No. 18 Army quickly bounced back from its first deficit during the nation’s longest active winning streak to beat North Texas 14-3 on Saturday, extending their streak to 13 wins in a row.
Quarterback Bryson Daily ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Black Knights. Army (9-0, 7-0 American Athletic) fell behind 3-0 early when North Texas kicked a field goal on their opening drive. But Army quickly responded when Daily ran for a 10-yard touchdown, giving them a 7-3 lead, and that score stood until he added a 2-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
“We always talk about adversity’s going to hit,” Daily said. “That’s a little bit of adversity going down 3-0. The way we responded on offense was awesome to see, and that’s what we build our program around.”
Daily’s second touchdown came after a 21-play, 94-yard drive that took 13 minutes and 54 seconds. This long drive came right after Daily threw Army’s first interception of the season.
“A 13-minute drive,” Daily said. “That’s incredible, and that’s what we needed at that point in the game. So proud of all the guys to be able to be locked in for (21) plays. That’s really tough.”
North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris, who entered the game as the FBS passing leader, threw for 214 yards but was intercepted twice in the end zone during the fourth quarter.
The Mean Green (5-4, 2-3) were unable to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since a 32-0 loss to Florida in 2016, and they lost their third straight game while trying to become bowl-eligible.
Daily, who missed last week’s 20-3 win over Air Force due to an injury and illness, tied his career high with 36 carries as Army’s top-ranked rushing offense finished with 293 yards, just 47 yards short of their season average.
“We had to fight for all those yards,” Army coach Jeff Monken said. “There weren’t any big plays. They did a great job against us, and fortunately we made enough plays to gut it out.”
North Texas, which had the third-best offense in the nation, was held to a season-low 283 yards by Army’s top-ranked defense, which also leads the country in scoring defense.
