| Year: | 2010 |
| Team: | Army Black Knights |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Record: | 7–6 |
| Head Coach: | Rich Ellerson |
| Hc Year: | 2nd |
| Off Coach: | Ian Shields |
| Oc Year: | 2nd |
| Off Scheme: | Triple option |
| Codef Coach1: | Payam Saadat |
| Codc1 Year: | 2nd |
| Codef Coach2: | Chris Smeland |
| Codc2 Year: | 2nd |
| Def Scheme: | Double Eagle Flex |
| Captain: | Stephen Anderson |
| Captain2: | Carson Homme |
| Captain3: | Josh McNary |
| Captain4: | Patrick Mealy |
| Stadium: | Michie Stadium |
| Champion: | Armed Forces Bowl champion |
| Bowl: | Armed Forces Bowl |
| Bowl Result: | W 16–14 vs. SMU |
The 2010 Army Black Knights football team represented the United States Military Academy as an independent in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Black Knights, led by second-year head coach Rich Ellerson played their home games at the Michie Stadium.
By winning six regular season games, Army became bowl-eligible for the first time since the 1996 season. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl in University Park, Texas, replacing a team from the Mountain West Conference.[1] They defeated SMU, 16–14, in the bowl game to finish the season 7–6, their first winning season since 1996.
See also: 2010 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team.
The Black Knights defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles for the third consecutive year, this being the second of the three decided by less than a touchdown. The game was tied twice and there were three lead changes. The teams combined for 594 yards rushing and only 96 yards passing. The game was delayed for about 12 minutes early in the second quarter when the public address system, the scoreboard, and the lights on the west (pressbox) side of the stadium went out. The lights eventually regained power, but the scoreboard and public address system remained inoperable for the remainder of the game. Notable performances included Army running back Jared Hassin's three touchdowns, 142 yards rushing by EMU's Dwayne Priest, and 126 yards rushing by EMU quarterback Alex Gillett.[2]
Scoring summary
1st quarter
2nd quarter
3rd quarter
4th quarter
See also: 2010 Hawaii Warriors football team.
Scott Enos kicked a 31-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining in the game to propel Hawai'i to a 31–28 come-from-behind victory over Army. The game was head coach Rich Ellerson's first against his alma mater. Hawai'i jumped out to a 21–0 lead on quarterback Bryant Moniz's three touchdown passes. But Army rallied with four straight touchdowns of its own, including two by Malcom Brown. The Rainbow Warriors had the final say as they scored late in the third quarter to tie the game. Army was positioning itself for a game-winning field goal when backup quarterback Max Jenkins fumbled the ball while trying to run to the middle of the field to gain position for a field goal attempt. The ball was recovered by the Hawai'i defense. The offense then drove down the field and set up the winning kick.
Moniz finished the game with 343 yards passing to go with his three TD passes. Kealoha Pilares caught 6 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. The Black Knights gained 250 yards on the ground and were led by fullback Jared Hassin's 83 yards rushing to go along with 1 touchdown carry.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 North Texas Mean Green football team.
Army improved to 2–1 on the season with its first shutout since 2005 with a 24–0 win over North Texas. Seven Army players ran for a total of 292 yards. Short TD runs by Patrick Mealy (9 yards) and Malcolm Brown (2 yards) put the Black Knights up 14–0 at halftime. Army quarterback Trent Steelman also carried the ball 11 times for 68 yards and a rushing touchdown while throwing for 45 yards through the air.
North Texas entered the game 23rd in the country in passing with an average of 282.5 yards per game, but was held to just 106 yards and threw 2 interceptions. The Mean Green entered the game starting backup quarterback Derek Thompson. However, Thompson was knocked out of the game with a season-ending broken leg in the second quarter. UNT was forced to finish the game with former wide receiver Riley Rodge at quarterback. Army senior DE Josh McNary had two sacks, tying the school record for 42 career tackles for loss.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Duke Blue Devils football team.
Army secured its best start to a season, at 3–1, since beginning the 1996 season with a 9–0 record in a 35–21 win at Duke. The Black Knights got off to a 14–0 start after short TD runs by Brian Cobbs and quarterback Trent Steelman and never looked back. Cobbs finished the game with 2 touchdown runs and Army 248 yards rushing while the Black Knights took advantage of 5 Duke turnovers. Steelman accounted for 62 of Army's rushing yards as well as threw for 85 including his first 2 TD passes of the season to go along with his rushing score.
Conner Vernon had 8 catches for 129 yards and a TD catch. Although quarterback Sean Renfree threw for 261 yards and two scores he was hampered by 3 interceptions. Army nearly doubled up Duke in time-of-possession with the Black Knights holding a 39.57–20.03 advantage for the contest. The win for the Black Knights ended a seven-game losing streak against ACC opponents.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Temple Owls football team.
Playing without star tailback Bernard Pierce, Matt Brown picked up the slack and rushed for 226 yards on 28 carries and scored 4 touchdowns as Temple rallied to defeat Army 42–35. Army had a 15-point lead on the Owls through the midpoint in the 3rd quarter backed by three Trent Steelman touchdown runs and one touchdown pass. But Temple would score 29 straight points including 2 touchdown runs by Brown to pull away from the Black Knights.
Steelman would end the game with 4 TD runs to go along with his 1 throwing score. He would rush for a total of 65 yards and throw for another 124. Army's leading rusher for the game was Malcom Brown who carried for 71 yards. Temple would shred the Black Knights for 407 yards of total offense. Quarterback Chester Stewart would pass for 127 yards and 1 TD pass. Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Tulane Green Wave football team.
Army won its third road game of the season in a 41–23 victory at the Louisiana Superdome against Tulane. The win gave the Black Knights their first season since 1967 in which the team won 3 away games in one year. Although only halfway through the current season, the 41 point scoring outburst also was good enough to surpass Army's season point total from 2009. Jared Hassin paced Army with 144 yards rushing and 2 TD runs. Quarterback Trent Steelman also rushed for 85 yards and a score while also throwing a touchdown pass to Davyd Brooks. Steelman only needed to attempt 5 passes all game as the Black Knights torched the Green Wave for 312 yards rushing.
Tulane QB Ryan Griffin did throw for 211 yards on the day and three TD passes, however two of the scores came when the game was already out of reach. Casey Robottom led the Green Wave receiving corps with 6 grabs for 63 yards and a touchdown. Army once again won the turnover battle for the game, only losing 1 fumble while recovering 3 Tulane fumbles. Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team.
Army dominated the first half of the contest staking a 17–3 lead at halftime but Rutgers would score 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter en route to a 23–20 overtime win. The lead storyline of the game, however, would surround Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle on kickoff return coverage in the 4th quarter of the contest.[3] Rutgers quarterback, Chas Dodd, making his first career start for the Scarlet Knights led the comeback with 251 yards passing and two touchdown tosses. Army was paced by fullback Jared Hassin and quarterback Trent Steelman, both of whom, ran for over 100 yards and each scored a touchdown. Steelman also threw for 115 yards through the air.
In the overtime session Dodd hit Keith Stroud on third-and-6 to reach the 3-yard line, setting up Joe Martinek's winning 1-yard run two plays later. Army had driven down the field in their overtime possession but a broken play on a third-and-short led to a 1-yard loss by Steelman forcing the field goal. Army dominated Rutgers in total yardage holding a 404–250 advantage. The Black Knights also sacked Dodd a total of eight times including three by Josh McNary. However, Army was uncharacteristically penalized eight times for 94 total yards. Rutgers was held to −1 yards rushing for the game. The contest marked the first College Football game to be played at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
No Scoring
Fourth quarter
Overtime
See also: VMI Keydets.
Jared Hassin ran for a career-high 158 yards and scored a touchdown as the Black Knights came within one victory of bowl eligibility with a 29–7 victory over VMI. Hassin also led Army in receiving for the game with 3 catches for 54 yards. The Black Knights defense held the Keydets to just one score and only 282 yards of total offense. They also scored their first points on defense this season as well as their first defensive touchdown. The first points by the defense came in the second quarter when the Keydets were called for a holding penalty in their own end zone giving the defense credit for a safety. Then with just under 9 minutes left in the game the Black Knights sealed the win with a Donovan Travis interception at the Army 21, Travis then scrambled through traffic, and flipped a lateral to Jordan Trimble while falling to his knees. Trimble raced the final 42 yards, making it 29–7. VMI quarterback Eric Kordenbrock threw for 139 yards and Chaz Jones ran for 72 along with scoring their only touchdown of the day.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Air Force Falcons football team.
Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson completed just 3 passes but they went for a combined 124 yards and 2 of them resulted in touchdowns as Air Force won their first Commander-in-Chief's Trophy since 2002. The Trophy was AFA's 17th outright one. Jefferson also rushed for 57 yards and two scores on the ground. Jonathan Warzeka caught both of Jefferson's TD passes and had 116 yards receiving after catching one pass for 53 yards and the other for 63. Army's Jared Hassin led all rushers with 114 yards on 17 carries. Army quarterback Trent Steelman threw for 81 yards and a touchdown but also recorded his first interception of the season. Prior to the INT Army was the last remaining Football Bowl Subdivision team without an interception on the year. Alex Carlton was 3 for 3 in kicking field goals on the day.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Kent State Golden Flashes football team.
Army became bowl-eligible for the first time in 14 years with a solid 45–28 victory over Kent State. Quarterback Trent Steelman and slotback Brian Cobbs each rushed for two touchdowns as the Black Knights would put up six total rushing scores on the day against the Golden Flashes. Tyshon Goode led the Flashes with seven catches for 155 yards and a touchdown. Although Kent outgained Army by 410 yards to 382 yards on offense they were hampered by four turnovers. Army amassed 233 yards on the ground against Kent State, which came in leading the nation in rushing defense at 69.4 yards allowed a game.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and Army–Notre Dame football rivalry.
Notre Dame dominated Army 27–3 in the first ever football game played at the new Yankee Stadium. Army would jump out to a 3–0 lead on its first possession of the game but for the first time this season the Black Knights were held without an offensive touchdown. Irish freshman quarterback Tommy Rees led the offense with 214 yards passing and one touchdown pass in his second career start. Notre Dame kept the Army triple-option running game in check as the Black Knights rushed for a season-low 135 yards rushing as the Army offense went three-and-out on most possessions.
With some extra bleachers in left and right fields, the sellout attendance of 54,251 set a record for the largest crowd for a sporting event at the two-year-old ballpark.
See also: 2010 Navy Midshipmen football team.
Navy extended their winning streak over Army to nine straight with a 31–17 victory in Philadelphia. Ricky Dobbs paced the Midshipmen with 186 yards passing including 2 TD passes and 54 yards rushing. Two records would be broken in the storied rivalry as Dobbs would set the record for the longest touchdown pass in the series with a 77 yarder to John Howell in the first quarter. Wyatt Middleton of Navy would also set the record for the longest fumble return for a touchdown in the series with a 98-yard return in the second quarter.
The fumble recovery by Middleton would turn out to be the turning point in the contest. With Navy leading 17–7 Army had a first-and-goal at the Navy three-yard line when quarterback Trent Steelman tried to rush the ball in for a touchdown to pull the Black Knights to within 3 points just before the half. Steelman was stood up at the one-yard line and the ball was knocked loose right into Middleton's hands, he scampered untouched for the 98 yard score in what would amount to a 14-point swing-the eventual difference in the game.
Steelman paced the Army offense with 128 yards passing and two TD passes to Malcom Brown to go along with a team-high 74 yards rushing. Army would dominate the game from an offensive standpoint holding edges in, total yards, rushing yards, and time of possession. They would also hold a 4–2 edge on turnovers, but the fumble recovery and two big play TD passes by Dobbs would be too much to overcome.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
See also: 2010 SMU Mustangs football team.
Army picked up its first Bowl victory since 1985 and clinched its first winning season since 1996 with a 16–14 victory over SMU in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Army's defense was the story in the first half as the Black Knights scored a defensive touchdown on a Josh McNary fumble recovery and also picked off SMU quarterback Kyle Padron twice. The Mustangs fought back though and Padron threw two second half touchdowns to bring the contest down to one score. SMU missed a 47-yard field goal attempt to take the lead with just a few minutes remaining in the contest, and Army was able to pick up two key first downs to close out the game.
Jared Hassin led the Black Knights offense with 82 yards rushing, which pushed him just over the 1,000 yard mark for the season. Army quarterback Trent Steelman was just 2 of 7 passing for 30 yards and also only rushed for 27 yards. However, despite the Black Knights ranking last in the nation in passing yards per game, it was a 22-yard pass play from Steelman to Davyd Brooks that sealed the victory. SMU's offense was paced by Padron who threw for 302 yards to go along with his two TD throws. Tailback Zach Line rushed 17 times for 103 yards, while Darius Johnson led all receivers with 9 grabs for 152 yards and a touchdown.
Army senior linebacker Stephen Anderson was named the Army player of the game after contributing 14 tackles, an interception and a sack.
Scoring summary
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter