Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Duke

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point football head coach Jeff Monken met with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Nowak Auditorium.

The Black Knights return to Michie Stadium for their home finale Saturday when Duke comes into town. The game will kick off at 12 p.m. and will be carried live on CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Jay Feely and Tina Cervasio on the call.

(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Good afternoon. We are coming off a thrilling win at Air Force. That was a tremendous effort by our team. I thought Coach (Brent) Davis on offense and Coach (Jay) Bateman on defense along with our coaching staff on both sides of the ball had a great game plan. They put our kids in place to execute and the credit goes to our team. Our players went out there, made some blocks and moved the ball effectively enough to score enough points to win. I thought our guys played with a lot of heart and a lot of effort. Really proud of our guys to get that victory out there.

"Going into this week against Duke, who has a very talented football team, we have played them the past couple of years so they've become more of a conference game. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. They've had a couple of weeks to get prepared for us. They will play Georgia Tech after us so their defense is in full "defend the option" mode. They've done really well stymying us on offense. They've made it very difficult for us to move the ball the past couple of years. It is going to take a great effort for us to win. Hopefully our guys are up for it. Obviously we are a few days behind them, but we will get to work this afternoon and be prepared for what we know is going to be a very difficult game for us."

(Ref.: On how we shut out Air Force)
"The job that Coach Bateman did preparing our guys and the plan that they put in place for their offense I thought was a really good plan. And it took the execution of that plan by our players. We had a couple of mistakes. We had a couple of errors where we turned some guys loose on play action routes. Their tight end was running down the field by himself one time but they overthrew him. We had another one where it probably would have been a little hairy had they let the ball go but we had some pressure on the quarterback and he wasn't able to throw it. It took a great effort.

"Their quarterback is a really good runner and it was tough to get him down. A couple times we thought we had him sacked but he's very powerful and was able to get out of it. We just kept the ball in front of us and we didn't have any big plays against us. We did a really nice job playing some blocks as well. I thought Jay, our staff, and our players did a really great job playing with a lot of heart and a lot of toughness and executed it."

(Ref.: On the seniors and what they mean to the team)
"This is a really special group of guys. Really because we've had them since they were freshmen. A lot of these guys were in the prep school program, others were guys that we recruited as high school seniors and are finishing up their careers with us. They are a special group of guys. When you have a whole team of guys that have been around with one coaching staff and seeing the chance from their freshman year to now, it's really satisfying to see what they've been able to accomplish together as a group.

"It's a great group of guys, they've meant a lot to us as players, but beyond that meant a lot to our football team from a leadership standpoint and just the amount of trust that I have in them personally, and that our staff has in those guys. They mean a lot to our team, and we're certainly not done. We have a lot of football left to play – four games – and we're not saying goodbye yet. This is an opportunity for the West Point community and the Michie Stadium crowd that's here so loyally every week, to thank these guys and honor them for a great career. So, hopefully we will be able to play really well and our team will honor those guys in a way that really matters."

(Ref.: On how big of a motivator it is to finish the season undefeated at home?)
"It wouldn't matter who we were playing, we'd be fighting as hard as we could to win. What Duke is presenting is an even greater challenge to get that done. We're going to practice this week and do the very best we can to field a team that's prepared, fresh and can play our best physically.

"You can say whatever you want about their record, but when you watch those guys play, they've got some really good players. You try to figure out how you can block them, how to beat a block on them, get them to the ground or cover them. They've got a bunch of really good players. Any one of these games could've gone the other way very easily. So we're looking at a team that's 4-5, but you could flip each one of those five losses in the other direction. It's been impressive to watch."

(Ref.: On if Duke is at an advantage coming off a bye heading into Saturday's game)
"I don't know if it changes what we do. Going into the Fordham game, we had a little more time to get prepared, but the next seven games was a one-week turnaround so it's kind of the way we have to prepare for Duke. The unique thing is that Duke has played us each of the past two years. They've got an option plan that they've developed over the years and it's gotten better and better each year. They find new wrinkles and new things that they do against us that makes it really difficult.

"It's about trying to figure out what it is that they've done and how we think they are trying to defend us, and coming up with ways to try to counter what they are doing. It's a real challenge for us on offense. Just looking at Army-Air Force, Army-Navy games, when we battle each other year in and year out, we get to know them and they get to know us. The offenses are almost identical and in just the last couple of those games, Brent (Davis) has tried to come up with different wrinkles that we can do to try and move the football. We kind of feel the same way about Duke. They are a defense that knows our offense as well as the other academies."

(Ref.: On having key defensive backs return to the lineup last Saturday)
"We were glad to have those guys back. I thought they both made the difference in the football game. As I said earlier about Rhyan (England) and the leadership he's provided our team. That's a guy that broke into the lineup as a freshman. We moved him from slot back to safety midway through the season of his freshman year and he was starting two weeks after the move. He has been in the starting lineup ever since until he got injured earlier this year.

"And just the toughness of Elijah Riley. To be sidelined for eight games and to come into this big rivalry game and play the way he did speaks volumes for the pride he has in getting prepared. I think the great job that Josh Christian-Young, our corners coach, did with having him ready and keeping him motivated. And both of those guys made a big difference in the game."

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Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Duke

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