Army returned to bowl season with a hard-fought 16-14 win over Southern Methodist Thursday in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

The Black Knights (7-6), making their first bowl appearance since 1996, played their customary enthusiastic, disciplined brand of football. They had no turnovers and no penalties in winning their first bowl since 1985.

Army jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on Josh McCray's 55-yard return of a fumble recovery and a 13-yard Malcolm Brown touchdown run. The Black Knights tacked on an Alex Carlton field goal late in the second quarter and headed to halftime up 16-0.

The momentum shifted in the second half, with SMU (7-7) rallying behind quarterback Kyle Padron. Padron threw two touchdown passes, including a 28-yard strike to Darius Johnson that cut the Army lead to 16-14 with 9:20 to play in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs had a chance to take the lead with four minutes to play, but Matt Szymanski hooked a 47-yard field goal on a windy afternoon at Gerald Ford Stadium on SMU's campus. Army picked up two clinching first downs on the ensuing drive and ran out the clock.




But SMU stormed back in the second half, behind two touchdown passes from Kyle Padron.

Army, making his playing its customary hard-nosed, enthusiastic brand of football,

It was Army's first bowl appearance since 1996.