By Garin Turner
The Army Black Knights couldn’t overcome a disastrous start on Thursday night, falling 28-6 to East Carolina in American Athletic Conference play. The loss drops Army to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
Early hole proves costly
East Carolina seized control right away, piling on 21 first-quarter points. Army trailed 14-0 before failing on a fourth-down try deep in its own territory, which the Pirates quickly converted into a third touchdown.
The second quarter turned sloppy for both sides. Army coughed up a fumble, punted, and turned it over on downs again, while ECU stalled with a punt, an interception, and a fumble of its own. Neither team found the end zone before halftime, leaving Army in a 21-0 hole at the break.
Black Knights show brief spark
Army’s lone score came midway through the third quarter. Dewayne Coleman capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. But any momentum quickly faded as the Black Knights failed to finish drives. They turned the ball over on downs twice more in the second half and punted once, while ECU added another touchdown in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Despite rushing for 241 yards on 53 attempts, Army managed only two conversions on 15 third-down tries and failed to establish any balance through the air.
By the numbers
Passing
• Dewayne Coleman: 5/9, 36 yards
Rushing
• Noah Short: 11 carries, 127 yards
• Dewayne Coleman: 22 carries, 51 yards, one touchdown
• Cale Hellums: nine carries, 42 yards
Receiving
• Samari Howard: two catches, 26 yards
• Noah Short: three catches, 13 yards
Defense
• Andon Thomas: 16 tackles
• Kalib Fortner: 11 tackles
• Gavin Shields: eight tackles, one sack
• Stephen Nnadozie: seven tackles, one interception
What’s next
Army will try to regroup at home against UAB on Oct. 4, looking to snap its skid and climb back toward .500 as conference play continues.
