Army tops Missouri in Armed Forces Bowl on late field goal by player from North Texas

As Army was driving for a possible game-winning score in the waning seconds of Wednesday’s 19th annual Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, junior kicker Cole Talley was a lonely man.

“No one said a word to me that entire drive,” said Talley, who played at Rockwall High School, which is located about 55 miles east of Fort Worth. “I didn’t mind that.”

With three seconds to play, as he was lining up his possible 41-yard game-winning field goal, Talley knew what he had done wrong when he missed a 43-yarder in the first quarter.

“I kept my head down in order to have that straight swing,” he said.

Things worked out perfectly for Talley and his Black Knights teammates as the ball sailed through the uprights giving Army a 24-22 victory over Missouri before a crowd of 34,88 at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about everybody,” Talley said. “They mean so much to me. I would do anything for them, and I know they would do anything for me. I just love these guys so much. I’m just really happy.”

It was the Black Knights (9-4) fourth victory in the Armed Forces Bowl without a loss. They previously won the 2010, 2017 and 2018 games. The Black Knights are 7-3 all-time in bowl games.

Missouri (6-7) lost its third consecutive bowl game. The Tigers are 15-18 in bowl games.

Trailing 21-16 with 2:44 to play, Missouri redshirt freshman quarterback Brady Cook, who was making his first start, led the Tigers on an 11-play, 83-yard drive that saw Missouri take a 22-21 lead with 1:11 to play.

Cook found Keke Chism for a six-yard score, but the two-point conversion pass failed. Cook, Missouri’s MVP of the game, threw for 238 yards and a score and ran for 75 yards on eight carries, including a 30-yard score.

With the game hanging in the balance, Army head coach Jeff Monken turned to senior quarterback Jabari Laws for the Black Knights’ final drive of the season.

Monken said he had the utmost confidence in Laws, who returned from two injuries to play this season.

“I trust him completely,” Monken said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have put him in there. The kid’s a competitor, he’s a winner. He’s been in the situation before. So I didn’t hesitate at all. He made some really nice plays.”

Laws completed two of four passes for 21 yards and carried three times for 15 yards to get his team into field goal position. A facemask penalty helped along the drive.

From there, Talley capped the Black Knights’ season with a win.

Missouri built a 16-7 halftime lead behind Brady Cook and sophomore kicker Harrison Mevis.

Cook scored the Tigers’ lone touchdown of the first half on a 30-yard run while Mevis booted field goals of 22, 25, and 35 yards.

Army senior linebacker Arik Smith, who was honored as Army’s MVP of the game, played a significant role in forcing Missouri to settle for field goals. Smith finished the game with 12 tackles (five solo), two sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Black Knights’ lone score came on a 22-yard run by senior quarterback Christian Anderson that cut Missouri’s lead to 10-7 with 13:56 to play in the first half.

Trailing 16-7, Army opened the second half with a patented 17-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:25 off the clock. Senior fullback JaKobi Buchanan covered the last 10 yards to cut Missouri’s lead to 16-14 at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter.

After stopping Missouri on a fourth-and-one at its own 43, Army took its first lead when junior quarterback Tyhier Tyler hit a wide-open Brandon Walters for an 11-yard score. The play converted a fourth-and-two and put the Black Knights up 21-16 with 10:20 left.

Army in Armed Forces Bowl

This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 10:36 PM.