Army West Point Athletics
A Strong Rush
October 25, 2008 | Football
This feature originally appeared in the Oct. 25, 2008 edition of Army Football Gameday versus Louisiana Tech.
Army fullback Collin Mooney has a gameday routine. The senior captain is hesitant to provide the details of how he prepares for a football game on Saturday mornings, although he insists it isn’t anything too drastic and his day is not thrown off if one little thing needs to be different.
Regardless of how Mooney spends his Saturday mornings, the results of Saturday afternoons are certainly speaking volumes.
“I’m pretty ritualistic,” said the graduate of Taylor High School. “I don’t like to say superstitious but I like to have a routine. I think I have kind of finally found my routine and got it down where I am comfortable and I think that has helped me out. It’s pretty structured but I don’t freak out if something doesn’t happen.”
A linebacker in high school in Texas, Mooney was moved to fullback when he arrived at the U.S. Military Academy. During his first three seasons at West Point, he carried the ball six times for 22 yards.
In the last three weeks alone, Mooney has rushing games of 172 yards, 229 yards and 187 yards as the featured back in Army’s new option-based attack.
Mooney has gone from special teams standout to the team’s leading rusher. Utilizing his chiseled 5-foot-10, 247-pound frame, Mooney has rushed through and around opposing defenses for 817 yards and six touchdowns through seven games. He has a team-best 129 carries, averages 6.3 yards per rush and is among the nation’s rushing leaders with an average of 116.7 per contest. Showing his versatility, he is second on the team with six receptions for 49 yards.
Pretty impressive numbers for a tailback but for a fullback who is used to opening holes instead of running through them, the numbers are outstanding.
“There were always rumors that we were going to switch offenses,” Mooney said. “I wasn’t too sure about what would happen. The idea of getting the ball 15 to 30 times a game wasn’t exactly on my mind. When they finally announced that we were going to switch, I took it as a challenge, I knew there were things I had to work on, like ball handling in general since I hadn’t really carried the ball more than a few times a game since my freshman year in high school. This was totally different for me since it was six years since I had more than a few carries.”
Mooney, who spurned Air Force for Army, had the chance to learn under former fullback and captain Mike Viti. The two became fast friends and spent plenty of time together in the weight room and on the practice field. The two are similar in height, weight and strength and are also both tremendous leaders.
“I’m not surprised at Collin’s success,” said Viti. “I have seen the hard work the last couple of years and I know what kind of player he is. Now, in this offense, he is getting a chance to be an athlete and the fullback he really is. Collin is definitely a lead-by-example kind of guy. His work ethic is unparalleled. He is more of a producer than a vocal leader. You need vocal leaders in some positions and other times you need someone who is Mr. Reliable. With Collin, that’s what you get. Every day, whether at practice or outside of practice, he works extremely hard.”
Said Mooney, “Mike and I are close. He helped me a ton. I came in here as a linebacker in high school and I had a lot of learning to do. He was there for me the whole way, teaching me and helping me become a fullback.”
That hard work has been rewarded as the new offensive system is producing results, with Mooney leading the way.
“Everything that we do starts with Collin,” said Army second-year head coach Stan Brock. “People think that we’re just calling fullback dive, but when that’s what they give you, that’s what they give you. (Quarterback) Chip (Bowden) is making the reads and we all thought, even since last spring, that Collin Mooney is a heck of a running back and that he would be able to carry the load. We don’t go into it thinking we are going to call give’ and give him the ball all the time, but that is the way it worked out. The offensive line has made some blocks and once he gets into the open, he’s a big man for an arm tackle.”
While the Army offense has registered at least 280 yards rushing in each of its last four games, Mooney is running through opponents and into the Army rushing record books. He is the first Army player to rush for 100 yards in three straight games since Carlton Jones accomplished the feat in 2004.
“At first, we were a little shaky because none of us had really run the option before,” Mooney said. “And none of us were recruited for it. Early on, it was shaky and we really didn’t know what was going on. After a couple of weeks, we started to look like a team that was running the option.”
Showcasing big-play ability, Mooney has broken off huge runs to help Army win two of its last three games.
Army switched its offense from a pro-style to an option-based scheme in the offseason and the switch is starting to show with Mooney and his teammates.
Mooney carried 26 times for 81 yards in the season-opener against Temple and then gained 93 yards the next two weeks against New Hampshire and Akron. A 55-yard effort came in a loss to Texas A&M that dropped the Black Knights to 0-4.
On the road against Tulane, things started to turn around with the offense and on the scoreboard. Mooney broke off a 55-yard run on the way to a 187-yard, four-touchdown afternoon in a win at Tulane. It marked his first career 100-yard game and his first rushing touchdowns.
Mooney’s huge gain against Tulane earned him the “Black Death Award,” an honor that has been given out just three times in Brock’s two-year tenure. The plaque, featuring the knife used by Army Rangers, is bestowed only in cases of exceptional, near perfect play. Wide out Mike Wright received it after beating Tulane at home in 2007 and former football player Lt. Col. Greg Gadson also received the award.
“I think the players understand how special that award is, especially going through the history of the people that have won it,” explained Brock.
Additionally, Mooney gained national attention for the performance as nominee for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week and earned a “helmet sticker” from ESPN analyst Lou Holtz.
A week later, he racked up 229 yards on 29 carries as Army beat Eastern Michigan. Mooney averaged 7.9 yards per rush including a 67-yard burst and a 55-yard pickup. His 229 yards is fourth-best single game rushing total in Army history and the third highest rushing total by a fullback in school history.
Mooney’s third straight 100-yard game came in an overtime loss at Buffalo last week. A career-best 81-yard run helped pave the way for a 172-yard performance that included a pair of rushing touchdowns.
One of four team captains, with linebackers John Plumstead and Frank Scappaticci and Wright, Mooney is proud to wear the “C” on his chest.
“To me, it’s a great honor because it shows that my teammates think that much of me to have me lead them,” Mooney said. “West Point is a place of leaders and so is this football team so for them to choose me as their leader is a huge honor for me. I’m not the most outspoken person and not exactly talkative. I try to lead by example but when I do have something to say, guys will listen because I don’t say a lot.”
Now more than halfway through the season, Mooney is starting to ponder the end of his playing days. With just five games remaining on the schedule, Mooney is running out of opportunities to bring the Corps of Cadets to their feet with a big run or bone-jarring block.
“I have thought about the end of my career,” said the son of Chuck and Kris Mooney. “I have been playing football since second grade and have always tried to play every game like it’s my last. Now, I will never play Louisiana Tech any more, never play Navy again. Every game is a last game so I try to take it all in and play my hardest.”
While Mooney knows the dates of the final five games, he is still sorting out what will happen next. An athletic intern spot in the O’Meara, Malek, Dawkins Class of 1959 Strength Development Center is a thought, especially for a player who has bench pressed 455 pounds. A Management major, he wants to branch Infantry or Field Artillery and choose a post like Hawaii.
Regardless of where he ends up, Mooney’s four years along the banks of the Hudson River have been good ones.
“I was planning to come to West Point without football,” Mooney said. “I started applying before football was an option for me, then the football part came around. This place is a challenge, a big challenge. There is not really an easy day around here. And playing football, I think it’s one of the toughest things you could do. But I’ve enjoyed myself. It’s weird but I like it here. School is hard and there are some real challenges but I liked my experience. I made some great friends, met my girlfriend because of West Point.”
Before he gets commissioned as a second lieutenant though, there are games to win, fun to be had and experiences to be savored.
Ryan Yanoshak is the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at West Point.
