Feinstein's Findings: About the Process

New York Times bestselling author, John Feinstein, is back for another season with the Black Knights and will report in after each football game during the 2017 season. The weekly report will be posted to GoArmyWestPoint.com following each battle on the gridiron.

One of the most oft-used sports clichés of the 21st century is this one: "It's about the process."

Coaches bring it up almost as often as they talk about execution being the key to victory and how they expect players to 'step-up,' and give '110 percent,' even though there is no such thing as 110 percent.

From the day he was named head football coach at Army, Jeff Monken has talked about the process on an almost daily basis. Here's the thing: The reason clichés become clichés is because they're almost always true.

Friday night, inside Michie Stadium, the process that is Army football was gloriously evident.

The first glimpses of it came in last year's season opener, also on a Friday night, this one at Temple, facing a team Army hadn't been able to compete with in recent years. That night, the Black Knights dominated the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 28-13 victory against a team that went on to finish 10-4.

There were steps forward and steps backward throughout the fall: bad losses to Buffalo and North Texas; a season-turning win at Wake Forest and, most importantly the cathartic 21-17 victory over Navy that finally ended the torturous 14-game losing streak to the Midshipmen. The revenge victory over North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl was the cherry on top of the cake—and the 8-5 season.

Which brings us to Friday.

Two years ago, Fordham opened the season—again on a Friday night—in Michie and marched up and down the field on the Army defense as if the teams were playing 11-on-10. Or nine. Kevin Anderson was a first time starter at quarterback and he threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns, scoring another himself. Chase Edmonds, a sophomore running back carried the ball 20 times for 126 yards and scored three touchdowns.

The Rams, a very solid FCS program, won the game, 37-35 when a late two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game was stuffed.

Clearly, the process still had a long way to go.

Both Anderson and Edmonds, now seniors, were back on the field Friday for a team that was 40-11 the last five seasons and had to believe that, if it could win on the West Point post two years ago, it could win there again.

Not exactly. The final score was 64-6 and, if possible, the score didn't completely reflect Army's dominance.

In truth, it took 90 seconds to see just how far the process has come. Fordham took the opening kickoff and marched steadily backward, committing four penalties—one was declined--before punting.

The Black Knights took over at the Fordham 44. Ahmad Bradshaw, the senior captain, handed the ball to Darnell Woolfolk. He picked up five yards. Bradshaw handed to Woolfolk again. This time, he went 39 yards—touchdown.

Woolfolk would end up rushing for 95 yards—held to that number because he only carried 10 times. Bradshaw had nine carries—for 177 yards. The two might have combined for 500 yards if Monken hadn't cleared his bench by midway in the third quarter.

In all, 82 players saw the field, including kickoff specialist and punter Nick Schrage, who could have spent the night in an easy chair because his punting services simply weren't needed. Army scored nine touchdowns in 11 possessions. The other two ended in a Blake Wilson field goal and a Bradshaw fumble, which was about the only bad moment of the evening.

By the end of the first quarter it was 21-0 with John Trainor and Bradshaw adding touchdowns at the end of drives that took eight plays and four plays. When Anderson finally began to get Fordham moving with short, clock-eating passes that the Black Knights didn't really mind giving up, the defense dug in and stopped the Rams, setting up a short field goal attempt.

Clearly, Fordham Coach Andrew Breiner wanted to get SOME points on the board. Except Andrew McLean got his hand on the low kick in the middle of the line and Jalen Sharp scooped it up and was gone—untouched—75 yards to make it 28-0.

Fordham finally managed a touchdown late in the second quarter on an Anderson-to-Edmonds pass but their defense had absolutely no chance to stop Army. Bradshaw went 71-yards on the first play from scrimmage after the Fordham score and it was 34-6 at the half.

From there, the defense got even better and Monken got about half the plebes who joined the Corps on R-Day nine weeks ago into the game in the second half. From a two-point loss to a 58-point win: that's not just the process, that's clear progress.

What's more, Army's Achilles heel a year ago—special teams—showed clear improvement. There were two blocked kicks and Wilson made all his extra points and the field goal. Schrage kicked the ball consistently deep on kickoffs.

All that said, Monken couldn't help but talk about the corrections that need to be made before Buffalo comes to Michie next Saturday afternoon.

The overwhelming win covered up some real concerns this team has going forward. Army only threw two passes—and it didn't need to throw either one of those--both of which fell incomplete, but there's no clear replacement for Edgar Poe, who was the Black Knights big play wide receiver a year ago.

There also has to be concern about the injuries and academic issues that left nine players who were expected to contribute this season out of uniform on Friday. Among the many good things about the rout was the fact that backup quarterbacks Kelvin Hopkins Jr. and Luke Langdon got to take their first snaps and get some feel for a real game. With Chris Carter gone for the season, keeping Bradshaw healthy becomes monumentally important.

Army's not going to rush for 539 yards every week, so it will need some semblance of a passing game. It's worth remembering that in the Navy win, Poe's 29-yard catch launched the game-winning touchdown drive.

This coming Saturday is another process game. A year ago, Army blew a fourth quarter lead at Buffalo, missed what should have been a game-winning field goal late and lost to the Bulls, 23-20 in overtime. Like Fordham, this is a chance to show people—and, more importantly themselves—how far they've come since that disappointing loss.

Friday was more evidence of how far this program has come. The process continues.

Army West Point Athletics

Feinstein's Findings: About the Process

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Players Mentioned

Ahmad Bradshaw

Chris Carter

Kelvin Hopkins Jr.

Luke Langdon

Andrew McLean

Edgar Poe

Nick Schrage

Jalen Sharp

John Trainor

Blake Wilson

Darnell Woolfolk

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