Army West Point Athletics
Feinstein's Findings: Tough Day For Black Knights
October 23, 2016 | Football
Every once in a while, on the rare occasion when his team had played a truly awful game, Dean Smith would stand up in front of his North Carolina basketball team the next day holding a copy of the game-tape in his hands.
"I'm burning this," he would say. "There's no point in even looking at it. We don't have to torture ourselves to know we were awful."
Jeff Monken might be well-advised to take a page from Smith's book this week. Knowing Monken, he will force himself to look at all 60 disastrous minutes of Saturday's 35-18 loss to North Texas in Michie Stadium. That's the way coaches are: they somehow believe if they look at four interceptions and three fumbles (and a bad punt snap) enough times, they will cure whatever it was that went wrong with their team that day.
Showing that same tape to the players? Probably not a good idea. There's simply nothing to be gained. Athletes at Army deal with enough adversity without looking at self-inflicted pain again and again. They know—KNOW—that they can't play that way against anyone on their schedule.
Even before the last notes of 'Alma Mater,' died away on an appropriately sullen October afternoon, they could probably hear Monken's voice playing in their heads: "There's no one on our schedule we can't lose to if we don't come prepared to play."
There was reason to respect—thought not fear—the Mean Green coming into Saturday's game. A year ago, they had gone 1-11, which led to a purging of the coaching staff. In came former North Carolina assistant Seth Littrell, bringing with him an eager young staff and new systems on both sides of the football. Six games in, North Texas was a much-improved, respectable 3-3, including a road win at Rice that ended a 14-game road losing streak.
They had an excellent running back in junior Jeffery Wilson and a freshman quarterback, Mason Fine. Army hasn't done well against freshman quarterbacks this season, losing at Buffalo and at Duke to teams with redshirt freshmen starting behind center. This, though, was different: Fine is a true freshmen and unlike the starters for the Bulls and Blue Devils, he isn't a physical monster—one 6-foot-7, the other 6-foot-5. Fine is 5-11—quick and fearless--but hardly imposing.
Army's keys to victory on Saturday were pretty basic: bottle up Wilson and don't turn the ball over.
The word 'turnover,' has been a four-letter word at West Point for a long time now. Even this season, when the Black Knights had improved immeasurably in the area of ball security, turnovers had been the key in both victory and defeat. In Army's four victories, the offense hadn't turned the ball over. In the two losses, it had committed two turnovers apiece. The final results were hardly coincidence.
There was good reason to believe the Cadets could do those two things on Saturday. First, the defense had been superb against the run all season, giving up a remarkably paltry 42-yards a game on the ground, flat out stopping several excellent running backs. As went Wilson, so went the Mean Green: he'd averaged 144 yards per game in the three wins; 42 yards per game in the three losses.
Second, the Army battalion of fullbacks was healthy again: Andy Davidson had sat out almost the entire Lafayette game with a shoulder injury; Darnell Woolfolk had missed two games with a bad ankle. Both were ready to play.
So, it also seemed, was Edgar Poe, who had broken a hand during the bye week in practice and was in uniform, a bandage on that hand, but presumably ready to play. The Black Knights were healthy, at home and confident.
And then, the roof—or the scudding clouds—fell on top of their heads.
It started with Davidson's fumble on the third offensive snap of the game. The turnover didn't hurt on the scoreboard because Jeremy Timpf dropped in coverage two plays later and intercepted Fine's throw over the middle. Nine plays later, Woolfolk bolted nine-yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead and all seemed well. Davidson's fumble would be little more than a footnote.
Instead, it turned out to be a harbinger. The rest of the first half was a disaster. North Texas did something few teams have done this fall against the Army defense—it drove the length of the field (75-yards) to quickly tie the score at seven.
A moment later, quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw threw a quick out pass to Poe—the first time he'd been targeted in a game in more than a month. The throw was high. Poe went up and got both hands on the ball. But it bounced off his hands and into the air where North Texas defensive back Trevor Moore was closing on Poe.
Instead of grabbing Poe, Moore grabbed the ball and was gone down the sideline, untouched. Shockingly, Army was down 14-7.
In truth, it never got better after that. Army managed to drive for a 39-yard Blake Wilson field goal (longest of his career) on its next series but in its final eight drives of the game produced one touchdown; four turnovers; a botched punt snap; a failed fourth down attempt and a punt.
The last three possessions all ended on Bradshaw interceptions, but, in truth, the game had already been lost by then. The Cadets were still very much in the game early in the fourth quarter when they got the ball back after cutting the margin to 28-18. They appeared on their way to a score that would turn the momentum their way, when tight end Dalton Mendenhall, after making the first catch of his career, fumbled on the North Texas 18 after a 31-yard gain The Mean Green promptly drove 88-yards against the worn out defense to score again, putting the game away.
There's no doubt the defense was tired in the second half, which may account for Wilson rushing for 153 of his 160 yards. Even so, Army had more first downs (24-15); more yards (396-320) and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 26 seconds. The defense was more worn out emotionally from the turnovers than physically.
In truth, this was a team effort—unfortunately. There's no need to point fingers because there simply aren't enough fingers to go around.
Because they are very well-educated, most of the Cadets probably know that it was Thomas Paine who said, "These are the times that try men's souls."
This is a football team that has dealt with real tragedy this season—the death of Brandon Jackson—so dealing with trying to back bounce back from an embarrassing loss shouldn't be impossible.
But the schedule is about to try their souls greatly: at 5-2 Wake Forest—which, like North Texas will have an extra week to prepare for the option since it was off on Saturday; Air Force, which is in a true swoon right now, having lost three in a row after its 15-game home winning streak was broken by (of all teams) Hawai'i on Saturday and then Notre Dame, which, regardless of record, still suits up multiple future pros.
Army's now 4-3, but only 3-3 in terms of wins that count towards the six needed to qualify for a bowl because the Lafayette victory doesn't count. That means it must beat Morgan State in the home finale four weeks from now and then find a way to win two of its next three.
These will, no doubt, be trying times—for every soul connected to this Army football team.
"I'm burning this," he would say. "There's no point in even looking at it. We don't have to torture ourselves to know we were awful."
Jeff Monken might be well-advised to take a page from Smith's book this week. Knowing Monken, he will force himself to look at all 60 disastrous minutes of Saturday's 35-18 loss to North Texas in Michie Stadium. That's the way coaches are: they somehow believe if they look at four interceptions and three fumbles (and a bad punt snap) enough times, they will cure whatever it was that went wrong with their team that day.
Showing that same tape to the players? Probably not a good idea. There's simply nothing to be gained. Athletes at Army deal with enough adversity without looking at self-inflicted pain again and again. They know—KNOW—that they can't play that way against anyone on their schedule.
Even before the last notes of 'Alma Mater,' died away on an appropriately sullen October afternoon, they could probably hear Monken's voice playing in their heads: "There's no one on our schedule we can't lose to if we don't come prepared to play."
There was reason to respect—thought not fear—the Mean Green coming into Saturday's game. A year ago, they had gone 1-11, which led to a purging of the coaching staff. In came former North Carolina assistant Seth Littrell, bringing with him an eager young staff and new systems on both sides of the football. Six games in, North Texas was a much-improved, respectable 3-3, including a road win at Rice that ended a 14-game road losing streak.
They had an excellent running back in junior Jeffery Wilson and a freshman quarterback, Mason Fine. Army hasn't done well against freshman quarterbacks this season, losing at Buffalo and at Duke to teams with redshirt freshmen starting behind center. This, though, was different: Fine is a true freshmen and unlike the starters for the Bulls and Blue Devils, he isn't a physical monster—one 6-foot-7, the other 6-foot-5. Fine is 5-11—quick and fearless--but hardly imposing.
Army's keys to victory on Saturday were pretty basic: bottle up Wilson and don't turn the ball over.
The word 'turnover,' has been a four-letter word at West Point for a long time now. Even this season, when the Black Knights had improved immeasurably in the area of ball security, turnovers had been the key in both victory and defeat. In Army's four victories, the offense hadn't turned the ball over. In the two losses, it had committed two turnovers apiece. The final results were hardly coincidence.
There was good reason to believe the Cadets could do those two things on Saturday. First, the defense had been superb against the run all season, giving up a remarkably paltry 42-yards a game on the ground, flat out stopping several excellent running backs. As went Wilson, so went the Mean Green: he'd averaged 144 yards per game in the three wins; 42 yards per game in the three losses.
Second, the Army battalion of fullbacks was healthy again: Andy Davidson had sat out almost the entire Lafayette game with a shoulder injury; Darnell Woolfolk had missed two games with a bad ankle. Both were ready to play.
So, it also seemed, was Edgar Poe, who had broken a hand during the bye week in practice and was in uniform, a bandage on that hand, but presumably ready to play. The Black Knights were healthy, at home and confident.
And then, the roof—or the scudding clouds—fell on top of their heads.
It started with Davidson's fumble on the third offensive snap of the game. The turnover didn't hurt on the scoreboard because Jeremy Timpf dropped in coverage two plays later and intercepted Fine's throw over the middle. Nine plays later, Woolfolk bolted nine-yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead and all seemed well. Davidson's fumble would be little more than a footnote.
Instead, it turned out to be a harbinger. The rest of the first half was a disaster. North Texas did something few teams have done this fall against the Army defense—it drove the length of the field (75-yards) to quickly tie the score at seven.
A moment later, quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw threw a quick out pass to Poe—the first time he'd been targeted in a game in more than a month. The throw was high. Poe went up and got both hands on the ball. But it bounced off his hands and into the air where North Texas defensive back Trevor Moore was closing on Poe.
Instead of grabbing Poe, Moore grabbed the ball and was gone down the sideline, untouched. Shockingly, Army was down 14-7.
In truth, it never got better after that. Army managed to drive for a 39-yard Blake Wilson field goal (longest of his career) on its next series but in its final eight drives of the game produced one touchdown; four turnovers; a botched punt snap; a failed fourth down attempt and a punt.
The last three possessions all ended on Bradshaw interceptions, but, in truth, the game had already been lost by then. The Cadets were still very much in the game early in the fourth quarter when they got the ball back after cutting the margin to 28-18. They appeared on their way to a score that would turn the momentum their way, when tight end Dalton Mendenhall, after making the first catch of his career, fumbled on the North Texas 18 after a 31-yard gain The Mean Green promptly drove 88-yards against the worn out defense to score again, putting the game away.
There's no doubt the defense was tired in the second half, which may account for Wilson rushing for 153 of his 160 yards. Even so, Army had more first downs (24-15); more yards (396-320) and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 26 seconds. The defense was more worn out emotionally from the turnovers than physically.
In truth, this was a team effort—unfortunately. There's no need to point fingers because there simply aren't enough fingers to go around.
Because they are very well-educated, most of the Cadets probably know that it was Thomas Paine who said, "These are the times that try men's souls."
This is a football team that has dealt with real tragedy this season—the death of Brandon Jackson—so dealing with trying to back bounce back from an embarrassing loss shouldn't be impossible.
But the schedule is about to try their souls greatly: at 5-2 Wake Forest—which, like North Texas will have an extra week to prepare for the option since it was off on Saturday; Air Force, which is in a true swoon right now, having lost three in a row after its 15-game home winning streak was broken by (of all teams) Hawai'i on Saturday and then Notre Dame, which, regardless of record, still suits up multiple future pros.
Army's now 4-3, but only 3-3 in terms of wins that count towards the six needed to qualify for a bowl because the Lafayette victory doesn't count. That means it must beat Morgan State in the home finale four weeks from now and then find a way to win two of its next three.
These will, no doubt, be trying times—for every soul connected to this Army football team.
Players Mentioned
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