WEST POINT, N.Y. – Western Kentucky didn’t out-Army Army this time like it did in a 2019 victory between the two programs, and it didn’t work out in favor of the Hilltoppers.

The Black Knights rushed for over 300 yards, commanded time of possession and played solid defense before holding off a WKU comeback attempt for a 38-35 win Saturday at Michie Stadium.

“They’re a good football team. They do a great job with their offensive scheme and it’s tough to defend. It was hard defensively to stop them,” WKU head coach Tyson Helton said.

“When you try to answer one thing, they give you something else to worry about.

“Tough day at the park. I was proud of our defense. They needed to get a couple of big stops there at the end and we were able to do that and gave us a chance.”

In WKU’s 17-8 victory over Army in 2019 at Houchens-Smith Stadium, it outrushed the Black Knights 225-137, ran 81 plays to Army’s 48 and held a 38:07-21:53 advantage in time of possession to beat the military academy at its own game, but the result wasn’t the same Saturday as the Hilltoppers lost for the first time in the series.

On Saturday, the Black Knights got back to their game, using a run-heavy triple-option offense to hold off the Hilltopper attack. Army finished with a 339-42 advantage in rushing yards, a 73-59 advantage in plays and a 39:38-20:22 advantage in time of possession.

Christian Anderson led Army’s offense with 119 yards on 22 carries, and also threw for 77 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-6 passing. Tyrell Robinson had 81 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, Jakobi Buchanan had 61 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and Anthony Adkins had 30 yards and a score on eight carries.

“I think at the beginning we were playing disciplined, but we have to win the line of scrimmage,” WKU defensive tackle Jeremy Darvin said. “We were getting a little knocked back at first. I think we were playing just a little bit too passive and then we tried to pick it up at the end and it really helped us kind of come back.”

WKU was still able to make it interesting despite getting down 35-14 early in the fourth quarter.

The Black Knights held a 21-14 lead entering halftime and extended it with a 3-yard touchdown from Adkins midway through the third and a 13-yard run from Buchanan with 10:31 to play in the fourth.

WKU answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 21-yard pass from Bailey Zappe to Mitchell Tinsley.

The Hilltoppers attempted an onside kick and couldn’t recover, but stopped the Army offense for the first time since forcing a fumble in its opening possession. After taking over at its 37, WKU went 63 yards in six plays to make it 35-28 with a 14-yard pass from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns.

After another failed onside kick attempt, WKU’s defense again held Army out of the end zone, but Cole Talley’s 31-yard field goal made it a two-possession game, 38-28.

WKU’s offense again drove down the field, but by the time Adam Cofield capped off the nine-play, 75-yard series with a 2-yard scoring run, there were fewer than 22 seconds left and the Hilltoppers were again unable to recover an onside kick as Army held on for the 38-35 victory.

“We did a couple onside kicks, wish we would have got one of them. It would have been great to see how that turned out,” Helton said. “They did a great job of defending the onside kick. Really proud, but at the end of the day it’s about Ws, it’s about winning and we’ve got to find a way to win.”

Zappe finished with 435 yards on 28-of-40 passing with three touchdowns and an interception. Sterns caught nine passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, Tinsley had five receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown and Malachi Corley had six receptions for 63 yards. Noah Whittington finished as WKU’s leading rusher with 33 yards on eight attempts.

“When we got down 35-14, the only thing you can do is try to come back and we were able to do that,” Zappe said. “As we all know, it was a little too late, but we’ll fix it. We’ve got a bye week this week. We’ll learn from it and we’ll get back for Indiana.”

The Hilltoppers – coming off a season opener that featured its best offensive performance since a 2016 win over Marshall – started slowly scoring. It received the opening kickoff and went 39 yards before Zappe was picked off by Marquel Broughton. WKU got the ball back on a fumble recovery at its own 10-yard line shortly after, but again had its offense stall out after moving the ball 52 yards. A three-and-out followed in its third series, before the fireworks started again.

WKU saw two quick scores – a 72-yard touchdown pass from Zappe to Sterns on a three-play, 75-yard drive, and a 10-yard keeper to cap off a six-play, 75-yard drive before halftime – to keep itself within a possession of the Black Knights, which mainly used its slow and steady offense – with a quick strike in between – to take a lead.

Army opened the scoring with a 24-yard rush from Tyrell Robinson on the first play of the second quarter and added to its lead with touchdowns on its next two possessions.

On its second scoring drive, the Army receiver Braheam Murphy made his way into the end zone of a 40-yard pass from Anderson without a defender nearby to take a 14-0 lead.

After WKU got back within a possession with the Sterns’ touchdown, Buchanan punched the ball in from a yard out to cap a 16-play, 75-yard drive that spanned 8:33 to make it 21-7, before Zappe’s run that made it a one-score game by half.

WKU has an off week before hosting Indiana on Sept. 25 in a 7 p.m. CT game. Army is scheduled to host UConn next week in a noon ET game.{&end}