We were delighted to see Army ranked in the Top 20 in a couple of pre-season polls, and Black Knight fans are looking forward to another successful season under the guidance of head coach Jeff Monken, but as we all know, stuff happens. Bad bounces and breaking bones can sidetrack an otherwise promising season; so GoBlackKnights.com takes a look at some keys to a successful season in 2019.
1. Keep Hopkins Healthy
This was the first thing that came to mind when we decided to compile this list. Army fans are well aware of the skills and field leadership that Kelvin Hopkins brings to the offense, but the importance of keeping him available increased with the departure of Cam Thomas. While we are confident that Monken and Davis will develop a backup or two over the next few months, the performance of the offense would most likely take a dip if Hopkins is sidelined.
2. Continue Productivity from the Fullbacks
Triple option aficionados understand the importance of the Fullback (aka B-back) in the offense. The fullback is the first of the three options in the running game, and opponent defenses know that shutting down the fullback is the first task in defending the option. Army West Point lost three excellent fullbacks to graduation this year, and it will be critical that their replacements fill the void with little or no loss in productivity. Fortunately, fullback coach Mike Viti has a few experienced fullbacks and some young talent to groom for the job. We think we’ll be seeing a few new names in the rushing statistics this coming season.
3. Stay Healthy on Defense
The defense lost several starters from last season, but also has enough experience returning to reload rather than rebuild. Nonetheless there are a few key players on defense that would be tough to lose. Among them are the two team captains on the defensive side, Cole Christiansen and Elijah Riley. Jaylon McClinton would be another tough loss on defense. Two years ago, the Black Knights lost a few key defenders in the Ohio State game, and it had a significant effect on the outcome of the Tulane game the following week. Last year, Army left Norman Oklahoma with few if any injuries, and that certainly contributed to the continued success of the team. We would hope to see a repeat of that this coming season with the Michigan game.
4. Keep Opponent Offenses Off Balance
We recently saw an article describing the success of the Black Knight defense under Jay Bateman last season. Bateman installed an aggressive defense that kept opponent offensive coordinators guessing. We were pleased to see that the defense didn’t break stride when John Loose took control of the defense in the Armed Forces Bowl game versus Houston. We fully believe that Loose will continue the success built by Bateman.
5. Stay Focused on the Next Game
With all the excitement generated by the game against Michigan on September 7th, we hope that the team won’t overlook their game against Rice the weekend before. We have no doubts that Jeff Monken will keep his eye on the Rice game, but with all the hype, it would be easy for the players to look ahead.
6. Don’t Listen to the Noise
This is a corollary to the previous item on our list. Despite the lofty ratings, Army West Point doesn’t have the raw talent to beat teams on talent alone. Jeff Monken harps on this constantly, exhorting the players to focus on teamwork and execution.
7. Play All Four Quarters of Every Game
One of the major improvements that Monken brought to Army football was winning the fourth quarter. One of the features he introduced into practices was the fourth quarter drills, designed to increase stamina. The triple option offense helps by keeping opponent defenses on the field a lot longer than they would like to be there, and that produces benefits in the final quarter. But the team can’t afford too many slow starts either. The grind-it-out game of the triple option isn’t designed to play catchup, and even with the added weapon of Hopkins passing arm, the Black Knights need to generate pressure early and keep the pressure on throughout the game. No doubt, there will be a few games in which the team can cruise in the final quarter, but they need to play 3 good quarters for that to happen.
8. Play Assignment Football
In a recent article about the offensive line, we noted that every member of the OL knows the assignment of every other member on the line. Not only does that allow linemen to shift easily into a different position, but it facilitates coordination on every play. That same principle applies, perhaps even more so, on defense, where every player needs to know what every one else is doing on each play, while executing their assigned role. Teamwork is the key to success of Army football and it starts with each player understanding their role on every play.
Have We Missed Anything?
We started this with the intention of coming up with 10 keys to success, but we’re going to offer only 8, and leave our GBK readers with an opportunity to add a few keys of their own.
Written By: Gordon Larson
Sr. Writer, GoBlackKnights.com
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