Steelman, opportunistic Army converts 4 turnovers into TDs to beat struggling Duke 35-21

Army beats Duke 35-21

DURHAM, N.C. — Brian Cobbs ran for two first-half scores and Army converted four turnovers into touchdowns to beat Duke 35-21 on Saturday.

Trent Steelman threw for two scores and ran for another for the Black Knights (3-1), who snapped a seven-game losing streak against Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Army jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, a margin that allowed it to stay with the yard-churning and clock-controlling triple-option offense against a Duke team still reeling from last week’s ugly loss to top-ranked Alabama.

The Blue Devils (1-3) got off to a horrendous start with Sean Renfree throwing two quick interceptions, then watched things get worse the rest of the afternoon.

Army led 21-7 at halftime, then Steelman ran perfectly executed play-action fakes on TD tosses to Raymond Maples and Austin Barr to push the lead to 35-7 in third quarter.