 40-yard gain that set up Trey Gronotte’s second field goal in the second quarter. Coleman ran 16 times for 42 yards while also completing 5-of-8 passes for 48 yards.
Army’s defense came up with three interceptions, including a pick in the end zone by Jaydan Mayes with 43 seconds left to secure the victory. The Black Knights also finished with six sacks.
Air Force (1-7), which lost last year’s meeting 23-3, fell to 0-2 in Commander-In-Chief’s trophy games and dropped its seventh straight game.
Air Force quarterback Quentin Hayes finished 7-for-14 for 54 yards and also gained 61 yards on 22 attempts. Josh Johnson entered for Hayes and threw two interceptions.
Army scored its fewest points in the opening half this season and settled for a 30-yard field goal by Gronotte with 6:39 left in the first and a 32-yarder with 12:37 left in the second. Set up by a 19-yard gain by Hayes on a quarterback draw, Matthew Dapore made a 32-yarder with 1:47 left to make it 6-3 by halftime.
–Field Level Media
