Army West Point Athletics
Feinstein's Findings: Everyone Take a Bow
September 16, 2018 | Football
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 2018 season. Feinstein's weekly report will be posted to GoArmyWestPoint.com following each battle on the gridiron.
Too many heroes to count. And every one of them was needed. Or, as Jeff Monken said when it was over, "That was a fistfight, a bloody-knuckle brawl."
Or, put more simply: it was one hell of a football game.
Once upon a time, Saturday's game against Hawai'i on a perfect late summer afternoon inside Michie Stadium would have been one of those where those who live and die with the Black Knights would have walked out shaking their heads about the blocked field goal at the end of the half; the two chop blocks that short-circuited third quarter drives; the failed fourth down lunge that could have wrapped up the game.
Instead, everyone headed to the parking lots with a smile on their faces because Army overcame those things and came away with an exhilarating, if excruciating, 28-21 win against a Hawai'i team that was 3-0—including a victory over Navy—and was putting up points (48.3 a game) like an Arena Football League team.
"It was fun," Monken said, looking more drained than joyful when it was finally over. "Agonizing, that's for sure. But in the end, everybody contributed."
The last two words are the most important. You could have given out about 20 game balls and still short-changed several people.
Since the game ended with the defense making four consecutive huge plays, let's begin there.
Kenneth Brinson and James Nachtigal, the senior linebackers, both made huge plays—Brinson had two early sacks—one on fourth down; one on third down—that slowed what had looked like a seemingly unstoppable Hawai'i offense to a crawl. Nachtigal also had a sack that ended a second quarter Hawai'i drive. Cole Christiansen, the junior, made the game-ending play in the end zone and Max Regan broke up a pass one play earlier.
More important, the entire defense made plays when it had to after Hawai'i opened the game by scoring so quickly it left heads spinning on the Army sideline. Five plays, 75 yards, with quarterback Cole McDonald finding wide receiver John Ursua for a 12-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game.
McDonald, a red-shirt sophomore, threw a total of nine passes last season. Hawai'i coach Nick Rolovich wasn't certain that McDonald was his starter until the team landed in Colorado for its opener against Colorado State.
"I decided to give him the first two series and see what happened," Rolovich said last week.
What happened was the Rainbow Warriors scored on both possessions and won the game 43-34. Coming into the game McDonald had thrown for 1,165 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. A lot of those completions had been to Ursua, who came in having caught 26 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns.
Down 7-0 very quickly, the offense proceeded to go three-and-out.
Uh-oh.
Hawai'i began moving again, using the run-and-shoot offense that Rolovich ran successfully during a 9-3 season as a UH quarterback in 2001. The defense seemed to have gotten a stop at midfield when Nachtigal took McDonald down only to be called for what looked like a questionable roughing the passer call.
More uh-oh.
Perhaps inspired by the shaky call, perhaps realizing that being down 14-0 in less than half a quarter wasn't a great idea, the defense stopped the drive on downs, Brinson's sack turned the ball over to the Black Knights at the 34.
Two plays later, it was 3rd-and-8 and, especially given the heat and humidity (which Hawai'i is certainly accustomed to), putting the defense right back on the field felt like a very bad idea.
Monken, perhaps understanding the importance of the play; perhaps wanting to give his defense a little extra time to breathe in case it did have to go right back on the field, made the unusual move of calling time out with 7:35 left in the first quarter.
On the sidelines, Army's new Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, a former football player himself, shook his head and said, "this is a REALLY important play."
Lt. Gen. Williams, who looks as if he could still make a play or two on the field, knows his stuff.
Calen Holt—the one Hawai'i native on the team—came out of the backfield and was wide open on the left sideline when Kelvin Hopkins Jr. found him with a perfect pass that he caught in stride. He wasn't brought down until the 1-yard-line—a 63-yard completion.
Good call, general. Great execution by cadets Hopkins and Holt.
Hopkins has improved in each game. On Saturday, he showed more elusiveness running the ball; he picked up 110 yards on 20 carries and again showed that the pass is now a weapon in Army's arsenal. Although he claimed he had little to do with the pass to Holt: "I threw the ball like three yards, Calen did the rest," he said; the fact is he threw it about 20 yards on a string, allowing Holt to catch it in full flight.
Two plays later, Hopkins scored to make it 7-7 and the Black Knights had caught their breath and turned the game into a fistfight.
The offense put together a long drive that began late in the first quarter and ended early in the second with another Hopkins 1-yard touchdown run to go up, 14-7. When Hopkins crossed the goal line it was the first time all season, 13 quarters-plus that Hawai'i had trailed.
Hawai'i quickly answered to tie the game at 14-14 but the offense was rolling now. On a 2nd-and-7 at the Hawai'i 48, the Rainbow Warriors appeared to have about 17 players in the box. None of them, however, could stop Connor Slomka going straight up the middle behind center Bryce Holland and when Slomka broke into the clear, he was long gone. Army led, 21-14.
That remained the score for a good long while. The Black Knights had a great chance to make it a two-score game before halftime but, after Rolovich called two time outs with Landon Salyers lining up for a 27-yard field goal with five seconds left, the Rainbow Warriors defensive line got enough push to block the kick.
Even so, Monken felt good about where his team was at the break. They were moving the ball and the defense had dug in and only allowed the one score after the Rainbow Warriors' opening burst.
The third quarter was filled with frustration. The defense continued to stymie Hawai'i and it felt like a matter of time until the offense finally made it a two-score game. Only it didn't happen and the reason was pull-your-hair-out—to use Monken's word—agonizing.
Army took the third quarter kickoff and promptly marched the ball to the Hawaii 27—4th-and-1. Holt picked up six yards for a first down…except…Holland was called for a chop block. Monken said the call was accurate, meaning there will be more work to be done this week on making certain not to commit that penalty. The Black Knights have now been called for it five times in two games.
The next series was more of the same: Army drove to the Hawai'i 33, 4th-and-4. Once again Holt picked up the first down. Once again, the officials called a chop block, this one allegedly more than five yards down field.
Ouch.
Finally, early in the fourth quarter, Woolfolk capped another Army drive by diving in from the three yard line. A glance at Woolfolk's numbers for the day: 19 carries, 70 yards, won't blow anybody away. But with the Hawai'i line jamming the middle to keep Army from running the fullback effectively, every one of his yards was earned and usually involved being hit two or three times before going down.
The 28-14 lead lasted exactly two plays: a kickoff and McDonald's 80-yard touchdown pass to Ursua, who simply ran past everyone on a straight fly pattern and caught a strike from McDonald.
So much for coasting home, it was a one score game—at 28-21.
Once again, Army's offense moved the chains and the clock. On 4th-and-1 from the Hawai'i 28, the chance to end the game was 12 inches away. Hawai'i had burned two time outs and an Army first down with three minutes left would make it virtually impossible for Hawai'i to score again.
But the Rainbow Warriors' defense came up with a huge play, stopping Hopkins inches short of the first down.
Did I mention, Uh-oh?
Faster than you can say, 'are we playing overtime today?' Hawai'i had a first down at the Army 13 with more than enough time left. Monken was already deciding what to do if Hawai'i scored: what if the Rainbow Warriors went for two and made it? What if they went for two and failed? What if they kicked an extra point to tie the game?
He never had to make any of those decisions. McDonald picked up two yards on a pass to Dayton Furuta to put the ball on the 11.
But it never moved from there. McDonald to Jo-Jo Ward—incomplete. McDonald to Ursua, broken up by Regan. Hawai'i time out with exactly one minute left. McDonald to Ursua again—Christiansen knocking it down in the end zone.
Finally, about 11 hours after the opening kickoff—or so it seemed—Army had a dramatic victory over a very good football team.
Of course next week comes the trip to Oklahoma, a team that last season produced Baker Mayfield—the Heisman Trophy winner and number one pick in the NFL draft and was in the College Football Playoff. The Sooners have shown no signs of taking a step back without Mayfield.
For now though, the record is 2-1, the home winning streak is nine and it is clear this Army team will compete every week.
Too many heroes to count. Everyone take a bow.
