Originally posted by ashokan:
Well I only saw the first half of Wake game and I saw a lot of great football plays. I also saw guys out of position and giving up plays for dumb reasons. Coach knew what was wrong (I liked he knew right away and didn't seem dazed and confused like Ellerson could be) and was upset while being interviewed going into the locker at the half. I didn't expect great games against Stanford and Wake because they were away and both played Army and the option last year (no element of surprise). Yale I thought was a win but the team probably did too and forgot to play like they did vs Stony Brook. Its a bad mix when one team is sleepwalking and the other team is celebrating 100 years of history. I'm still optimistic about the new coach etc. He inherited a bad scene without a lot of options for change. One thing though is the mental errors. Army players are supposed to be smart but they seem to make mental errors more than other teams (or maybe other teams can just get away with them more). Of course the kicking game just stinks and has for awhile. PATs and 20 yard field goals are high drama in Army ball. Missing two PATs vs Buffalo showed me the season wouldn't be full of stardust and bowl games.
We looked bad enough as it was, but penalties killed any chances we had. We had a couple of rookies starting on the OL, which didn't help matters. Hobbs started at RT and the plebe Villegas started at RG, but they weren't the guys getting the penalties for the most part.
Army's first possession, we get to the Yale 26 and Schurr gets a
delay of game penalty. Now we are first and 15, attempt two passes one of which is incomplete and the second is a sack, and we're forced to punt.
Stupid penalty, no excuse.
Yale's first possession, no penalties and we force them to punt.
Army's second possession, no penalties, we drive the field and score.
Yale's second possession, Army
pass interference on 3d and 8 gives Yale a first down plus 17 yards and they score.
Army's third possession, false start penalty puts us at 2d and 14. We get 12 yards back but have to punt on 4th and 1. Stupid penalty.
Yale misses FG on their next possession.
Army's fourth possession, no penalties, 80 yard TD drive.
Yale gets a 70 yard TD without our help on the next drive.
Army's fifth possession, no penalties, 70 yard TD drive
Yale's next possession they get a false start penalty and have to punt.
Army's final drive of the half, no penalties but 4 incomplete passes. Can't score in 33 seconds.
2d Half
First possession by Yale, we get a Pick six courtesy of Timpf
Second possession by Yale, we force them to punt but a
roughing the kicker penalty gives them a second chance and they drive they launch a 62 yard scoring drive. Announcer called it a too much effort penalty but it was still stupid.
Army's first possession of the half, we get a false start penalty, but for once overcome it and score a TD.
Yale overcomes two penalties to score on their next possession.
Army gets the ball first and 10 on our 22. 9 yard gain by Maples is negated by an
illegal block penalty and instead of being on our own 31 with a yard to go, we're on our 12 with 20 to go. We get 10 back but have to punt.
Yale gets the ball back on their 27 and scores without our help. Score tied 36-36
Army gets the ball on our 25 and Kemper runs for 74. No chance for penalties and we score: 43-36. End of 3d Quarter
Fourth Quarter:
Yale fumbles on our 13 yard line and we avert giving up another score as Timpf recovers.
We drive to the Yale 15 and can't get a half yard on 4th down. Yale gets the ball back on downs. No penalties but horrible blocking,
We hold Yale but they punt it to our 1. We get only 9 yards in 3 downs and have to punt. Yale gets the ball on our 45 and drives for a TD. Game tied 43-43
Army still has a chance to win it with 1:42 left, but a
holding penalty negates a first down on the Army 47 and gives us 2-15 from our own 40 instead. Three completed passes by Santiago get us back to the Yale 28 with 9 seconds remaining. We rush for 3 yards and then Growchowski misses the FG. We gave up 17 yards on that stupid holding penalty that we could have used on Grochowski's attempt.
We didn't have anywhere near that number of penalties last season, and if we don't get them under control, we're going to continue losing.
This post was edited on 9/28 12:59 AM by goodknight65