Army handles Eastern Michigan, 27-14

YPSILANTI, MI-- Saturday it was a happy, much anticipated, debut for Army head coach Rich Ellerson and his freshman quarterback, Trent Steelman. Patrick Mealy ran for 109 yards and one touchdown and Kingsley Ehie scored two touchdowns as Army downed favored Eastern Michigan, 27-14, in the opener for both teams.

After the Cadet defense forced a three-and-out fist possession for EMU, Mealy scored on a 6-yard run and after the extra point was missed, Army led, 6-0, in the first quarter.

Later, in the second quarter, an Eagle fumble deep in their territory provided a golden opportunity for Army. Andrew Rodriguez recovered the fumble at the EMU 7-yard-line. After a penalty on Army, Jameson Carter scored on a 12-yard run to extend the Army lead to 13-0.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Army's offense got going again on their first drive of the fourth quarter. The Cadets put together a 7 play, 79-yard drive that culminated in a Kingsley Ehie 10-yard run. Army then converted on a 2-point conversion to build their lead to 21-7 with 10:22 left to play.

On Army’s next drive they continued to run Kingsley and Mealy and it paid off with another successful 80-yard drive. A 75-yard gallop by Mealy put the Cadets at the EMU 5-yard-line. Kingsley then ran it in to give Army a commanding, 27-7, lead.

Eastern Michigan quarterback Andy Schmitt and his teammates would not quit. The Eagles quickly drove 70 yards in 9 plays. EMU's Dwayne Priest ran it in from one yard out to make the final score Army 27, Eastern Michigan 14. Schmitt finished with 187 yards passing and was sacked 6 times by an aggressive Army defense.

The Black Knight's Trent Steelman became the first freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for Army in the modern era (since 1944). Steelman had 13 rushes for 38 yards and completed two passes for eight yards. Although he was unspectacular he got the job done.

Army head coach Rich Ellerson became the first individual to win his coaching debut at West Point since Bob Sutton in 1991.

After connecting on all 15 of his extra point attempts last season, junior kicker Matt Campbell missed his first try of the season on Saturday night. Campbell missed two of his three PAT opportunities.

Army (1-0) will host Duke on Saturday at Michie Stadium. The game will be shown on the CBS College Sports Network