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Another tough game. I am hoping that Robinson, Carter, Alston, Tyler, JB and Riley return to action this week and are ready for Saturday.

If so, I am going to say that we will pull this one out.

Army 30
ULM 24

Navy looks very average and unimpressive overall. Their defensive speed on the perimeter is similar to Army’s. I know SMU has some talented athletes but they aren’t as good as Coastal, Wake or probably UTSA.

The final score was deceptive as Navy was down 40-20 and SMU went into “don’t lose” mode late and Navy mounted a furious comeback.

The Army-Navy game will be a usual slugfest. Both teams are very mediocre this year. If Army can make it to the Navy game with at least half the starting line up in tact, they should have a fighter’s chance.
In my observations, Navy puts the ball on the ground just like Army. Lavatai makes plenty of bad reads. We criticize the Army coaches and QB’s for not getting the ball to our slots enough. Navy seems to have the opposite problem. There were 3 keep reads I counted when Lavatai pitched the ball and put his slot backs in an awful position and caused fumbles or big losses. His arm is mediocre at best. Ballard (when he doesn’t throw off his back foot like he did against Wake and GA State) has a better arm.

The defense loses contain very similar to Army’s D a lot and they don’t get much pressure on the QB. They’re also not great against the run. No superstar athletes on that side of the ball.

Not saying I think Army will win. Just saying as bad as the Black Knights have been thus far, the Squids are no better.

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Watching a a game at Michie Stadium is on my bucket list. I'm looking at buying upper deck tickets for the ULM game to get a view of the Hudson River, but my wife isn't too fond of wind. Is it ALWAYS breezy in the upper deck, or does it have some days when it's fairly calm? Thanks.

• Location: Michie Stadium

• Kickoff Time: 12 PM Eastern, Saturday, October 15th

• GBK Cover-It-Live Opens: Saturday (10/15) @ 11:30 am EST (however anyone can chime in at anytime prior to and of course during the game)

• TV: CBS Sports Network

You can enter the LIVE CHAT through either of our two message boards (which is where the LIVE chat will take place)…

... Premium (CLICK HERE - The 12th Knight) or Non-Premium (CLICK HERE - Army Black Knights Football) door!

With that being said, “Who’s Got Their Game Face On? .... Because It Is Showtime once again for the Black Knights”

See you back here at 11:30 am EST on Saturday (if not sooner) and even if you are taking in the game LIVE as will our GBK Team, you can still jump on either of the COVER-IT-LIVE Threads (The 12th Knight or Army Black Knights Football Message Boards).

• THIS IS LIVE & COMMENTS ON THIS THREAD AND RELATIVE TO PRE-GAME CHATTER ... BUT, IT CAN START ANYTIME (FROM NOW - END OF THE GAME).

• NEEDLESS TO SAY, WE HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE HERE WITH YOUR GAME FACE ON.

WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS THAT FALL WITHIN THE GUIDELINES OF BEING RESPECTABLE.

Note: The most active fan participation with The LIVE Chat is on the 12th Knight premium message board. In addition, there will be minimum moderation of these threads, although GBK Recruiting Analyst A.M. Allan will be peeking in from time to time throughout the contest.

Hopefully, the turnaround starts this week at practice and manifests itself on Saturday at Michie Stadium.

Army 30
Colgate 12

• Location: Michie Stadium

• Kickoff Time: 12 PM Eastern, Saturday, October 15th

• GBK Cover-It-Live Opens: Saturday (10/15) @ 11:30 am EST (however anyone can chime in at anytime prior to and of course during the game)

• TV: CBS Sports Network

You can enter the LIVE CHAT through either of our two message boards (which is where the LIVE chat will take place)…

... Premium (CLICK HERE - The 12th Knight) or Non-Premium (CLICK HERE - Army Black Knights Football) door!

With that being said, “Who’s Got Their Game Face On? .... Because It Is Showtime once again for the Black Knights”

See you back here at 11:30 am EST on Saturday (if not sooner) and even if you are taking in the game LIVE as will our GBK Team, you can still jump on either of the COVER-IT-LIVE Threads (The 12th Knight or Army Black Knights Football Message Boards).

• THIS IS LIVE & COMMENTS ON THIS THREAD AND RELATIVE TO PRE-GAME CHATTER ... BUT, IT CAN START ANYTIME (FROM NOW - END OF THE GAME).

• NEEDLESS TO SAY, WE HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE HERE WITH YOUR GAME FACE ON.

WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS THAT FALL WITHIN THE GUIDELINES OF BEING RESPECTABLE.

Note: The most active fan participation with The LIVE Chat is on the 12th Knight premium message board. In addition, there will be minimum moderation of these threads, although GBK Recruiting Analyst A.M. Allan will be peeking in from time to time throughout the contest.

But of course, Army is not one of them, which still surprises me that both programs don't see the benefit in making it happen.

Click It Here

Hands down, this was the best quartet or group of backers that we have had at Army or since I have been following Army football.

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Hey Charles, I appreciated your post-game question to Monken about the mental and emotional state of the team going forward. I didn't anticipate him saying anything negative. However, I have heard from a few folks inside that feel that some players are downright disconnected and drained from this very disappointing season and it is just not the losing or team record.

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This has come up before and some fans ignored the fact that we have new coaches. If you don't know already, then please take notice - coaching at the academy isn't easy at all. I hope that it is just a rumor, but a couple of coaches may be out of their element coaching at this level and doing so at West Point.

Just a few noteworthy things I noticed with this week's Top 25.

• Last week's opponent Wake Forest has moved up a notch to #14.
• James Madison has broken into the Top 25 @ #25, so congrats to them. I believe this is their first year in FBS.
• Another one of our opponents, Coastal Carolina didn't break into the Top 25 but received several votes.

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CHANGE OF PACE TOPIC

Statistics

In the sports world today, we have detailed stats on every conceivable aspect of the game – page after page after page. We (me included) study these stats and make judgements and evaluations based on the stats. I once had a head coach who said the only stats that matter are the won-lost record and the score in a particular game. One famous coach (I can not remember his name) concerning home runs said “Don’t tell me how many you hit – tell me when you hit them”. This could apply to all stats.

One example is our last game. Some fans said that we finally played well in the 4th quarter and scored 10 points against a good team. Did we? The game was over at that time and WF had many back-up players in the game.

My dad was a very successful HS coach for 30 years. He once told me that the real evaluation of a team is done by the “eye test”. Just watch them play and you can complete a good scouting[NH1] analysis without mentioning a single stat.

I will continue studying stats because it is fun -but I know I am kidding myself.

---

[NH1]

I hope that he is not seriously injured.

• Location: Truist Field – Winston-Salem, NC

• Kickoff Time: 7:30 PM Eastern, Saturday, October 8th

• GBK Cover-It-Live Opens: Saturday (10/8) @ 7:00 pm EST (however anyone can chime in at anytime prior to and of course during the game)

• TV: Regional Sports Network

You can enter the LIVE CHAT through either of our two message boards (which is where the LIVE chat will take place)…

... Premium (CLICK HERE - The 12th Knight) or Non-Premium (CLICK HERE - Army Black Knights Football) door!

With that being said, “Who’s Got Their Game Face On? .... Because It Is Showtime once again for the Black Knights”

See you back here at 7:00 pm EST on Saturday (if not sooner) and even if you are taking in the game LIVE as will our GBK Team, you can still jump on either of the COVER-IT-LIVE Threads (The 12th Knight or Army Black Knights Football Message Boards).

• THIS IS LIVE & COMMENTS ON THIS THREAD AND RELATIVE TO PRE-GAME CHATTER ... BUT, IT CAN START ANYTIME (FROM NOW - END OF THE GAME).

• NEEDLESS TO SAY, WE HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE HERE WITH YOUR GAME FACE ON.

WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS THAT FALL WITHIN THE GUIDELINES OF BEING RESPECTABLE.

Note: The most active fan participation with The LIVE Chat is on the 12th Knight premium message board. In addition, there will be minimum moderation of these threads, although GBK Recruiting Analyst A.M. Allan will be peeking in from time to time throughout the contest.

Wake Forest is coming off of a solid win over ranked Florida State and they clearly aren't going to allow us to interrupt their season flow. We should have some confidence based on how we played them last year, but that was erased (IMO) when we allowed Georgia State to come to West Point and kick our butts.

Wake Forest 45
Army 20

We have Colgate at home next weekend. Although Army is 1-4, this game cannot count for bowl eligibility. What would you do with the week of practice and in the game if you were making the decisions?