Kent State Improves to 5-1 with a 31-17 Win at Army
10/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Dri Archer broke loose again and Kent State's defense shut down the nation's No. 1 rushing offense for the better part of three quarters as the Golden Flashes rolled to a 31-17 win at Army on Saturday at Michie Stadium.
At 5-1, the Golden Flashes are now off to their best start since 1973.
Saturday's game was less than a quarter old when Dri Archer limped to the sideline and gave Kent State head coach Darrell Hazell what he called a "puppy-dog look."
"Absolutely not," Hazell told the speedster.
That was all the prodding Archer needed to return to the field and rush for 222 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries. He reached the end zone on an 87-yard sprint that sealed the victory late in the fourth quarter.
Archer also opened the scoring for Kent State, padding his Paul Hornung-award resume with a 24-yard touchdown pass on a throw-back to quarterback Spencer Keith early in the second quarter. The Paul Hornung Award goes to college football's most versatile player, and on Saturday Archer was fourth in the online voting.
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"Dri is just a special player," said Hazell. "Every time you hand him the ball, you expect him to go all the way … Even when a play isn't blocked so well."
The first pass ever thrown by Archer and the first catch of Keith's career was a set play Kent State was determined to run as soon as the Golden Flashes' offense crossed the Army 30-yard line.
"We saw on film that Army plays a whole lot of man defense and they don't typically account for the quarterback," said Hazell. "We expected Spencer to be wide open on that play, but the cornerback made a nice recovery. Dri had to throw a really good pass."
Keith added a 30-yard touchdown pass of his own to Eric Adeyemi later in the second quarter to send Kent State into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
After the two teams traded field goals in the third, a 44-yard run by Archer later in the quarter set up a two-yard touchdown by Trayion Durham and a commanding 24-3 lead for Kent State heading into the final 15 minutes.
While Archer made the eye-popping plays, the big lead through three quarters came courtesy of a Kent State defense that made life miserable for an Army rushing attack that racked up 516 yards against Boston College a week earlier.
Army finished with 325 rushing yards against Kent State, but almost half of that total came in the fourth quarter. The Black Knights converted just 1-of-9 third downs thanks in large part to linebacker Luke Batton's career-high, 16-tackle day and the stifling interior play of tackles Roosevelt Nix and Dana Brown.
Any hopes Army had for a second-half comeback were spoiled by two failed attempts on fourth down. Nix stuffed quarterback Trent Steelman for a loss on fourth-and-one in the third quarter, and Kent State cornerback Sidney Saulter forced a fumble that Danny Gress recovered on fourth-and-two in the fourth quarter.
All in all, it was a pretty good day against a triple-option that can create a feeling of culture shock for a defense.
"We are six games into the season, and all of a sudden you have to prepare for a whole new offense that you never see because not many teams other than Army run it," said Nix. "And they are good at it. It's pretty satisfying to win a game like that because it shows how prepared we were."
Kent State also won the special-teams battle with kicker Freddy Cortez booting a 30-yard field goal and freshman punter Anthony Melchiori flipping field position over and over again while booming career-long punts of 52 and 59 yards.
"Anthony Melchiori had a great day," said Hazell. "He doesn't look like a freshman anymore. Even late in the game when I told him just to one-step it, he dropped the punt inside their five-yard line."
The setting of the United States Military Academy added to a special weekend for the Golden Flashes. The team arrived in West Point on Friday and took a tour of the campus, visiting with cadets and stopping to pay homage at statues of legends like Dwight Eisenhower and George S. Patton.
"It was a great honor just to be here," said Nix. "We all have so much respect for the people at West Point. The atmosphere here was like nothing I've ever experienced."
Hazell, who coached at West Point in 1997-98, called Saturday's win "the best of the season so far."
"When you add the environment here, the fact that Army was building some momentum after a BCS win last week (over Boston College) and we were on the road, that has to be the best win of the season," Hazell said.
Kent State returns home for a 3:30 p.m. Homecoming battle with Western Michigan at Dix Stadium on Oct. 20.
Individual Notes
Junior Dri Archer ran for a career-high 222 yards. It was the first time since 2007 (Eugene Jarvis), a Kent State player ran 200 yards in a game. His 87-yard touchdown run was the Flashes' first run of over 80 yards since 2009 (Sam Kirkland). Archer had five runs of 17 yards or more, including his 12th touchdown of the year.
Archer threw his first career pass for a 24-yard touchdown, while Spencer Keith made his first career catch for a touchdown. Keith also threw his 38th career touchdown pass.
Senior Eric Adeyemi made his first career touchdown catch, which was a career-long 30-yard grab.
Senior middle linebacker Luke Batton made a career-high 16 tackles, including a career-high 13 solo stops. They were most tackles in a game by a Kent State player since 2009 (Cobrani Mixon).
Sophomore Trayion Durham has run for five touchdowns in his last three games. He's run for at least 50 yards in his last 12 games.
Junior Roosevelt Nix had 2.0 tackles for loss, one sack and five total tackles. Nix moved into fourth place in career tackles for loss with 46.5 and is now tied for fourth in career sacks with 18. Nix also made a big stop for no gain on a fourth-and-one in the third quarter.
Senior Freddy Cortez has made six straight field goals after making a 28-yarder in the third quarter.
Freshman Anthony Melchiori had a career-long 59-yard punt and placed three kicks inside the 20.
Team Notes
Kent State is 5-1 for the first time since 1973 and only the third time since 1940.
The Flashes won three straight road games for the first time since 2006.
Kent State won a non-conference road game for the first time since 2007 (Iowa State).
Saturday was the Flashes' first win over Army in program history.
In six games, Kent State has not been scored upon in the first quarter (27-0).
The Flashes had over 250 yards rushing for the second straight game.
Kent State did not turn the ball over and raised its season turnover margin to plus-10.
In their last two games, the Flashes are 4-for-4 on fourth down conversions.
