BOSTON – Army’s fourth string freshman quarterback with a distinctive first name made a successful conversion to fullback in the fourth annual Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Godspower Nwawuihe, a 5-11, 211-pound, bruiser for Garland, Texas, rushed for 171 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns in the Black Knights’ 41-16 victory over UConn (9-4) on Saturday at Fenway Park. Coming into the contest, Nwawuihe had appeared in three games and recorded 25-yards on nine carries.
“He came in as a quarterback and was a quarterback all through the preseason,” said Army 12th year head coach Jeff Monken. “He has just developed over the course of the year with a few carries and got his opportunity tonight.
“It was just the culmination of all that work that he put in over the course of the year. Now we get to see the course of the future of the program with the performance that he had.”
Senior slot back Noah Short added a program first by rushing for 15 yards with 108 receiving yards in his final game. Short capped his career with 1,143 rushing yards and 1,008 receiving to become the first Army player to eclipse the millennial mark in both categories.
Senior inside linebacker Andon Thomas had five tackles for 113 on the season, the third most in program history. Nwawuihe was named Offensive MVP while inside linebacker Kalib Fortner was the Defensive MVP with five tackles.
“Noah is a very talented player,” said Monken. “He actually came into our program as a defensive player and played the hybrid outside linebacker safety position.
“We recognized how well he ran and the athlete that he is so in his sophomore year we moved him over to offense and put him in the slot receiver position.”
The overriding question surrounding the Huskies’ week of preparation was who would start in place of senior quarterback Joe Fagnano, a dynamic passer who elected to bypass the Fenway Bowl to compete in the Senior Bowl and prep for the NFL Combine.
UConn interim head coach Gordon Sammis, who served as departed Jim Mora’s offensive coordinator, had true freshman Ksaan Farrar under center on the opening drive, a three and out that lost 14 yards. Farrar completed 11-of-17 passes for 84 yards while rushing for 11 with a touchdown.
“He definitely has a good arm and he runs it well for us and for who we had out there, we thought he would be our best option,” said Sammis.
After the UConn defense forced a turnover on downs near midfield, the Huskies’ ground game established its presence. Tailback Cam Edwards had consecutive runs of 34 and 12 yards to put UConn up 7-0 at 9:17 of the first. Edwards finished with 108 yards in 11 carries.
Army tied the game on its ensuing possession. After five straight runs into the middle of the line, quarterback Cale Hellums crossed up the UConn defense with a 40-yard touchdown toss to Short on a skinny post route with 6:01 to play.
“A lot of times in our play action schemes we end up with one- on-one coverage and that is really what we had,” said Monken. “Noah got behind them and Cale has some pressure in his face but he made a really good throw. He ran under it and it was a really good play.”
Army went up 14-7 with 3:04 to play in the half with a 10-play, 90-yard, drive that ended with the Nwawuihe’s first explosive. Nwawuihe powered through the middle of the line, got behind the secondary and raced 43 yards for the score. That was just Nwawuihe’s 10th rush of the season and first touchdown.
“I got a little acclimated to the game,” said Nwawuihe. “I was just trying to do everything I could for the senior class because they did so much for me since I got to the Academy.”
UConn cut the lead to 14-10 on a 49-yard field goal by Chris Freeman on the final play of the half. The kick was Freeman’s 23rd in 26 attempts and one yard shy of his season long of 50.
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