Another solid analysis by GBK Sr. Analyst & Writer Gordon Larson

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#22 Black Knights square off next Saturday against #14 Cincinnati.

Army West Point last beat a ranked team in 2016 by upsetting #25 Navy, 21-17.

Before that, the Black Knights had lost 46 games in a row against ranked opponents since beating #15 Air Force, 17-14, in 1972.

Since beating the Mids, Army has faced #8 Ohio State (2017), #5 Oklahoma (2018), #7 Michigan, and #21 Navy (2019).

The last time a ranked Army team played a ranked opponent was in 1996, when #22 Army lost 17-42 to 18.5 point favorite #19 Syracuse. In 1964, #10 Army lost to #1 Texas 17-6 and in 1961, #19 Cadets lost to #8 Michigan 38-8. All three losses were away games with the home team favored.

Army’s last win while ranked was at #13 Rice, where the #3 Cadets won 14-7, this was the fourth ranked versus ranked game in the 1958 season. #8 Army beat #18 South Carolina 45-8; #3 Black Knights at South Bend beat the #3 Irish 14-2; and #1 Army was tied at #18 Pitt on a muddy field, 14-14.

Just watching the start of the Navy game at Tulane. Navy started a plebe at QB, but they've gone three-and-out on their first two possessions, while Tulane's offense looks a lot like BYU's vs the Mids. Scored on first possession and threatening again.

I haven’t seen him play in the first 2 games? Any news on him?

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Read an article that 14 freshman played in the MTSU game. Anyone have a complete list of who the 14 were?

This is a huge pick-up by Head Coach Jeff Monken and his staff.

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Sunday, September 13th, 2020... and where is our beloved Army football team? Well Army is the only team in the country 2-0 out of the six teams having played two games and only 42 of the 77 teams scheduled to play football in the FBS this fall have played at least one game. As for me I say well done Army team, you have proven toughness, discipline, and I feel pride for how my Army team has represented and shown that they deserve the #25 ranking in the Coaches Poll, and the #22 ranking in the AP Poll. (Granted, not all teams have played so far, but what the heck, bring them all on with this Army team...)! 😁

There are lots of reasons for how Army has played so far in this weird 2020 Covid season. (1) They have kept it like any normal season of football, and (2) Coach Monken along with Academy administration have kept their hats on straight and kept focused on health as well as "preparation". I wanted to highlight some aspects of both the offense and the defense to shine the spotlight on an overall outstanding opening for football at West Point in this 2020 season:

1. Offense has been really solid as evidenced by the following which are Army's blueprint for success:

• The triple option is absolutely on track by scoring on eleven of fifteen possessions not counting ending two halfs with the ball. 79 points or 39.5 per game is awesome.
• Army leads the nation with 388 yards per game rushing, and with ten rushing TDs compared to the next team with only four....and a 6.1 yards per carry average. TOP 36:08 ave per game.
• Fourteen different players have carries and Army has lost just eleven yards in two games. Nine runners have at least 47 yards, 11 have at least one run of 10+ yards, and 9 have at least 7 carries each.
• The offense has nineteen rushes of 10 yards or more and all three pass completions were for 10, 18, and 29 yards.
• Their 3rd down conversion rate is 71.3% and are 80% on fourth downs. No sacks against us, and the Red Zone conversions are 6-6 ... all for TDs.
• Field goals are officially 1-1 of 40 yards, but there was another 44 yarder taken off for a penalty which Army converted into a TD.
• The CBS announcers were gushing with how many knock down or pancake blocks the O-Line has had...way in excess of any normal team's blocking. I'd say the MOB is back with a vengeance.

2. How about the Defense (How about that Defense??) Awesome and then some...welcome Coach Woody and his band of newcomer defensive staff:

• Army has allowed one score for seven points in two games, a 3rd down conversion rate of 33.3%, and just one score for three Red Zone opponent prossessions.
• Army has four sacks, "SIX" takeaways (3 fumbles from four caused, 3 interceptions) and two others (an INT plus a Fumble for a TD) were taken back on a penalty and official review reversal, and did get one one Defensive interception returned for a TD.
• At this point in time, Army has the fifth overall Defense giving up just 56 yards rushing and 136 yards passing per game to go along with an average of 3.5 points per game against two FBS teams. BYU is third because they played Navy...lol.
• Almost 30% of opponent rush attempts end up as a loss and opponents have managed just 5/44 rush attempts of over 10 yards. Only 5/48 pass attempts were caught for a 10+ yard gain.
• OK.. lets toss into this that Special Teams have a blocked FG, and a nicely blocked punt called back on a penalty.

I could care less if there are naysayers who want to downplay our opponents. These are FBS opponents, and they are expected to have a decent record by year's end. Anybody hearing anyone downplaying Oklahoma's thrashing of Missouri State yesterday (an FCS team)? IMHO ... MTS & ULM had the unfortunate scheduling to catch Army in their openers. I do regret BYU unfortunately postponing our game next Saturday, because from the beginning I have said this would be an Army victory.
Here's to hoping Mike Buddie's tweet finds an opponent for Saturday, because I am ready for some more Army football.

Go Army...beat 'em all.
Beat Navy and Air Force most of all !!

Love how the team has played so far. I was really looking forward to the showdown with BYU but that's been postponed. Still a big game coming against Cincy in 2 weeks.

The good news is that I just finished a Zoom interview with Cole, as he and the Chargers just completed their final day of pre-season camp.

The bad news is that there were technical difficulties with the interview, so we are hoping to get Cole back this afternoon/evening for take No. 2, so you folks can hear what he has to say about his quest for a spot with the Chargers.