The Army Black Knights (8-5) defeat the North Texas Mean Green (5-8) 38-31 at the 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl.
The Heart of Dallas Bowl is the second time that Army met North Texas this season. The two teams met earlier this year on October 22nd, where North Texas gave Army a 35-18 shellacking that was not expected. In fact, Army had been 17+ point favorites to win. Despite a close game, Army prevailed in today’s matchup.
First Quarter: Army 12, North Texas 7
Army was the first to get on the board with a five-yard run into the end zone by Darnell Woolfolk. The extra point attempt was no good. North Texas came back three minutes later when running back Jeffrey Wilson ran the ball 22 yards into the end zone and Trevor Moore’s point attempt was good to put the Mean Green up 7-6. Less than two minutes later Army answered with a Tyler Campbell 70 yard dash to the house, but the two point conversion attempt failed and the quarter ended with the Black Knights up 12-7.
Second Quarter: Army 24, North Texas 21
Army surged ahead in the second quarter but still struggled with the extra points. Two minutes into the quarter Woolfolk powered into the end zone for a 1 yard haul touchdown. Two point try was no good, so the Black Knights went up 18-7. With 6:37 left to play in the half Andy Davidson had a 6 yard run to score again, but once again the two point conversion attempt failed, leaving it 24-7. North Texas wasn’t done yet, though. Jeffrey Wilson caught a 22 yard pass from Alec Morris for a touchdown and the extra point was good. With ten seconds to play in the half Rico Bussey caught a 27 yard pass from Morris and once again Trevor Moore’s extra point was good, so the half ended with Army leading 24-21.
Third Quarter: Army 31, North Texas 28
The third quarter was a bit quieter. Army scored halfway through the quarter when quarterback Ahmed Bradshaw ran the ball 65 yard run for a touchdown. The extra point was good and the Black Knights went up 31-24. North Texas answered when Alec Morris handed the ball off to Tyler Wilson, who passed it back to Morris and Morris ran it into the end zone. With the extra point, the Mean Green trailed Army by 3 points heading into the final quarter, 31-28.
Fourth Quarter: Army 31, North Texas 31
Army ran the clock down before turning the ball over on downs with just over two minutes to go in the game. The Mean Green were able to get the ball down the field and Trevor Moore’s 37 yard field goal tied the game at 31.
Overtime: Army 38, North Texas 31
Jordan Asberry’s 3 yard touchdown run was enough to win the game for Army. The Mean Green got back down the field but weren’t able to get to the house.
Final Score: Army 38, North Texas 31
North Texas was 5-7 on the season under first year head coach Seth Littrell, who not only guided the team to its first bowl game in three years, but he also helped the team finish with four more wins than last year. This bowl appearance is courtesy of the Mean Green’s APR score, which places them at #10 out of all 128 FBS schools.
The Black Knights are making their first bowl appearance since 2010 and they’re coming off a big win against Navy on December 10th to finish the season.
Though Army had been tabbed to win the Heart of Dallas Bowl by 10, you couldn’t discount the fact that Army was picked as a 17.5 favorite to win their game against North Texas back on October 22nd, a game that Army lost to the Mean Green by a resounding 35-18. Army turned the ball over 7 times in that game. Clearly, point spreads don’t mean anything between these two teams.
Highlights
Three Stars
Darnell Woolfolk, Army: One of Army’s fullbacks, Woolfolk had a very productive game. He finished the game with 22 carries for 119 yards with two touchdowns. His longest touchdown run was 25 yards. He was critical to the Black Knight’s success.
Jeffrey Wilson, North Texas: Despite the loss, running back Jeffrey Wilson had a great game. He had 81 rushing yards on 20 carries, including one 22 yard touchdown. He also had 6 catches for 46 yards.
Ahmad Bradshaw, Army: The Army quarterback ran the ball in for a 65-yard touchdown. He had 18 carries in this game for 129 yards.
Next Season
Next year the North Texas Mean Green kick off the 2017 campaign with a game against the Lamar Cardinals on September 2nd. Army opens the 2017 season with a Friday game at home against the Fordham Rams on September 1st.