Army's Bryson Daily Running His Way Into the Record Books

Photo by Danny Wild-Imagn Images

When the 125th edition of the Army-Navy Game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 14 Army quarterback Bryson Daily will be on the cusp of history. The 6-foot, 221-pound senior from Abernathy, Texas is tied with Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty for the national lead in rushing touchdowns with 29.

If Daily finishes the 2024 season as the leader in rushing touchdowns, it will be the first time a QB has led the nation in rushing TDs since 2013 when Navy’s Keenan Reynolds rushed for 31 TDs.

Daily is also only 123 passing yards away from becoming only the second Black Knight to pass and rush for at least 1,000 yards in the same season. Kelvin Hopkins Jr. in 2018 was the other.

Head coach Jeff Monken’s triple-option offense is run to near perfection by Daily. His command of when to hand off, pitch or keep the ball has been impressive. As any good QB will say, it all starts with the offensive line.

Photo by Danny Wild-Imagn Images

“I can’t say enough about those guys,” Daily said while speaking with the media. “They’ve been incredible all year. They’re tough, they’re rugged and just a really close group as well. But they’ve played awesome this year, I think they’ve just gotten better each game.”

There are numerous examples of Daily’s rushing abilities from this season. His 42-yard TD run against UTSA was an example of his breakaway speed. Daily faked a handoff to the left, sprinted through a hole on the right side of the line and raced 42 yards for the TD.

In 10 consecutive games, Daily has surpassed the 100-yard mark in a game. Those 10 games are the most ever by an Army player, breaking the previous mark set by Mike Mayweather, who had eight 100-yard games in 1990.

Photo by Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Speaking of 10 games, that is also the number of multi-rushing touchdown games Daily has in 2024. Against East Carolina on Oct. 19, Daily tied the Army record for TDs in a game with 5. Daily’s 12 multi-rushing touchdown games in his career are tied for first in Army history with Trent Steelman. He and teammate Kanye Udoh have both rushed for more than 1,000 yards, as Udoh currently sits at 1,064 yards on the ground. But personal goals are not high on Daily’s list.

“I’m willing to do whatever the offense needs for us to be successful,” Daily said. “And that looks different week to week. As you’ve seen, if you’ve watched our games this year, some games I might get 30 something carries and some I’ll only have in the teens and we’ll throw the ball a little more. So it just varies week to week.”

The Black Knights have had a tremendous season, and Daily’s rushing ability has a lot to do with that. While Daily does not gravitate to the personal accolades, it cannot be denied that he is having a great season personally.

He won the American Athletic Conference’s award for Offensive Player of the Year. He was named to the All-AAC first team. He was a semifinalist for a number of awards including the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien and Walter Camp.

Daily currently is No. 9 in the country with 1,480 rushing yards. If he gets his average of 134.5 yards against Navy, Daily will catapult to third. His next rushing TD will lead the nation in that category. Which begs the question, why was he only a semifinalist for these postseason awards?