Football Returns to Michie Stadium, Welcomes Tulane

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point football team will return to Michie Stadium on Saturday, hosting Tulane in a 12 p.m. kickoff. The game can be seen live on ESPNU as well as on the radio via the Army Sports Network.

Ben Holden will get the call for CBS Sports Network with Jay Feely providing the color and John Schriffen holding down the sideline. On the Army Sports Network will be play-by-play announcer Rich Demarco and color analyst Dean Darling with Tony Morino on the sideline.

Army is coming off of a 20-3 loss at the hands of service academy rival Air Force in a road contest last Saturday. The Black Knights enter this weekend's action with a record of 2-7.

"We came right back on Sunday and started to prepare for Tulane which is a very big and talented football team," said head coach Jeff Monken. "They don't have a record that reflects how good of a football team I think they are. They are really athletic at the skill positions. They are huge along the lines. The defensive line has two guys over 300 lbs. Their offensive line is a great big bunch of guys. That creates some physical difficulties for us. We have a starting left tackle that weighs 242 so there is obviously going to need to be some things we need to do to create opportunities for us against a team like this. We're looking forward to being back home and playing here at Michie Stadium. Still some opportunities out there for us to play this year and we are certainly going to take advantage."

The Black Knights have not set foot in Michie Stadium for game action since a 21-14 win over Bucnkell on Oct. 17. Army is 1-3 on its home turf but will get an opportunity to close the home stretch on a positive note, as the Tulane game is the first of back-to-back contests at Michie.

Tulane enters the weekend with a mark of 2-7, competing to a 1-5 record in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Green Wave are coming off of a 7-3 loss to UConn in New Orleans this past weekend and have yet to win a road contest all season. After starting the season 0-2, they battled to 38-7 win over Maine and a 45-31 victory over UCF, but have succumb to a five-game losing streak.

Tulane is averaging 16.3 points per game and surrendering an average of 34.4 on defense, but has played a schedule that has a 43-15 combined record to this point in the season.

Three different quarterbacks have taken snaps under center for the Green Wave, sophomore Tanner Lee, junior Devin Powell and senior Jordy Joseph. Lee has started seven games and is 120-of-225 on the year with eight touchdowns and six interceptions, while Powell and Joseph have each thrown one touchdown in limited action. Wideouts Teddy Veal and Devon Breaux have three touchdowns apiece and 35 and 23 receptions, respectively.

On the ground, Dontrell Hilliard has seen a majority of the workload with 424 rushing yards on 80 carries (5.3 avg.) and six rushing touchdowns. Sherman Badie has two scores to his name, and is second on the team with 213 rushing yards on 50 attempts (4.3 avg.).

"They are very talented at the skill positions," added Monken. "They've got a really good running back, and physically matching up with him won't be easy. He's a very talented kid, as well as all their wide receivers. We're very impressed with all of their skill guys. And, they are big up front. For our guys who may not be as much of a match in size, weeding your way through all that stuff and being tough and playing hard isn't as easy when you're a 235-pound defensive end going against a guy that weighs 308 playing offensive tackle. You can't exactly just out-tough him and bull rush him, you've got to come up with some ways to get to the passer, make him get rid of the ball on time and hopefully put some pressure on him."

Defensively, Nico Marley leads the team in tackles with 61, including 10 for loss, while Darion Monroe has 58 total stops and leads the team in takeaways with four, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

For Army, quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw leads the charge offensively, putting up 396 yards on the ground off of 110 attempts with four touchdowns. In the air, he's 17-38-2 for 308 yards and three touchdowns. Fellow quarterback A.J. Schurr has earned 384 rushing yards on 98 attempts with seven touchdowns. He's also put up three passing touchdowns with a line of 11-29-4.

"Neither Ahmad nor A.J. were 100 percent going into the game on Saturday," said Monken. "I wouldn't say they are 100 percent right now, but there were a whole list of guys who went into that game and battled their hearts out that weren't necessarily completely healthy. That is the case with a lot of football teams, we are just one of many teams that are battling that this season."

Defensively, Andrew King paces the Black Knights, having recorded 73 tackles on the season with 43 solo stops. He's accumulated 4.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. He's joined by co-captain Jeremy Timpf who has posted 69 tackles with 38 solo stops. In addition, Timpf has 1.5 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, one interception, one pass breakup and a forced fumble.

ARMY-TULANE HISTORY
The series between Army and Tulane dates back to 1953 when the two teams played to a 0-0 tie in New Orleans. The Black Knights come into the game winning three of the last four games against the Green Wave, including the last meeting in 2010 by a 41-23 score. Tulane won the previous year with a 17-16 victory at Michie Stadium. The series sits at 9-8-1 in favor of Tulane.

ARMY FOOTBALL CELEBRATES 125 YEARS
In celebration of 125 years of Army football, the Army Athletic Association will countdown the top 10 moments in program history.

This past Wednesday, moment number five was announced – Army's first bowl victory, a 10-6 win over Michigan State in the Cherry Bowl of 1984.

Each Wednesday we will reveal one moment as we countdown the top 10.

HELMET STICKERS
The Army football team will continue to honor the U.S. Army this season, wearing helmet stickers for the below divisions.
9/4 Fordham: 1st Infantry Division
9/12 at Connecticut: 7th Infantry Division
9/19 Wake Forest: 82nd Airborne
9/26 at Eastern Michigan: 2nd Infantry Division
10/3 at Penn State: 101st Airborne
10/10 Duke: 25th Infantry Division
10/17 Bucknell: 1st Armored Division
10/24 at Rice: 1st Cavalry Division
11/7 at Air Force: 4th Infantry Division
11/14 Tulane: 3rd Infantry Division
11/21 Rutgers 10th Mountain Division
12/12 Navy: Players will wear specific stickers

CLASSROOM SUCCESS
The Army football team continues to excel in the classroom. The team improved its grade point average .13 points in the spring, raising the team GPA to the highest it has been since 1977.

CLASS MOTTO
One of the duties of the new cadets is selecting a class motto. That motto, selected during Cadet Basic Training, is displayed during March Back on a large banner during the 12-mile return to West Point. The Class mottos are
2019 So Freedom Will Reign
2018 So Others May Dream
2017 With Honor We Lead
2016 For Those We Lead

CLASS RINGS
Each senior at West Point is presented with their class ring during the Ring Weekend. The rings are distributed at Trophy Point with the cadets wearing their "India White" uniforms.
The rings presented to the Class of 2016 include steel from the World Trade Center as well as gold from past class rings which have been donated.

Football Returns to Michie Stadium, Welcomes Tulane

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Players Mentioned

Ahmad Bradshaw

Andrew King

A.J. Schurr

Jeremy Timpf

Army West Point Athletics