South Florida Rallies from 10 Down to Beat Army 28-24
With 4:59 left, Army was up 24-14 and had run the ball 51 times for 219 yards. South Florida needed two touchdowns. It got them in under five minutes.
Michael Van Buren Jr. ran in a 24-yard score at 3:13 to make it 24-21, and then with 0:19 on the clock he threw a 38-yard touchdown to Joshua Porter. That was the final, 28-24, and it was South Florida's first lead since the opening quarter. Van Buren had a hand in all four South Florida touchdowns: the 7-yard pass to Bryson Rodgers on the opening score, the 18-yard run that tied it 14-14 in the third, the 24-yard run, and the 38-yard throw.
Army did not play badly. The Black Knights led 14-7 at the half and 17-14 after Dawson Jones kicked a 27-yard field goal to open the fourth, and Godspower Nwawuihe's 10-yard run at 4:59 should have been the knockout. They lost one fumble and nothing else. South Florida ran only 23 times for 134 yards and leaned on the arm, 239 passing yards to Army's 128, and did not turn the ball over at all.
Take away the two late touchdowns and this is Army's game, 24-14. Instead South Florida moves to 2-0 and Army drops to 1-1. Van Buren was the fantasy story of the week, 38.1 points on two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Army's quarterbacks had a pretty good day too, which is a funny thing to say about a loss. Nwawuihe, who caught a touchdown as well as ran for one, was the Army player who scored the most fantasy points.