Army Edges UNT In Heart of Dallas Bowl

By Steve Habel, The Sports Xchange

DALLAS — The decision to eschew an extra-point-length field goal in overtime in favor of an option run on fourth down was, according to Army coach Jeff Monken, his team’s best chance to win the Zaxby’s Heart of Texas Bowl on Tuesday against North Texas.
So when Jordan Asberry slithered his way around right end and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run it was actually all part of the Black Knights’ strategy for that situation.

Asberry’s run — and an emphatic stop afterward by the Army defense — allowed the Black Knights to outlast North Texas 38-31 before a sun-splashed crowd of 39,177 at the venerable Cotton Bowl Stadium in the seventh edition of this bowl game.
“If you had seen our kicking game all year, you would understand why we went for it rather than go for the field goal,” Monken said. “It was no guarantee that we were going to make that field goal — we rolled a snap back for an extra-point earlier that we missed.”
After Asberry’s scoring run, the Army defense held North Texas without a first down, forcing a desperation pass from Alec Morris on fourth-and-9 that was batted away to secure the victory.
“When you have the ball first in overtime, we want to try to do what we can to score a touchdown because it changes what our opponents have to do when they get the ball and frees up our defense a little,” Monken added.
Army (8-5) ran off nearly 10 1/2 minutes on a final fourth-quarter drive that began at its own 4-yard line and ended on a missed fourth-down conversion at the North Texas 30 with 2:18 to play. That was enough time for the Mean Green to move into field-goal range for Trevor Moore, whose 37-yard kick with 28 seconds to play in regulation tied the game at 31 and forced overtime.
Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 129 yards for Army, including a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Darnell Woolfolk added 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Black Knights.
The eight wins are the most for Army since the 1996 team went 10-2. The victory was also a bit of revenge for the Black Knights after they lost to North Texas at home earlier this season in a game in which Army had seven turnovers. It had one on Tuesday, a muffed punt.
“One of our goals for every game is to not turn over the ball and we just didn’t get that done the last time we played North Texas,” Bradshaw said. “It took a lot of effort and preparation and belief in ourselves and our coaches to win this game.”
North Texas (5-8) was led by Morris’ 304 yards and three touchdowns passing. The Mean Green earned a berth in the bowl game on the strength of their Academic Progress Rate when there were not enough 6-6 or better teams eligible for the postseason. Of the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, North Texas ranked 10th in APR and was second among non-eligible teams.
Army scored on its first four possessions, getting a pair of touchdown runs from Woolfolk from 5 and 3 yards away, respectively, a rousing 70-yard TD dash by Tyler Campbell on a picture-perfect option pitch from Bradshaw and a 6-yard run up the middle by fullback Andy Davidson. Blake Wilson’s extra-point kick after the first touchdown missed wide left, and the Black Knights failed on two-point conversion attempts following the other three TDs but still earned a 24-7 lead.
“We gave up some big plays today that they didn’t get last time,” North Texas coach Seth Littrell said. “That is not an easy offense to defend — Army forces you to be disciplined and there were times when we lost our focus today.”
North Texas responded after Woolfolk’s first touchdown with a six-play, 66-yard drive that culminated in a 22-yard scoring run from Wilson, but the Mean Green were forced to punt on their next two possessions.
Wilson found the end zone again with 2:26 to play in the first half on a 22-yard catch from Morris. The touchdown cut Army’s advantage to 24-14 and swung momentum into North Texas’ favor for the first time.
North Texas moved even closer on its final possession of the first half, going 68 yards in 1:40 with the score coming on a 27-yard TD pass from Morris to Rico Bussey with 10 seconds remaining until intermission.
Army outgained North Texas 332-245 in the first half, with 294 of the Black Knights’ yardage coming on the ground.
Bradshaw ripped off his 65-yard touchdown run on its first possession of the third quarter, pushing the Black Knights’ lead to 31-21. The drive began at the Army 13-yard line after Elijah Riley’s interception of Morris.
Army returned the favor late in the third quarter when Malik McGue muffed a punt that was recovered by North Texas’ Kenny Buyers at the Black Knights’ 18-yard line. On the ensuing snap, Morris found Wilson for a touchdown that brought the Mean Green to within 31-28.
“We overcame a lot of adversity this season,” Morris said. “It didn’t end the way we all wanted it to, but there wasn’t much I would change except the outcome today.”