Army football is making an impression on the American Athletic Conference in more ways than one.
Senior quarterback Bryson Daily was named the AAC offensive player of the week for his performance in a 49-7 victory at Tulsa on Saturday. In the first year of conference membership, Daily is the first Army player to be recognized by the AAC for the offensive award.
Daily had a hand in four touchdowns – two by rushing and two by passing. He rushed for 110 yards, marking the fourth consecutive game where he has surpassed 100 yards. He also completed all five of his pass attempts for 140 yards and a pair of scores to Noah Short.
Daily leads the conference in rushing at 120.4 yards per game, a mark that ranks eighth nationally. His 10 rushing touchdowns is tied for the league lead and ranks No. 3 nationally.
Daily was put up for the Manning Award, among eight quarterback candidates for Star of the Week. Fans can vote for their candidate on AllStateSugarBowl.org until Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Daily was also named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 List for the second time this season – thus, he has been added to the Davey O’Brien Watch List, the first Army QB to get that recognition since Kelvin Hopkins Jr. in 2019.
Army junior linebacker Andon Thomas gained AAC honorable mention status. He had a team-high 10 tackles and broke up a pass play against Tulsa.
Army holder Matthew Rhodes was named the AAC special teams player of the week on Sept. 9.
Moving on up
Army and Navy – both unbeaten teams at 5-0 – moved up considerably in the weekly Associated Press poll but haven’t quite cracked the Top 25 as of yet. Navy has 43 votes, ranking No. 28, and Army has 33 votes, sitting at No. 29.
Looking to break the skid
Army has not beaten this week’s opponent, Alabama Birmingham, in five tries between 2000-04, including three trips to Michie Stadium (2000, 2002, 2004). Army and UAB were both members of Conference USA at the time.
Statistically speaking
In the AAC, Army ranks fourth in scoring (38.8 points per game) and tops in defense (9.8). Army leads in both rushing offense (361.2 yards per game) and defense (81.8). Army’s passing defense ranks No. 5 (178.4 yards per game) and offense ranks last (90.6 ypg).
After Daily, Kanye Udoh ranks No. 5 in rushing (86.8 ypg) and Noah Short is No. 7 (71.0).
Army on ESPN2
The October 19 home game with East Carolina will be televised by ESPN2 at noon – usually, the CBS Sports Network airs the Army home games. It will be the first Army home game televised by an ESPN network since 2009.
CBSSN will televise Saturday’s noon home game with Alabama Birmingham. CBS Sports has the Nov. 2 Air Force at Army game.
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army QB Bryson Daily named top AAC Offensive Player of Week
