Army Expects Close Contest with RivalAir Force Saturday at Michie Stadium
By John ChuhranCaMMVets Media
West Point, N.Y. – To the vast majority of the public, sports at the United States Military Academy is epitomized by football and Army success on the gridiron is symbolized by an unique award – the Commander-In-Chief’s (CIC) Trophy.
On Saturday, the Black Knights take their first steps to take possession of this massive silver and black decoration – a three-sided monument that stands two-and-a-half-feet tall and weighs 170 pounds – which is awarded annually to Army, Navy or Air Force. Any team that can defeat the other two wins possession of the award for the next year (in the event of a three-way tie, the trophy is retained by the winner of the trophy the previous year). Traditionally, Navy plays Air Force in October, Army plays Air Force in November, and Army plays Navy in December.
“These CIC games are always unbelievable battles,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken, “and I’m certain this one will be as well. They’re great rivalries – hard games to win and hard to prepare for. The intensity, the emotion just makes it different from everything else. We just try to focus through that and have our guys ready to do their jobs. This is a one-game season right now.”
This Saturday, the Black Knights (7-0, 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference) host the Air Force Falcons (1-6, 0-4 in the Mountain West Conference) in a sold-out struggle at Michie Stadium (12 PM EDT start, live national TV on the CBS network). On October 5, Navy (6-1, 4-0 in the AAC) toppled the Falcons 34-7, so Air Force is playing to try for the three-way tie while Army is playing to take the first step to retaining possession of the CIC Trophy that the Black Knights won last year.
Currently, Army has the longest winning streak among all FBS football teams – 11 games, including the last 4 of 2023. The run of success began with an unexpected 23-3 triumph over the Falcons, which entered last year’s game ranked 17th in the nation and owning an 8-0 record. The roles are reversed this year, with Army carrying an undefeated record and ranked 21st in the country and Air Force looking to get back on its winning way.
When the service academies meet each other, won-loss records get tossed out the window – a pattern and that is likely to continue Saturday in what is expected to be a low-scoring affair. Black Knights leadership takes nothing for granted when playing a CIC foe.
“The bye week gave us a little breather,” Monken said, “and a chance to go back and work on fundamentals – blocking, tackling, ball security. I think our guys are professional enough and mature enough to handle what’s already happened this year and put it behind us and realize we’re going to have to play better and continue to improve as a team. Our guys have enough humility and realize what we have to do. Nobody’s given us a head start on Saturday. We’re going to have to earn this victory and that’s done through execution of our assignments and fundamentals.
“It’s a well-coached team that we’re going to face, a talented team. They know us better than anybody we’ve played – they know our schemes, they know our personnel, so it’s going to take a tremendous effort on our part to win the game. Remember, last year we didn’t score in the second half. It was a battle and it always is. Since I’ve been here, there’s been fourth-down stops, goal-line stands, and last-minute drives by both teams. They’re hard-fought games that are intense and filled with pride and passion and emotion. Just staying grounded and trying to play our best on the next play is what’s important to have a chance to win.”
Neither Army nor Air Force have the biggest, strongest or fastest players in college football. Those realities cause both teams (and Navy) to play the run-oriented triple-option offense that usually results in long drives that limit scoring and limit the number of possessions of each team. After seven games, Army leads the nation with an average of 359.1 rushing yards per game. A battle of two pass-oriented teams can have as many as 14 or 16 possessions per team, but the number of possessions with two run-focused attacks can reduce the number of possessions by 60 percent.
With so few chances to score, it becomes crucial to avoid turnovers. That point was driven home last weekend when Navy fumbled six times (turning it over five times and adding an interception) in a 51-14 loss to 8th ranked Notre Dame (7-1). The Black Knights face the Fighting Irish on November 23 at Yankee Stadium. Through seven games, Army has fumbled the ball seven times but only lost it once; the defense has forced one fumble but recovered none. Black Knights QBs have not thrown an interception but Army defenders have grabbed 9 interceptions, leaving the hosts “plus 8” in turnovers.
“Every day in practice,” Monken said, “we are hyper-sensitive to players who don’t have good ball security and aren’t fundamentally taking care of the ball. A one-turnover advantage gives a team a huge advantage in winning the football game. We track those statistics, and every year it’s somewhere between 70 and 80 percent where the team with at least a one-turnover advantage won the game. So, you try to gain the advantage. And not turning the ball over is as important as trying to take it away. We place a great emphasis on it and we know we’re not likely to play a game where the other team turns it over six times. They may not turn the ball over at all, so we’ve got to play our very best and try to win the game without counting on a turnover.”
So, keeping the ball under control and making the most of every single drive will be the objective.
“We're going to play our game and hope it'll be good enough. There are fewer possessions typically in our games and in their games because of the run-oriented offenses that eat a lot of clock. There have been games that we've played – not just against the Air Force Academy or the Naval Academy – that have been seven possessions, eight possessions (each). I don't know that we were necessarily trying to play more conservative or trying to see if we could hit a big play, we were trying to do the best we could with the guys we had and the scheme that we thought would be best. I imagine this game will be the same – they're going to do whatever they think they have to do to try to win and we're going to do whatever we think we have to do to win. If it's five possessions each, it's five possessions each. We'll see how it plays out.”
Of course, the two defensive units will be trying to end the drives quickly. Army has surrendered an average of just 79.6 rushing yards per game to the opposition. Though Air Force opponents have averaged 193.7 rushing ypg, Monken has concerns about the Falcons defenders.
“They are very active on defense and have always created a lot of issues for us,” he said. “They've always been difficult to scheme against and to execute against. Coach (Brian) Knorr (Defensive Coordinator) does a really good job with that. This is a defense that has regularly been some of the best defenses in the country. Last year, the year before I think they had risen all the way up to the number one defense in the country. They don't give up points, they don't give up yards, they're stingy against everybody.”
Key players to watch on Army include quarterback Bryson Daily (already the all-time Army single season leader in touchdowns with 19 on the ground and 7 in the air; 909 rushing yards on 138 carries (6.5 avg. yards per carry), 27 completions from 49 attempts for 629 yards); running backs Kanye Udoh (633 rushing yards and 7 TD from 93 carries (6.8 ypc)), Noah Short (396 yards and 2 TD from 34 carries (11.6); 9 catches for 242 yards and 3 TD), and Samari Howard (103 yards from 18 carries (5.7 ypc)); wide receivers Casey Reynolds (10 catches for 293 yards and 3 TD) and Cam Schurr (5 catches for 69 yards and a TD); linebackers Andon Thomas (44 tackles, 1 pass breakup, 1 interception), Elo Modozie (18 tackles, 3 QB sacks, 1 pass breakup, 3 QB hurries), Kalib Fortner (38 tackles), and Brett Gerena (28 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 QB hurries); and safeties Casey Larkin (21 tackles, 2 interceptions) and Max DiDomenico (28 tackles, 1 interception, 2 pass break ups).
Top players to watch on Air Force incude QB John Busha, a junior who has lacked consistent effectiveness in both running (2.2 yards per carry) and throwing (29 completions from 79 attempts with 5 interceptions) the ball. If Busha struggles again, look for sophomore Quentin Hayes (3.9 avg. rushing yards, 10 completions from 14 attempts) to come off the bench. The offense is led by Cade Harris (227 yards and 4 TD on 38 carries (5.6 yards per carry); 14 receptions for 169 yards) and Quin Smith (11 receptions for 216 yards and a TD). The Defense is led by Camby Goff (40 tackles), Osaro Aihie (38 tackles, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries) and Jamari Bellamy (37 tackles, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble).
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