Noah Short said he reminded tight end Parker Poloskey during the week that it had been 17 years since a “true” Army tight end had scored a touchdown.
At the perfect moment in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas against American Conference foe UTSA, Poloskey ended that streak, grabbing a 4-yard game-winning touchdown reception with just 2:49 left in the game to give Army a hard-earned 27-24 victory. The win enabled the Black Knights (6-5, 4-4 American) to become bowl eligible for the second straight year.
Bowl bids are scheduled to be announced next Sunday. The Black Knights face arch-rival Navy in Baltimore on Dec. 13 in its last regular season game.
“Well, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough and that is all that matters,” said Army coach Jeff Monken. “I am just so incredibly proud of our team, the toughness and the fight and resiliency to find ourselves in the situation we were in the fourth quarter. With them taking the lead and having to get a (winning) drive on offense and get a stop on defense.
“This is a huge win for our team and our program. To start 1-3 and to be on the doorstep of a bowl game a week ago and let that one go is really disappointing. To come here against a team that is really good and really athletic and find ourselves bowl eligible is improbable. Our guys just willed their way to a victory.”
Interestingly, it was the eighth game of the season decided by one touchdown or less for the Black Knights. Army has won four of those games and lost four, including two in overtime.
“Thankfully we found a way tonight,” Monken said. “They answered the bell.”
UTSA, which has lost to Army at home in four straight games dating to 2019, finished its regular season at 6-6 (4-4 in the American) and is also bowl eligible. The Roadrunners had won 25 straight conference games at the Alamodome.
Tight ends are mostly used as blockers in Army’s traditional option offense and are rarely utilized as receivers in an offensive scheme that focuses more on running than passing. Poloskey, a junior, has been somewhat of an exception, at least by Army standards, this season. Against UTSA, he caught two key passes from quarterback Cale Hellums, a fourth-down, 11-yard pass that kept the winning drive going with 5:30 left in the game and the touchdown. He now has four receptions for 54 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
“I sent Parker that stat about the tight ends (streak) earlier this week,” said Short, a senior slotback who scored Army’s first touchdown in the second quarter on an 81-yard end-around scamper. “I saw it on Instagram.”
Frankly, it felt like this game could have gone either way. UTSA shot out to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. But Army, coming off a shocking loss to Tulsa at home last week, quickly rebounded. First, Short’s big play cut the lead to 10-7.
“What a run,” said Monken. “That is the fastest defense we faced all year and he outran them. It wasn’t like they were gaining on him, he took off and ran away from them.”
Then, a Dawson Jones 27-yard field goal capped a 14-play, 87-yard drive, including a 32-yard pass from Short to Brady Anderson on a halfback option, that tied the score, 10-10.
Things kept moving in the Black Knights direction. Junior cornerback Jaydan Mayes picked off a tipped Owen McCown pass and raced 73 yards down the sidelines for a score that gave the Black Knights a 17-10 halftime lead. It was Army’s first defensive score of the season.
Army kept it going in the third quarter, with Jones hitting a 37-yard field goal to give the Black Knights a 20-10 lead. But, the first half of the fourth quarter belonged to the Roadrunners, with UTSA scoring a touchdown early in the period on a McCown 8-yard pass and quickly following that up with another McCown 7-yard touchdown pass to take a 24-20 lead with 12:33 left.
“That’s football, it’s up and down,” said Short, who finished with 127 rushing yards on 14 attempts. “I don’t think there was a moment where any guys were giving up. We were going to fight to the last whistle. It just so happens we came out on top today.”
Poloskey’s touchdown catch successfully completed a 13-play, 75-yard drive for Army, that saw two fourth-down conversions (a 14-yard diving catch by Samari Howard and Poloskey’s first reception).
“That last drive was huge,” said a banged-up Hellums, who completed three of nine passes for 34 yards and rushed for 94 yards on 14 carries. The junior eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards this season. “Guys made plays and that is what we needed. The last drive was gritty and to be able to punch it into the end zone was just an awesome feeling and that is what we needed to get done.”
