Army Stops Air Force 20-3In Defensive Battle Without Top QB
By John ChuhranCaMMVets Media
West Point, N.Y. – You find out a lot about a team when it loses its best player.
In the case of the Army football team (8-0, 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference), the Black Knights showed the sports world on Saturday that no man – no matter how proficient – is indispensable.
The missing player was the undefeated Black Knights’ starting quarterback, Bryson Daily, who set Army single-season records for most touchdowns scored (19) and responsible for (26) in just the first seven games this season. Daily, who also leads the team in rushing yardage (909 yards on 138 carries -- 6.5 avg. yards per carry), was declared ineligible for the game for a physical issue. Team leadership hopes to have him back this week.
“It was the first real adversity that we had faced this year where we had our backs to the wall and had to fight,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken. “That's good for our football team. We knew it was coming.
“It was a hard-fought win. We knew it would be a fistfight all the way to the end. It was. I was proud of our team. I'm glad we found a way. And it takes a lot out of you emotionally because it is such a big game.
“It was a good lesson for our players. They're all going to serve in the Army. Some of them will serve in units where things happen, and somebody has to step up. And if the pilot that's flying a helicopter can't fly the helicopter, you don't just take the day off – you find someone else to fly the helicopter. When you're jumping out of the helicopter, somebody turns their ankle and they can't do their job in the middle of the formation, then don't throw the white flag up and say we can't do it now. Somebody's got to step up.”
Losing a dominating quarterback can be devastating for any football team; exhibit A is the 2023 New York Jets who went 7-11 after their three-time NFL Player of the Year quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained a season-ending injury in the first possession of last year. But every need to be filled is an opportunity. While the Black Knights did not have a single player carry the burden of replacing Daily, several different Army football players provided exceptional effort and effectiveness that carried Army to a 20-3 win over visiting Air Force (1-7, 0-4 in the Mountain West).
“You find your role and what you can do to contribute that week or that game, Monken said. “We had guys today that maybe didn't play as much as they have in the first seven games. And we had some guys play today that played way more than they did in the first seven games. That was just their role today. So, everybody takes on the job and the role that they have, and hopefully we do it well enough as a unit.”
The biggest contributor to the Army win was halfback Kanye Udoh, the second most effective runner (93 rushes for 633 yards and 7 TD) on the team. Though he had only six carries for 31 yards in the first half, he became the work horse for the Black Knights after intermission, adding 15 more runs for 128 yards and both Army TD. He finished with 22 rushes for a personal best of 158 yards. It was his fourth career 100-yards-rushing game (and third of the 2024).
“I thought the O-line really kind of felt challenged in the second half,” Monken said, “and then they stepped up their game. Kanye ran the ball really hard. I was proud of him. He took care of the ball – that was key.”
The cadet who earned the start at quarterback was junior Dewayne Coleman. An accomplished quarterback in high school, Coleman did well in limited action earlier this year. In five games, he completed 6 of 8 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while running 22 times for 94 yards. Against the Falcons, who lost the toss and started with a 3-and-out, Coleman started slowly. He led an 11-play drive of mostly rushes straight ahead, advancing 57 yards before stalling on the Air Force 15. Trey Gronotte came on to nail a 30-yard field goal and Army continued its streak of scoring on every first possession of 2024 (though the previous seven had all been touchdowns). Coleman finished the day with 15 carries for 42 rushing yards while completing 5-of-8 passes for 42 yards.
“Dewayne Coleman wasn't scared or apprehensive about playing – he was excited to play,” Monken said. “And he's been waiting for this opportunity. I'm just really proud of how he handled the team, handled the offense, and did his part. There will be things on film that we'll correct and tell him that he should have done this or could have done this or you might have hit this run in this seam or, you know, hugged this block a little bit more. That's an opportunity to coach him and get better.
“The best thing he did all day was take care of the football. He didn't turn the football over. He didn't turn it over. When we did drop it on the ground, he was wise enough to get on it and make sure we still had it. So that's the best thing he did all day.”
After three possessions where neither team got a first down, a weak, 30-yard punt by Air Force near the close of the first quarter gave Army the ball on the Air Force 44. Army advanced 29 yards on 8 plays before the drive ended. Gronotte again booted the ball between the upright, this time for 32 yards out. Three short possessions gave the ball back to Air Force on its own 37. Eight plays later, the Falcons found themselves on the Army 19, but a 1-yard run, a 4-yard pass completion, and an incompletion resulted in Matthew Dapore kicking a 32-yard field goal to make the score Air Force 3, Army 6 at the game midpoint.
Army revised its strategy at halftime. The focus of the offense was centered on Udoh, who delivered 128 yards and the two TD runs that sealed the wind after the break.
The Black Knights defense was stellar all day and eventually finished with six QB sacks (two by Cody Harris-Miller) and three interceptions (Casey Larkin, Max DiDomenico, and Jaydan Mayes) while holding Air Force to just 209 total yards (117 rushing, 92 yards passing) for the game. The first four Falcons drives ended in punts and the last three were stopped by a punt and the interceptions, leaving only the fourth possession as a scoring drive.
“Having the lead helped because it forced them into having to press a little bit,” Monken said, “and they had to throw the ball some. We got them in some long yardage situations, and we were able to get some sacks in those situations.
“So I think it helped to have a lead. It does in this game because they're so closely contested. And trust me, you just feel that angst every single play of the game. And so our defense came up with a lot of plays. I think our entire team was playing the game with very high intensity and really good effort. I think our guys were playing really hard and playing tough.
“The defense, I think, felt that responsibility, when the offense had to punt and the defense had to go out there, we had to get them off the field. They made some plays, but we came up with some plays of our own with the sacks and the interceptions. The interceptions were huge. The sacks, those were big. They had the fourth down pass on our sideline over there, and we didn't fold the tents. Nobody went and finger-pointed or anything like that. They lined up and didn't allow the play before or the disappointment of letting them stay out there effect the next play. I'm really proud of them for that. The defense just didn't flinch.”
Saturday’s contest was the second of three games counting for the Commander-In-Chiefs’ Trophy, a round-robin series of three games between Air Force, Army and Navy, with the trophy going to any team that can beat the other two; if each team wins a game, the trophy is retained by the previous year’s winner). Navy defeated the Falcons 34-7 on October 5, so the 125th Army-Navy game (set for December 19 at Landover, MD) will determine which of the two teams will earn the right to display the award for 2025.
“(I’m) proud of our guys,” Monken said. “(They have) a chance now to play for the CIC trophy in 43 days. Obviously that's a long way away, and we're not going to talk about that until the time comes, but I'm glad we at least have a chance to play for it.”
By John ChuhranCaMMVets Media
West Point, N.Y. – You find out a lot about a team when it loses its best player.
In the case of the Army football team (8-0, 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference), the Black Knights showed the sports world on Saturday that no man – no matter how proficient – is indispensable.
The missing player was the undefeated Black Knights’ starting quarterback, Bryson Daily, who set Army single-season records for most touchdowns scored (19) and responsible for (26) in just the first seven games this season. Daily, who also leads the team in rushing yardage (909 yards on 138 carries -- 6.5 avg. yards per carry), was declared ineligible for the game for a physical issue. Team leadership hopes to have him back this week.
“It was the first real adversity that we had faced this year where we had our backs to the wall and had to fight,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken. “That's good for our football team. We knew it was coming.
“It was a hard-fought win. We knew it would be a fistfight all the way to the end. It was. I was proud of our team. I'm glad we found a way. And it takes a lot out of you emotionally because it is such a big game.
“It was a good lesson for our players. They're all going to serve in the Army. Some of them will serve in units where things happen, and somebody has to step up. And if the pilot that's flying a helicopter can't fly the helicopter, you don't just take the day off – you find someone else to fly the helicopter. When you're jumping out of the helicopter, somebody turns their ankle and they can't do their job in the middle of the formation, then don't throw the white flag up and say we can't do it now. Somebody's got to step up.”
Losing a dominating quarterback can be devastating for any football team; exhibit A is the 2023 New York Jets who went 7-11 after their three-time NFL Player of the Year quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained a season-ending injury in the first possession of last year. But every need to be filled is an opportunity. While the Black Knights did not have a single player carry the burden of replacing Daily, several different Army football players provided exceptional effort and effectiveness that carried Army to a 20-3 win over visiting Air Force (1-7, 0-4 in the Mountain West).
“You find your role and what you can do to contribute that week or that game, Monken said. “We had guys today that maybe didn't play as much as they have in the first seven games. And we had some guys play today that played way more than they did in the first seven games. That was just their role today. So, everybody takes on the job and the role that they have, and hopefully we do it well enough as a unit.”
The biggest contributor to the Army win was halfback Kanye Udoh, the second most effective runner (93 rushes for 633 yards and 7 TD) on the team. Though he had only six carries for 31 yards in the first half, he became the work horse for the Black Knights after intermission, adding 15 more runs for 128 yards and both Army TD. He finished with 22 rushes for a personal best of 158 yards. It was his fourth career 100-yards-rushing game (and third of the 2024).
“I thought the O-line really kind of felt challenged in the second half,” Monken said, “and then they stepped up their game. Kanye ran the ball really hard. I was proud of him. He took care of the ball – that was key.”
The cadet who earned the start at quarterback was junior Dewayne Coleman. An accomplished quarterback in high school, Coleman did well in limited action earlier this year. In five games, he completed 6 of 8 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while running 22 times for 94 yards. Against the Falcons, who lost the toss and started with a 3-and-out, Coleman started slowly. He led an 11-play drive of mostly rushes straight ahead, advancing 57 yards before stalling on the Air Force 15. Trey Gronotte came on to nail a 30-yard field goal and Army continued its streak of scoring on every first possession of 2024 (though the previous seven had all been touchdowns). Coleman finished the day with 15 carries for 42 rushing yards while completing 5-of-8 passes for 42 yards.
“Dewayne Coleman wasn't scared or apprehensive about playing – he was excited to play,” Monken said. “And he's been waiting for this opportunity. I'm just really proud of how he handled the team, handled the offense, and did his part. There will be things on film that we'll correct and tell him that he should have done this or could have done this or you might have hit this run in this seam or, you know, hugged this block a little bit more. That's an opportunity to coach him and get better.
“The best thing he did all day was take care of the football. He didn't turn the football over. He didn't turn it over. When we did drop it on the ground, he was wise enough to get on it and make sure we still had it. So that's the best thing he did all day.”
After three possessions where neither team got a first down, a weak, 30-yard punt by Air Force near the close of the first quarter gave Army the ball on the Air Force 44. Army advanced 29 yards on 8 plays before the drive ended. Gronotte again booted the ball between the upright, this time for 32 yards out. Three short possessions gave the ball back to Air Force on its own 37. Eight plays later, the Falcons found themselves on the Army 19, but a 1-yard run, a 4-yard pass completion, and an incompletion resulted in Matthew Dapore kicking a 32-yard field goal to make the score Air Force 3, Army 6 at the game midpoint.
Army revised its strategy at halftime. The focus of the offense was centered on Udoh, who delivered 128 yards and the two TD runs that sealed the wind after the break.
The Black Knights defense was stellar all day and eventually finished with six QB sacks (two by Cody Harris-Miller) and three interceptions (Casey Larkin, Max DiDomenico, and Jaydan Mayes) while holding Air Force to just 209 total yards (117 rushing, 92 yards passing) for the game. The first four Falcons drives ended in punts and the last three were stopped by a punt and the interceptions, leaving only the fourth possession as a scoring drive.
“Having the lead helped because it forced them into having to press a little bit,” Monken said, “and they had to throw the ball some. We got them in some long yardage situations, and we were able to get some sacks in those situations.
“So I think it helped to have a lead. It does in this game because they're so closely contested. And trust me, you just feel that angst every single play of the game. And so our defense came up with a lot of plays. I think our entire team was playing the game with very high intensity and really good effort. I think our guys were playing really hard and playing tough.
“The defense, I think, felt that responsibility, when the offense had to punt and the defense had to go out there, we had to get them off the field. They made some plays, but we came up with some plays of our own with the sacks and the interceptions. The interceptions were huge. The sacks, those were big. They had the fourth down pass on our sideline over there, and we didn't fold the tents. Nobody went and finger-pointed or anything like that. They lined up and didn't allow the play before or the disappointment of letting them stay out there effect the next play. I'm really proud of them for that. The defense just didn't flinch.”
Saturday’s contest was the second of three games counting for the Commander-In-Chiefs’ Trophy, a round-robin series of three games between Air Force, Army and Navy, with the trophy going to any team that can beat the other two; if each team wins a game, the trophy is retained by the previous year’s winner). Navy defeated the Falcons 34-7 on October 5, so the 125th Army-Navy game (set for December 19 at Landover, MD) will determine which of the two teams will earn the right to display the award for 2025.
“(I’m) proud of our guys,” Monken said. “(They have) a chance now to play for the CIC trophy in 43 days. Obviously that's a long way away, and we're not going to talk about that until the time comes, but I'm glad we at least have a chance to play for it.”