Opponents Weeks 10 and 11

[goodknight65]

I was traveling last week to go to the AF game and didn't have a chance to capture the results of all our opponents, so I've combined weeks 10 and 11 here:

Opponents Weeks 10 and 11


Buffalo (3-6) lost to Ohio (5-5) 14-37 last Wednesday and plays Akron this coming Tuesday. Ohio held Buffalo scoreless for the better part of 3 quarters and racked up a 27-0 lead before allowing Buffalo on the scoreboard with a 12 yard passing TDs. Buffalo's final score was on a 75 yard fumble return.


Stanford (5-4) lost to Oregon (8-1) 16-45 last weekend and had a bye game this weekend. Stanford fought back from an 18 point deficit to close to a 24-16 margin late in the 3d quarter, but back to back rushing TDs put the game out of reach for the Ducks.


Wake Forest (2-7) had a bye week on the 1st and lost to #19 Clemson (7-2) 20-34 Thursday night. The Deacons took an early lead, trailed 20-17 at the half, and tied it up at 20-20 in the third quarter, but Clemson scored 14 unanswered points to clinch the win.


Yale (7-1) downed winless Columbia (0-8) 25-7 to start the month of November and traveled to Rhode Island to beat Brown 45-42 this past Saturday. Yale jumped out to a 22 point lead and then cruised to the win against Columbia. The game against Brown was a seesaw affair, with Brown scoring first and carrying a 20-17 lead at the half. Yale scored twice early in the third quarter to take a 31-20 lead, but Brown closed to within 3 at 38-35 and then the two exchanged scores to give Yale the 3 point win.


Ball State (3-6) lost to NIU (7-2) 35-21 Ball State overcame an early 14-point deficit to pull even at halftime but was ultimately derailed by four turnovers. NIU scored twice on a TD run and a 21 yard pick 6 to take a 28-14 yard lead. Ball State closed to within 7, but NIU scored again with 2 minutes left in the game to seal the win.


Rice (6-3) traveled to Miami on Nov 1 to beat FIU (3-6) 31-17, and then returned home to beat UTSA (2-7) 17-7 . Rice jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and then held off FIU for its 5th straight win. This past Saturday, Rice got off to another 17-0 lead before allowing UTSA to score in the final quarter and gained their 6th straight win to hold onto second place in the western division of C-USA. Next weekend, Rice takes on Marshall for what could be a preview of the C-USA championship.


Kent State (1-8) lost to Toledo (6-3) 20-30. KSU spotted Toledo to a 16 point advantage at the half and then outscored them 20-14 in the second half after Nathan Strock replaced Colin Reardon at quarterback. Reardon was 10 of 23 with an INT in the game.

Air Force (7-2) ran over UNLV (2-8) 48-21. The Falcons out gained UNLV 542-339 with 386 of their yards coming on the ground. The Rebels had similar problems dealing with the New Mexico ground attack the previous week.


Western Kentucky (4-5) was destroyed by Louisiana Tech (6-3) 10-59 on Nov 1, and then scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to notch a 35-27 win over UTEP (5-4) this past Saturday. La Tech held Brandon Doughty to 14 of 35 and 134 yards, but Doughty bounced back to go 23 of 34 for 324 yards against UTEP. Keeping Doughty in check seems to be the key to winning against WKU, but few teams have been able to do that.


Fordham (7-1) came from behind to tie Bucknell (7-2) in regulation and then held Bucknell to a FG while scoring a TD to win the game 30-27. Bucknell is the only team with a winning record that Fordham has beaten this season. They were crushed by Villanova earlier in the year and have beaten below average FCS teams since. The Bucknell game was a better indicator of the kind of game we're likely to see in Michie.


Navy (4-5) had a bye week this week after putting a scare in Notre Dame last week, before losing 39-49. Navy (4-5) scored five touchdowns and finished with 454 yards, including 336 on the ground but Everett Golson became the first player in Notre Dame history to throw for three touchdowns and run for three scores to win the game. You'd think that ND would be better prepared to play the triple option after playing Navy every year, but apparently they haven't figured out to defend against it yet.

A couple of observations:

As the season progresses, some teams that may have looked good at the start of the season turn out to be less formidable and vice versa. Looking at the entire season, Western Kentucky looks more vulnerable providing you stop Doughty. Rice looks a lot stronger now that they've won 6 in a row. Fordham looks more beatable after watching the Bucknell game where they were facing a more competitive opponent. Yale has turned out to be one of the best in the Ivy League and more than a match for several of their Patriot League opponents. A game between Fordham and Yale would be interesting this year.

 

[Copplin82]

Whats th elikely hood that navy loses to a very good Gerogia Southern team and needs to beat us for a bowl game. Also whats the likelihood Army vs Navy comes down to who goes bowling this year between the two?

 

[WP76]

I'd be lying if I said the fact that Kent State's only win this year was against us doesn't bother me a lot.

 

[centuryman]

I know that we are in a rebuilding process, and we are going to have very high weeks and very low weeks until Monken can get better players here, but the losses to yale and Kent are killers. YOu win both of those games, and we are sitting here at 5-4 and naming our unborn sons Jeff or Monk.

I am able to see WKU play. they are a dink and dump passing team with 5 and 10 yard passing plays, all game long, and I fear that army is going to have a really hard time stopping those passes. Doughty the QB has passed for over 575 yard in two different games this year (no, that is not a misprint. nearly 1200 yards passing in two games).

 

[goodknight65]

Originally posted by centuryman:
I know that we are in a rebuilding process, and we are going to have very high weeks and very low weeks until Monken can get better players here, but the losses to yale and Kent are killers. YOu win both of those games, and we are sitting here at 5-4 and naming our unborn sons Jeff or Monk.

I am able to see WKU play. they are a dink and dump passing team with 5 and 10 yard passing plays, all game long, and I fear that army is going to have a really hard time stopping those passes. Doughty the QB has passed for over 575 yard in two different games this year (no, that is not a misprint. nearly 1200 yards passing in two games).

The short pass has been a problem for us all season. Bateman's bend not break approach gives up the short pass in order to prevent the bomb. The short pass also provides less time for a pass rush, and that's something Army can ill afford. I don't see us stopping their passing game.

The good news is that WKU has one of the worst defenses in the country; so we should be able to run and score against them. Our best chance is if we get our ball control offense working like it did against UConn, keeping WKU offense off the field, and then hoping that we can get a couple of turnovers. The only thing that will keep this from being a high scoring game is if Army keeps the ball for large chunks of time like they did against UConn.

 

[boongoon]

Army/Navy does not count for bowl eligibility.

 

[goodknight65]

Originally posted by boongoon:
Army/Navy does not count for bowl eligibility.

As I understand it, that's not actually the case. As far as the NCAA is concerned, we'd be bowl eligible if we beat Navy to bring our record to 6-6 (a big IF to be sure).

I read an explanation by a credible source, who says that the problem lies with the bowl committee, with whom we have a contract this year. According to him the bowl committee is not willing to wait until after the Army/Navy game to award the bowl berth; so they're probably already looking for a substitute since we can't win 6 without a win over Navy. He also stated that the bowl with whom Navy has a contract does not have that caveat in their contract.

Assuming my source is correct, that presents a potential scenario in which Army and Navy could both be 5-6 going into the game and the bowl committee that has a contract with Navy would offer the berth to the winner. If Navy has already won 6 games, they would get the berth regardless of the outcome, of course.

With 39 bowl games, there's also the potential that there won't be enough bowl eligible teams in the FBS to fill all the contractual berths. In that case, the bowl committees have to go to the NCAA to get an exception, and if they don't make a decision until after Army/Navy, we could get an offer from a bowl who didn't have an eligible team under contract. Last year there were only 36 bowl games and 9 teams that were bowl eligible didn't get a bid; so that may be a less likely scenario. I don't think that any teams who are probationary FBS teams, like GSU and Georgia State are eligible, but I could be wrong about that. GSU could be keeping some Sunbelt team out of a bowl game with their winning record.

All this is speculative at best, and we'd have to beat Navy to qualify in any case; so no use losing sleep over it.

 

[boongoon]

Wow. I'll take your word for it.

 

[centuryman]

The scenario you paint is correct. The ideal situation is army and navy are both 5 wins heading into the AN game, and the winner gets the bowl game.

Gotta remember rule #1: Bowl games gotta sell tickets. So they can't be sitting here waiting for teams and then be left holding the bag when teams lose. So, while I am sure they'd like army (or navy), they will look at other options if they feel any risk toward their bottom line

But, I am much more concerned with beating WKU and Fordham before a fan like me can even comprehend that army might have a shot at a bowl game after a season losing to the likes of Kent State and the ivy league.