Dec 28, 2015; Annapolis, MD, USA; Navy Midshipmen quarterback Keenan Reynolds (19) rushes for his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran for three touchdowns, threw for one more and made a bit of history as No. 21 Navy rolled to a 44-28 victory over Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl on Monday at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
Reynolds posted touchdown runs of 1, 5 and 19 yards and threw for an 11-yard score. That gave him 88 career total touchdowns scored, passing Kenneth Dixon of Louisiana Tech by one in the Navy quarterback’s final game.
The senior completed 9 of 17 passes for 126 and the one touchdown, and rushed for 144 yards, which set a new FBS mark for running yardage for a quarterback, erasing the old record set by Denard Robinson of Michigan.
Reynolds added a 47-yard catch when Navy brought out a bit of third-quarter trickery and led the Midshipmen in passing, running and receiving, combining for 327 yards overall.
Navy finished the season with an 11-2 record – the 11 wins setting a new school mark for victories.
Pitt (8-5) started the game quickly when Quadree Henderson returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
Reynolds directed a pair of long scoring drives on Navy’s next two possessions. The senior capped them with his two short touchdown runs that gave the Midshipmen a 14-7 lead with 41 seconds left in the first period.
Reynolds then stretched the lead to 21-7 with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Carmona with 1:41 left in the first half.
Demond Brown of Navy ran for a 26-yard touchdown around right end on the first quarter’s third drive. Reynolds set that up by catching a 47-yard option pass from running back Shawn White.
Pitt scored two touchdowns 17 seconds apart late in the third quarter – one on offense, one on defense – the second being Jordan Whitehead’s 22-yard fumble return that cut Navy’s lead to 31-21.
Toneo Gulley ran for a 15-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter for Navy before Pitt’s Qadree Ollison ran for his second touchdown of the game. That cut the lead to 38-28 with 9:35 left but Reynolds’ 19-yard touchdown run slammed the door.
NOTES: QB Keenan Reynolds finished his career with a 32-13 record as Navy’s starter. … Navy now has gone to bowl games in each of the last 13 years. Before that, the Midshipmen had made just nine bowl appearances in school history. … KR Quadree Henderson’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that began the game was the first touchdown on a return in the Pitt freshman’s career. He ended the regular season ranked fourth in the ACC in average on kickoff returns (25.5 per) … Pitt QB Nate Peterman finished the season with 20 touchdown passes.
