The 2010 Army Black Knights football team represented the United States Military Academy as an independent in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Black Knights, led by second-year head coach Rich Ellerson played their home games at the Michie Stadium.
By winning six regular season games, Army became bowl-eligible for the first time since the 1996 season. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl in University Park, Texas, replacing a team from the Mountain West Conference. They defeated SMU, 16–14, in the bowl game to finish the season 7–6, their first winning season since 1996.
Schedule
Game summaries Eastern Michigan
The Black Knights defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles for the third consecutive year, this being the second of the three decided by less than a touchdown. The game was tied twice and there were three lead changes. The teams combined for 594 yards rushing and only 96 yards passing. The game was delayed for about 12 minutes early in the second quarter when the public address system, the scoreboard, and the lights on the west (pressbox) side of the stadium went out. The lights eventually regained power, but the scoreboard and public address system remained inoperable for the remainder of the game. Notable performances included Army running back Jared Hassin's three touchdowns, 142 yards rushing by EMU's Dwayne Priest, and 126 yards rushing by EMU quarterback Alex Gillett.
Scoring summary
1st quarter 14:56 EMU – Dwayne Priest 5-yard run (Sean Graham kick) 0–7 EMU 6:01 Army – Jared Hassin 3-yard run (Alex Carlton kick) 7–7
2nd quarter 1:00 Army – Jared Hassin 3-yard run (Alex Carlton kick) 14–7 Army 0:35 EMU – Dwayne Priest 5-yard run (Sean Graham kick) 14–14
3rd quarter 14:55 Army – Patrick Mealy 11-yard run (Alex Carlton kick) 21–14 Army 10:30 Army – Alex Carlton 42-yard field goal 24–14 Army 8:25 EMU – Alex Gillett 1-yard run (Sean Graham kick failed) 24–20 Army
4th quarter 3:03 EMU – Ben Thayer 10-yard pass from Alex Gillett (Sean Graham kick) 24–27 EMU 0:44 Army – Jared Hassin 7-yard run (Alex Carlton kick) 31–27 Army
Hawaii
Scott Enos kicked a 31-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining in the game to propel Hawai'i to a 31–28 come-from-behind victory over Army. The game was head coach Rich Ellerson's first against his alma mater. Hawai'i jumped out to a 21–0 lead on quarterback Bryant Moniz's three touchdown passes. But Army rallied with four straight touchdowns of its own, including two by Malcom Brown. The Rainbow Warriors had the final say as they scored late in the third quarter to tie the game. Army was positioning itself for a game-winning field goal when backup quarterback Max Jenkins fumbled the ball while trying to run to the middle of the field to gain position for a field goal attempt. The ball was recovered by the Hawai'i defense. The offense then drove down the field and set up the winning kick.
Moniz finished the game with 343 yards passing to go with his three TD passes. Kealoha Pilares caught 6 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. The Black Knights gained 250 yards on the ground and were led by fullback Jared Hassin's 83 yards rushing to go along with 1 touchdown carry.
Scoring summary
First quarter 10:29 Hawaii – Royce Pollard 26 yd pass from Bryant Moniz (Scott Enos kick) – 7–0 Hawaii 06:52 Hawaii – Rodney Bradley 11 yd pass from Bryant Moniz (Scott Enos kick) – 14–0 Hawaii
Second quarter 11:31 Hawaii – Kealoha Pilares 48 yd pass from Bryant Moniz (Scott Enos kick) – 21–0 Hawaii 04:30 Army – Malcolm Brown 4 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) – 21–7 Hawaii
Third quarter 11:06 Army – Jared Hassin 16 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 21–14 Hawaii 07:10 Army – Malcolm Brown 1 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 21–21 Hawaii 05:35 Army – Max Jenkins 1 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 21–28 Army 03:52 Hawaii – Alex Green 3 yd run (Scott Enos kick) 28–28
Fourth quarter 00:07 Hawaii – Scott Enos 31 yd FG – 31–28 Hawaii
North Texas
Army improved to 2–1 on the season with its first shutout since 2005 with a 24–0 win over North Texas. Seven Army players ran for a total of 292 yards. Short TD runs by Patrick Mealy (9 yards) and Malcolm Brown (2 yards) put the Black Knights up 14–0 at halftime. Army quarterback Trent Steelman also carried the ball 11 times for 68 yards and a rushing touchdown while throwing for 45 yards through the air.
North Texas entered the game 23rd in the country in passing with an average of 282.5 yards per game, but was held to just 106 yards and threw 2 interceptions. The Mean Green entered the game starting backup quarterback Derek Thompson. However, Thompson was knocked out of the game with a season-ending broken leg in the second quarter. UNT was forced to finish the game with former wide receiver Riley Rodge at quarterback. Army senior DE Josh McNary had two sacks, tying the school record for 42 career tackles for loss.
Scoring summary
First quarter 11:01 Army – Patrick Mealy 9 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 7–0 Army
Second quarter 04:57 Army – Malcolm Brown 2 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 14–0 Army
Third quarter 05:52 Army – Trent Steelman 20 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 21–0 Army
Fourth quarter 12:24 Army – Alex Carlton 23 Yd FG 24–0 Army
Duke
Army secured its best start to a season, at 3–1, since beginning the 1996 season with a 9–0 record in a 35–21 win at Duke. The Black Knights got off to a 14–0 start after short TD runs by Brian Cobbs and quarterback Trent Steelman and never looked back. Cobbs finished the game with 2 touchdown runs and Army 248 yards rushing while the Black Knights took advantage of 5 Duke turnovers. Steelman accounted for 62 of Army's rushing yards as well as threw for 85 including his first 2 TD passes of the season to go along with his rushing score.
Conner Vernon had 8 catches for 129 yards and a TD catch. Although quarterback Sean Renfree threw for 261 yards and two scores he was hampered by 3 interceptions. Army nearly doubled up Duke in time-of-possession with the Black Knights holding a 39.57–20.03 advantage for the contest. The win for the Black Knights ended a seven-game losing streak against ACC opponents.
Scoring summary
First quarter 13:51 Army – Brian Cobbs 3 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 7–0 Army 05:37 Army – Trent Steelman 1 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 14–0 Army 01:33 Duke – Brandon "Clavinet" Connette 10 yd run (Will Snyderwine kick) 14–7 Army
Second quarter 05:27 Army – Brian Cobbs 4 yd run (Alex Carlton kick) 21–7 Army
Third quarter 12:35 Army – Raymond Maples 34 Yd Pass From Trent Steelman (Alex Carlton Kick) 28–7 Army 06:31 Army – Austin Barr 31 Yd Pass From Trent Steelman (Alex Carlton Kick) 35–7 Army
Fourth quarter 14:52 Duke – Conner Vernon 58 Yd Pass From Sean Renfree (Will Snyderwine Kick) 35–14 Army 01:41 Duke – Brandon Braxton 21 Yd Pass From Sean Renfree (Will Snyderwine Kick) 35–21 Army
Temple
Playing without star tailback Bernard Pierce, Matt Brown picked up the slack and rushed for 226 yards on 28 carries and scored 4 touchdowns as Temple rallied to defeat Army 42–35. Army had a 15-point lead on the Owls through the midpoint in the 3rd quarter backed by three Trent Steelman touchdown runs and one touchdown pass. But Temple would score 29 straight points including 2 touchdown runs by Brown to pull away from the Black Knights.
Steelman would end the game with 4 TD runs to go along with his 1 throwing score. He would rush for a total of 65 yards and throw for another 124. Army's leading rusher for the game was Malcom Brown who carried for 71 yards. Temple would shred the Black Knights for 407 yards of total offense. Quarterback Chester Stewart would pass for 127 yards and 1 TD pass.
Scoring summary
First quarter 13:04 Army – Trent Steelman 2 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 0–7 Army 09:55 Temple – Matt Brown 3 Yd Run (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed) 6–7 Army 04:05 Temple – Matt Brown 42 Yd Run (Brandon McManus Kick) 13–7 Temple
Second quarter 09:08 Army – Trent Steelman 7 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 13–14 Army 02:07 Army – Austin Barr 31 Yd Pass From Trent Steelman (Alex Carlton Kick) 13–21 Army
Third quarter 08:05 Army – Trent Steelman 3 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 13–28 Army 06:00 Temple – Michael Campbell 24 Yd Pass From Joe Jones (Chester Stewart Pass To Vaughn Charlton For Two-Point Conversion) 21–28 Army
Fourth quarter 14:29 Temple – Michael Campbell 8 Yd Pass From Chester Stewart (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) 28–28 06:46 Temple – Matt Brown 11 Yd Run (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) 35–28 Temple 04:20 Temple – Matt Brown 20 Yd Run (Brandon Mcmanus Kick) 42–28 Temple 01:13 Army – Trent Steelman 5 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 42–35 Temple
Tulane
Army won its third road game of the season in a 41–23 victory at the Louisiana Superdome against Tulane. The win gave the Black Knights their first season since 1967 in which the team won 3 away games in one year. Although only halfway through the current season, the 41 point scoring outburst also was good enough to surpass Army's season point total from 2009. Jared Hassin paced Army with 144 yards rushing and 2 TD runs. Quarterback Trent Steelman also rushed for 85 yards and a score while also throwing a touchdown pass to Davyd Brooks. Steelman only needed to attempt 5 passes all game as the Black Knights torched the Green Wave for 312 yards rushing.
Tulane QB Ryan Griffin did throw for 211 yards on the day and three TD passes, however two of the scores came when the game was already out of reach. Casey Robottom led the Green Wave receiving corps with 6 grabs for 63 yards and a touchdown. Army once again won the turnover battle for the game, only losing 1 fumble while recovering 3 Tulane fumbles.
Scoring summary
First quarter 08:10 Army – Jared Hassin 9 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 7–0 Army 01:23 Tulane – Casey Robottom 6 Yd Pass From Ryan Griffin (Cairo Santos Kick) 7–7
Second quarter 09:37 Army – Davyd Brooks 8 Yd Pass From Trent Steelman (Alex Carlton Kick) 14–7 Army 07:29 Army – Alex Carlton 35 Yd FG 17–7 Army 01:59 Army – Trent Steelman 1 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 24–7 Army
Third quarter 07:11 Army – Jared Hassin 7 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 31–7 Army
Fourth quarter 14:16 Tulane – D.J. Banks 5 Yd Pass From Ryan Griffin (Ryan Griffin Pass To Casey Robottom For Two-Point Conversion) 31–15 Army 09:46 Army – Alex Carlton 33 Yd FG 34–15 Army 02:32 Tulane – Casey Robottom 5 Yd Pass From Ryan Griffin (Orleans Darkwa Run For Two-Point Conversion) 34–23 Army 01:42 Army – Brian Cobbs 6 Yd Run (Alex Carlton Kick) 41–23 Army
Rutgers
Army dominated the first half of the contest staking a 17–3 lead at halftime but Rutgers would score 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter en route to a 23–20 overtime win. The lead storyline of the game, however, would surround Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle on kickoff return coverage in the 4th quarter of the contest. Rutgers quarterback, Chas Dodd, making his first career start for the Scarlet Knights led the comeback with 251 yards passing and two touchdown tosses. Army was paced by fullback Jared Hassin and quarterback Trent Steelman, both of whom, ran for over 100 yards and each scored a touchdown. Steelman also threw for 115 yards through the air.
In the overtime session Dodd hit Keith Stroud on third-and-6 to reach the 3-yard line, setting up Joe Martinek's winning 1-yard run two plays later. Army had driven down the field in their overtime possession but a broken play on a third-and-short led to a 1-yard loss by Steelman forcing the field goal. Army dominated Rutgers in total yardage holding a 404–250 advantage. The Black Knights also sacked Dodd a total of eight times including three by Josh McNary. However, Army was uncharacteristically penalized eight times for 94 total yards. Rutgers was held to −1 yards rushing for the game. The contest marked the first College Football game to be played at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
Scoring summary
First quarter