Last Saturday’s bowl-clinching victory over UTSA had its share of electrifying plays. Army SB Noah Short’s 32-yard pass to WR Brady Anderson was one of the most creative play calls of the season, setting up a game-tying field goal in the second quarter. That completion also put Short in rarified air. The explosive firstie slotback has had no shortage of accolades, but his passing exploits may be his most unique.
With the completion, Short became the first Army running back/slotback to complete at least two passes in a season in 41 years. RB Jarvis Hollingsworth last accomplished this feat, completing two passes for 24 yards on the 1984 Cherry Bowl team.
One of those completions scored a five-yard touchdown against Heisman Trophy-winning QB Doug Flutie’s Cotton Bowl-bound Boston College team. Hollingsworth became a key piece of Army’s wishbone attack that year. His team went 8-3-1 and got a 10-6 win over Michigan State in the Cherry Bowl in a game in which they rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Hollingsworth added another quirk to end his career, the first pass reception in an Army bowl game. His ten-yard catch was Army QB Nate Sassaman’s only completion of the entire game.
Jarvis Hollingsworth (Courtesy: Associated Press)
Short’s 32-yard pass against UTSA joined with his 52-yard pass against Kansas State, the longest by a running back since Carlton Jones’s 55-yard toss against UAB way back in 2004. With this second completion, Short now has 84 passing yards on the season. With two games remaining, he now has the most passing yardage by an Army running back since RB Elton Akins threw for 191 yards back in 1983.
Friends, Akins might just have been the best passer on that year’s Army team. He went 6/10 through the air for almost 200 yards and two of Army’s six passing touchdowns that season. For context, one of that year’s starting quarterbacks, Bill Turner, only threw one touchdown pass in 111 passes. By comparison, Akins’ two touchdowns were marvelous. One came on a 78-yard pass to Jarvis Hollingsworth in a 20-12 win over Rutgers. The other came on a 64-yard pass to Billy Noble against Air Force.
Elton Akins (Courtesy: The Poughkeepsie Journal)
Aside from the passing, Akins may be one of the best Army backs you’ve never heard of. Along with leading the hapless, two-win 1983 team in rushing with 713 yards, Akins was also an expert kickoff return man. In 26 returns, he averaged 27-yards on kickoff with two touchdowns during the 1982 season. Both marks stand as program records. Akins’s career average of 25.1 yards per kickoff return is still the all-time career mark for backs with a minimum of 40 returns.
Although this Army season has perhaps regressed from last year’s heights, seeing this year’s players break decades-old records still feels nothing short of remarkable. With plenty of preparation time before Army’s final two contests, perhaps we’ll see Noah Short add to his brief but impressive passing resume as well.
We’ll see what the offense can gin up next week in America’s Game.
Go Army! Beat Navy!!!
