Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sports Network) -
ARMY: One week after notching their first win of the season, the Black Knights found themselves back in the loss column after Saturday's 31-17 outcome against Kent State. The defense was unable to contain Kent State's Dri Archer, who rushed for a career-high 222 yards on just 12 carries. For Army (1-5), Trent Steelman completed 5-of-9 passes for 66 yards and no touchdowns while freshman A.J. Schurr threw for 66 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-11 passing. Steelman rushed for 66 yards on 19 carries. Malcolm Brown rushed for 92 yards and touchdown on 11 attempts and Raymond Maples added 80 yards on 19 attempts. Chevaughn Lawrence had 88 receiving yards on six catches as Patrick Laird had the only touchdown reception for the Black Knights. Army threw for a season- high 132 yards, its largest output since the last meeting with Kent State on Nov. 3, 2010 (149 yards). Still, the Black Knights lost despite outgaining the Golden Flashes, 457-367. Missed opportunities played a big role, as the offense was held to two touchdowns on four trips to the red zone, while also coming up empty on two key fourth-down conversion attempts.
BYU: The Cougars fell to 4-3 following Saturday's 42-24 setback to Oregon State. After holding their previous two opponents to a total of three points, the defense was unable to keep the Beavers offense in check. Making his first career start, OSU quarterback Cody Vaz threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns to lead the eighth-ranked Beavers. The last time the BYU defense allowed more than 300 total yards was in a 38-28 victory over Oregon State last year, when the Cougars surrendered 365 to the Beavers. Riley Nelson threw for 305 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions for the Cougars (4-3), who have now lost three of five following a 2-0 start. One of his interceptions was returned 49 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, stretching a 35-24 game into a 42-24 margin with under five minutes to play. Jamaal Williams carried 15 times for 36 yards and two scores, while Devin Mahina reeled in the Cougars' lone TD pass. BYU won't catch a break this week as the team travels to face No. 5 Notre Dame.
NAVY: The Midshipmen were in action last Friday night, posting a 31-13 win at Central Michigan. The victory was their second straight and third in the last four contests. Keenan Reynolds had three touchdown passes, completing 6-of-11 passes for 134 yards while adding another 59 yards on the ground for the Mids. He was able to rack up big plays through the air despite the offense running the ball 62 times. Reynolds, a freshman, provided a spark while filling in for injured starter Trey Miller last week, as he rallied Navy to an overtime win against Air Force. Making his first career start, Reynolds became the first Navy quarterback to throw three touchdown passes since Chris McCoy against Colgate in 1997. Gee Gee Greene caught two touchdown passes against CMU, while Brandon Turner caught the other and Prentice Christian added a score on the ground. The Mids will try to keep it going when Big Ten foe Indiana comes to town this weekend.
NOTRE DAME: Tommy Rees came off the bench to throw a seven-yard touchdown pass to TJ Jones in overtime, while the Notre Dame defense followed with a goal- line stand to keep the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish unbeaten with a thrilling 20-13 victory over No. 17 Stanford. Rees, a 12-game starter last season who was beaten out by redshirt freshman Everett Golson during summer practice, stepped in after his counterpart took a helmet-to-helmet blow from Usua Amanam with the Irish trailing by a 13-10 score. Rees also helped engineer a 12-play, 79-yard drive capped by Kyle Brindza's 22-yard field goal near the end of regulation after taking over midway through the series for the injured Golson. He finished 4-of-4 for 43 yards as the Irish moved to 6-0 for the first time since 2002. Golson, who is dealing with a possible concussion, went 12-of-24 for 141 yards and fired a 24-yard touchdown strike to Tyler Eifert that aided Notre Dame's comeback from a 10-3 halftime deficit. Stepfan Taylor rushed for 102 yards on 28 carries for Stanford (4-2), but was stuffed four times from within the Irish four-yard line on the Cardinal's only possession in overtime.