Army West Point Athletics
Army Football Notes: The Rutgers Game
November 17, 2008 | Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army football team continues its stretch of three straight games away from West Point to end the season when they travel to Rutgers on Saturday. The game is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be televised by SNY.
Army is coming off its second bye week of the season following a 38-31 loss at Rice on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Both teams enter Saturday’s action in the midst of streaks. The Black Knights have lost two straight, while the Scarlet Knights are riding a four-game winning streak since starting 1-5. It is the third straight game that Army has had to face a team with positive momentum. Both Air Force and Rice won their three previous outings prior to facing the Black Knights.
The Black Knights offense will try to build off its 31-point, 492-yard outburst against the Owls. One week after running for a season-low 143 yards in its loss to Air Force, Army exploded for 461 yards on the ground at Rice. It was the Black Knights best running game of the season and the most yards on the ground by an Army team since rushing for 480 yards against Louisville on Oct. 7, 1999. The effort stands as the 21st-highest rushing game in Academy history. Army has not run for 400 yards in consecutive games since the 1997 season when they gained 453 on the ground against Marshall on Sept. 6 and 545 opposite Lafayette on Sept. 13.
Army’s 31 points were its second most this season, but the best performance by the offense. The Black Knight defense scored two touchdowns in their 44-13 win at Tulane.
TELEVISION
Network: ESPN Regional
Play-by-Play: Dave Gleason
Color Analyst: John Congemi
Sideline: Quint Kessenich
Saturday’s game can be seen locally on SNY in additon to the rest of the Big East package affiliates.
ARMY RADIO
Army Sports Network
Flagship: WABC (770-AM, New York, N.Y.)
Affiliates: WLNA (1420-AM, Peekskill, N.Y.); WGHQ (920-AM, Kingston, N.Y.); WBNR (1260-AM, Beacon, N.Y.)
Play-by-Play: John Minko
Color Analyst: Dean Darling
Sideline: Rich DeMarco
Program Host: Bob Outer
The 90-minute “Army Football Tailgate Show,” hosted by Rich DeMarco and Bob Outer begins at 10 a.m. Pre-game coverage starts at 11:30 a.m.
SATELLITE RADIO
The Army Sports Network game broadcast will be carried via Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 121) beginning at 12 p.m.
THE COACHING MATCH UP
Army Head Coach Stan Brock
2nd Season at Army (6-16, .273)
2nd Season Overall (6-16, .273)
Record vs. Rutgers: 0-1
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
8th Season at Rutgers (43-51, .457)
8th Season Overall (43-51, .457)
Record vs. Army: 3-0
RECORD WATCH
Senior FB Collin Mooney had his second 200-yard rushing game of the season with 207 yards and two scores at Rice. He became the 10th player in Academy history to crack the 1,000-yard mark (13 times) and now stands fourth on the Black Knights single-season list with 1,173 yards.
Mooney needs only five yards to pass Mike Mayweather’s third-place total set in 1989. He is only 97 yards shy of moving past Carlton Jones for second place (1,269, 2004).
With two games left, Mooney is within shouting distance of the Black Knights’ single-season rushing total. The Katy, Texas, native is 166 yards short of passing Mayweather’s record-breaking total of 1,338 yards established during the 1990 season. Mooney has had four games this season with at least 170 yards.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Following a 1-5 start, Rutgers has won four straight games to even its record at 5-5 and put itself in contention for the program’s fourth straight postseason appearance. The Scarlet Knights are 4-2 in the Big East, and are only 1/2 game behind current conference leader Cincinnati. Rutgers is also percentage points behind Pittsburgh and West Virginia who currently sport 3-1 league records. The Scarlet Knights have already lost to the Bearcats and Mountaineers, but own a victory versus the Panthers.
Rutgers is coming off a 49-16 drubbing of South Florida on the Bulls’ home field. The defense forced a season-high six turnovers and the Scarlet Knights capitalized for 21 points off the miscues. The 33-point win was the program’s largest margin of victory in a Big East road win. Both teams reached the 400-yard mark in total offense with Rutgers holding a 421-404 advantage. Joe Martinek ran for 98 yards and two scores on 21 carries, while quarterback Mike Teel completed 18 of 29 passes for 294 yards and three scores. Kenny Britt was his favorite target with eight receptions for 173 yards, including a 93-yard touchdown catch. Devin McCourty led the defnese with eight tackles. Jason McCourty returned an interception for a touchdown, while Ryan D’Imperio registered three of the team’s four sacks.
The Scarlet Knights average 355 yards and 25.5 points per game. Rutgers scored more than 21 points only once in its first seven games (38-0 win over Morgan State), but have posted at least 35 markers in three straight games. Rutgers is averaging 448.67 yards and 46 points per game in that span. Most of the damage has come via the pass. The Scarlet Knights are averaging 313.67 passing yards per game in the last three outings, with 12 touchdown passes. Teel has been razor sharp of late, completing 58 of 86 throws (67.4 percent) for 931 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions in the last three games. For the season, Teel has completed 59.0 percent of his throws (177-300) for 2,293 yards, 15 scores and 12 picks. Britt has been the biggest beneficiary of Teel’s emergence. The wideout has caught 22 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns in the last three games. For the season, he leads the team with 68 catches for 994 yards in nine games. He ranks third in the nation with 110.44 yards per game and is seventh in the country at 7.56 catches per game. Kordell Young is Rutgers’ top rusher with 514 yards in just six games. Both Young and Jourdan Brooks have accounted for five rushing touchdowns.
Kevin Malast is the Scarlet Knights’ top tackler with 77 stops. D’Imperio is next on the list with 72 tackles, 9.5 of which have been for loss. Pete Tverdov leads teh team with 12.0 tackles for loss, while Jamaal Westernan has gotten to the quarterback a team-high six times. Jason McCourty leads the team with two interceptions and six pass break ups. As a team, the Scarlet Knights are giving up 335 yards and 20.50 points per game. They have allowed more than 20 points just two times in the last seven games.
THE ARMY-RUTGERS SERIES
Army leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 18-16. The series dates back to the 1891 season, Army’s second year of competition.
Rutgers has won the last four meetings with the Black Knights, including a 41-6 win at Michie Stadium in 2007. Army’s last victory against Rutgers was a 37-35 win at West Point in 1997.
FOUR SCORES AND SEVEN POINTS AGO ...
One game after having its streak of five straight games with at least one rushing touchdown stopped, Army tied its season high with four rushing touchdowns at Rice. The Black Knights also rushed for four scores at Tulane.
Since the start of the 2000 season, Army has run for at least four touchdowns eight times. The Black Knights are 6-2 in those eight games. The loss at Rice was the first when scoring at least four rushing touchdowns since losing to Air Force on Nov. 9, 2002.
Army is now 0-3 this season when not reaching paydirt via the rush.
The Black Knights have scored 16 of their 17 rushing touchdowns during the last seven games.
PICK YOUR POISON
While senior FB Collin Mooney was the Black Knights’ top rusher against Rice with 207 yards, five Black Knights gained at least 25 yards on the ground for the second time in three weeks. The Louisiana Tech win marked the first time five Black Knights gained at least 25 rushing yards in the same game since a 35-8 win against New Mexico State on Oct. 23, 1999. Omari Thompson (108), Brandan Rooney (62), Michael Wallace (60), Chad Jenkins (58) and Calvin Smith (44) all reached the mark versus the Aggies.
Army had three players gaine at least 80 yards at Rice. In addition to Mooney, junior FB Bryson Carl had 85 yards on just three carries, while senior RB Wesley McMahand had 83 yards and a score on eight carries.
The Rice game marked the first time since 1998 that the Black Knights had three players with at least 80 rushing yards in the same game. Ty Amey gained 134, Craig Stucker had 106 and Joe Gerena accounted for 92 yards in Army’s 34-30 win against Navy on Dec. 5, 1998.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
As a team, the Black Knights finished the 2007 season 83rd in the nation, allowing 30.3 points per game. This season, the Black Knights have cut that number by 27 percent to 22.0 points per game, the 44th-best average in the country.
According to research done by Louisiana Tech, Army’s 8.3 points-per-game improvement over last season is tied for the 12th-best scoring decrease in the nation. Florida owns the most improved scoring defense, shaving 14.2 points per game off its total from a season ago.
GET OFF THE FIELD
The Black Knights allowed Air Force to convert only one third down on 13 tries (7.7 percent). It was Army’s best third-down effort of the season, which is quite an accomplishment given the Black Knights’ recent success on third down. In the last five weeks, Army has limited foes to 14 third-down conversions on 64 attempts (21.9 percent). In the first five games, opponents were converting at a 38.6 percent clip.
For the season, Army is the eighth-best third-down defense in the nation, allowing opponents to convert just 29.8 percent of the time.
First and second down have been keys to Army’s success on third down. Black Knight opponents have converted only 18 of 85 attempts of four-or-more yards (21.2 percent). On 3rd-and-3 or less, Army foes have moved the chains 18 times in 36 tries (.500).
In the last five games, Army has won the first and second down battles quite frequently. Forty-eight (48) of the opponents’ 64 third-down snaps (75.0 percent) have been with at least four yards to go for a first down. For the season, 85 of the 121 third-down plays (70.2 percent) began at least four yards behind the first-down marker.
UP NEXT ...
Army will have another week off following the Rutgers game before playig arch-rival Navy in Philadelphia on Dec. 6.
