Army Faces Powerhouse North TexasIn Saturday Struggle in Lone Star State
By John ChuhranCaMMVets Media
West Point. N.Y. – On Saturday, the college football world will find out if undefeated Army is great or merely very good.
“We turn our attention now to one of the most explosive offenses in the country,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken. “They’ve got an outstanding football team – talented, well-coached. This team is super impressive – scoring a lot of points. We know what a challenge it's going to be. They're one of the best teams in the league. They're fast and athletic at the skill positions, big on the offensive line, very active on defense up front. We’re really impressed with their football team.”
This weekend, the 18th ranked Black Knights (8-0, 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference) visit Denton, Texas to play the North Texas Mean Green (5-3, 2-2). The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with a3:30 PM EST kickoff. Casual football fans might not be familiar with North Texas, but so far in 2024 the Mean Green has logged some jaw-dropping offensive performances.
The Mean Green lights up the scoreboard; they are averaging 40.6 points per game (sixth best in FBS play) and are also ranked nationally in total offense (third – 527.6 yards per game), and passing offense (second – 371.6 ypg). They are led by a gun-slinging quarterback, junior Chandler Morris, who leads all college QBs with an average of 359.1 ypg and is ranked second in four other major statistical categories – passing TD, points responsible for per game, completions and total offense.
The North Texas team is completely transformed from 2023. There are 77 newcomers on the roster including 41 freshmen and 36 transfers. No less than 20 different players have caught passes for the Mean Green and nine have caught TD passes. Leading the way is wide receiver D.T. Sheffield, currently ranked third among FBS WR with 1,056 all-purpose yards and second in touchdown receptions with 10. Sheffield also leads the AAC in both receptions per game (6.4) and receiving yards per game (86.3) and has registered over 100 receiving yards in each of the last three games.
Morris has numerous other capable passing targets. Wide receivers Damon Ward Jr., Dalton Carnes, Miles Coleman, Blair Conwright, Nick Rempert, Landon Sides, Wyatt Young and tight end Oscar Hammond all have over 100 receiving yards this season. With so many capable pass catchers and an accurate QB, it is no surprise that, of 51 total offensive scoring drives for North Texas this season, 26 have taken two minutes or less of game action, while 19 have taken five plays or less (and all resulted in TD). With six one-play scoring drives and three of those taking eight seconds or less, North Texas can change the momentum of a game in an instant. The one major weakness of the Mean Green is in turnovers – they trail in both interceptions allowed (8-5) and fumbles allowed (4-1).
The North Texas defense has allowed an average of 177.1 rushing ypg and the team has not yet faced a triple-option offense, so there is an opportunity for Army to engineer a running attack. The challenge will be to execute and much of that may depend upon who is at QB for the Black Knights. 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 while leading the team in rushing yardage (138 carries for 909 yards – 6.5 avg. yards per carry), missed the Air Force game with an injury. His status for the game at North Texas was expected to be a game-day decision.
If Daily cannot play, junior Dewayne Coleman will take the snaps. In his first start last week against the Falcons, Coleman was steady but could not find the endzone in the first half, moving the Black Knights methodically down field to set up a pair of field goals that gave Army a 6-3 lead at the break. During the intermission, Offensive Coordinator Cody Worley simplified the game plan to focus on sophomore halfback Kanye Udoh.
“The message at halftime was ‘I’m going to call these three plays and if they stop these three plays they deserve to win,” Worley said. “And they said ‘okay, let's go’ and they responded really well and were doing what we needed to do to win.
By John ChuhranCaMMVets Media
West Point. N.Y. – On Saturday, the college football world will find out if undefeated Army is great or merely very good.
“We turn our attention now to one of the most explosive offenses in the country,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken. “They’ve got an outstanding football team – talented, well-coached. This team is super impressive – scoring a lot of points. We know what a challenge it's going to be. They're one of the best teams in the league. They're fast and athletic at the skill positions, big on the offensive line, very active on defense up front. We’re really impressed with their football team.”
This weekend, the 18th ranked Black Knights (8-0, 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference) visit Denton, Texas to play the North Texas Mean Green (5-3, 2-2). The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with a3:30 PM EST kickoff. Casual football fans might not be familiar with North Texas, but so far in 2024 the Mean Green has logged some jaw-dropping offensive performances.
The Mean Green lights up the scoreboard; they are averaging 40.6 points per game (sixth best in FBS play) and are also ranked nationally in total offense (third – 527.6 yards per game), and passing offense (second – 371.6 ypg). They are led by a gun-slinging quarterback, junior Chandler Morris, who leads all college QBs with an average of 359.1 ypg and is ranked second in four other major statistical categories – passing TD, points responsible for per game, completions and total offense.
The North Texas team is completely transformed from 2023. There are 77 newcomers on the roster including 41 freshmen and 36 transfers. No less than 20 different players have caught passes for the Mean Green and nine have caught TD passes. Leading the way is wide receiver D.T. Sheffield, currently ranked third among FBS WR with 1,056 all-purpose yards and second in touchdown receptions with 10. Sheffield also leads the AAC in both receptions per game (6.4) and receiving yards per game (86.3) and has registered over 100 receiving yards in each of the last three games.
Morris has numerous other capable passing targets. Wide receivers Damon Ward Jr., Dalton Carnes, Miles Coleman, Blair Conwright, Nick Rempert, Landon Sides, Wyatt Young and tight end Oscar Hammond all have over 100 receiving yards this season. With so many capable pass catchers and an accurate QB, it is no surprise that, of 51 total offensive scoring drives for North Texas this season, 26 have taken two minutes or less of game action, while 19 have taken five plays or less (and all resulted in TD). With six one-play scoring drives and three of those taking eight seconds or less, North Texas can change the momentum of a game in an instant. The one major weakness of the Mean Green is in turnovers – they trail in both interceptions allowed (8-5) and fumbles allowed (4-1).
The North Texas defense has allowed an average of 177.1 rushing ypg and the team has not yet faced a triple-option offense, so there is an opportunity for Army to engineer a running attack. The challenge will be to execute and much of that may depend upon who is at QB for the Black Knights. 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 while leading the team in rushing yardage (138 carries for 909 yards – 6.5 avg. yards per carry), missed the Air Force game with an injury. His status for the game at North Texas was expected to be a game-day decision.
If Daily cannot play, junior Dewayne Coleman will take the snaps. In his first start last week against the Falcons, Coleman was steady but could not find the endzone in the first half, moving the Black Knights methodically down field to set up a pair of field goals that gave Army a 6-3 lead at the break. During the intermission, Offensive Coordinator Cody Worley simplified the game plan to focus on sophomore halfback Kanye Udoh.
“The message at halftime was ‘I’m going to call these three plays and if they stop these three plays they deserve to win,” Worley said. “And they said ‘okay, let's go’ and they responded really well and were doing what we needed to do to win.
“Coming out of halftime, we knew what we needed to do on that first drive. Our guys were not pleased at all with the way that they had played thus far and we were fortunate to be up, but we knew what we needed to do on that first drive of the second half. I thought they responded really, really well with Kanye taking on that role and really putting the team on his back and getting better and better with every carry. But there were several carries he didn't get touched until the third level, so it was a full, all-11, team effort.”
Under the three-play shuffle, Udoh flourished, carrying the ball 15 times for 128 yards and two TD to build the Army advantage to 20-3. He finished with a career-high 158 yards as the offensive line – LT Connor Finucane, LG Bill Katsigiannis, C Brady Small, RG Paolo Genneralli, and RT Lucas Scott – cleared the seams efficiently.
“We always chart what we call ‘man-on tackles,’” Worley said, “so if the guy you're responsible for blocking makes the tackle, you get a minus. Lucas (Scott) went an entire game without a man-on tackle. He played exceptionally well – it was his best game of the year by far. Every week, you look at that group in totality. Every week it may be a different face – whether it's Brady (Smalls) getting recognition or Connor (Finucane) or Paolo (Genneralli) or Lucas.
“They're playing really good football and they're having great weeks of practice and preparation. I was just really proud of how they responded and for them to play how violent they played and to strain to finish and getting guys on the ground. Blocking up front was dominant at times. They just played a gritty brand of football and it, obviously, takes a lot of pressure off of us as a unit.”
Executing the fundamentals in an offense that the North Texas defense has not seen before should work to Army’s advantage.
Army leads the nation with an average of 340.1 ypg (no other team averages more than 275 ypg). The O-line and runners will have to execute, control the clock and score points; that seems more likely if Daily returns, but Coleman showed improvement as he gained confidence in the second half against Air Force and may be able to lead Army to another win.
The Army defense (6 QB sacks, 3 interceptions) kept pressure on the opposing QB in the win over Air Force and that type of performance will likely be necessary against North Texas. The Black Knights’ deep defenders – Casey Larkin, Max DiDomenico, Jayden Mays, Donovan Platt, Damon Washington, Justin Weaver, Collin Matteson, and Stephen Nnadozie – and defensive secondary – Andon Thomas, Kalib Fortner, Elo Modozie, Chance Keith, Adam Cash, Brett Gerena, Eric Ford and Josiah Banks – will be tested early and often. The chances for an Army victory may very well rest on their shoulders.
(-CaMMVets-)