Jones accounts for 3 TDs, Army beats Abilene Christian 55-23

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Abilene Christian WR celebrates a little too soon

Abilene Christian's Lionell McConnell thinks he has the easy touchdown and throws up the peace sign, but Army's Julian McDuffie brings him down at the 9-yard line.

Oct 4, 2020, 12:01 am

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Army quarterback Jemel Jones had 14 carries for a career-high 138 yards rushing and two touchdowns and added a 33-yard TD pass as the Black Knights cruised to a 55-23 win over Abilene Christian on Saturday.

Jones was 4-of-7 passing for 52 yards. Freshman Tyrell Robinson added a season-high 126 yards rushing on seven carries for Army (3-1) and Anthony Adkins ran for 70 yards and two scores.

The Black Knights bounced back after a 24-10 loss at then-No. 14 Cincinnati on Sept. 26 and won their fifth consecutive home game.

Abilene Christian (0-2) was stopped on fourth down on each of its first two drives and went three-and-out on its third before Army recovered an onside kick and Jakobi Buchanan's 3-yard TD run made it 23-0 with 10:15 left in the second quarter.

Sandon McCoy scored on a 1-yard run to open the scoring midway through the first quarter, Landon Salyers made a 43-yard field goal on the first play of the second and, after an ACU punt went out of bounds, a 3-yard TD run by Jones made it 16-0 about two minutes later. On the ensuing kickoff, Salyers onside kick bounced off a Wildcats player and was recovered by Army at its own 42 and then, on a third-and-3 play, Jones ripped off a 41-yard run to the 10 that set up Buchanan's touchdown.

Peyton Mansell threw three second-half touchdown passes for Abilene Christian and finished 23-of-37 passing for 270 yards with no intercetptions. Lionell McConnell had 11 receptions for 101 yards and two carries for 59 yards, and Kobe Clark had four catches for 72 yards, including touchdown receptions of 2 and 45 yards.

Because of COVID-19 concerns, the only fans in attendance were the Army Corps of Cadets.