Feinstein's Findings: You Finished the Week 1-0

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 2019 season. Feinstein's weekly report will be posted to GoArmyWestPoint.com following each battle on the gridiron.

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Let's start today with the good news from Saturday:

--Army easily beat Morgan State, 52-21, for its 15^thconsecutive victory at Michie Stadium dating to November of 2016, raising its 2019 record to 3-1.

--Connor Slomka rushed for a career-high 110 yards and a touchdown and Army rushed for a season-high 403 yards as a team.

--Third string quarterback Christian Anderson came off the bench after second-string quarterback Jabari Laws took a hit to the head and ran for 75-yards on nine carries and completed a picture-perfect 80-yard touchdown pass to Artice Hobbs IV—one of two touchdowns on the day for the rapidly-improving Hobbs.

--A crowd of 28,018 enjoyed a stunning first-day-of-fall afternoon inside college football's most scenic stadium.

--Dean Darling, who has been doing color on the Army radio network for 40 years (I actually thought he was there for Army's first game in 1890) was honored at halftime for his Army career, which dates to doing play-by-play for the basketball team when the coach was someone named Mike Krzyzewski.

All due respect to Darling, the radio crew member who might have deserved the most kudos on the day was sideline reporter Tony Marino, who twice had to interview a less-than-happy (to put it mildly) Coach Jeff Monken, first at halftime and then after the final gun.

Monken was, to put it politely, not a happy camper.

"I don't think that was up to our standards," Monken said in his postgame press conference after he'd had a while to cool down. That's as much to do with me as any individual player. Good enough to win the game, not good enough against everyone else we play. We've got to do better."

There are several ways to look at Monken's displeasure after a 31-point victory. One is how far this program has come since he arrived six years ago: The year before Monken arrived, Army opened the season against Morgan State and was life-and-death until the last few minutes before a late touchdown led to a 28-12 win that was a lot closer than it sounded. A year later, in Monken's first season, there was a loss at Yale and the 2015 season began with a loss to Fordham.

The days of losing or struggling against FCS teams are long gone now and the fact that Army had two lost fumbles; seven penalties; a number of defensive breakdowns; played most of the game with a third-string quarterback and still won with ease, is proof of how far the program has come.

That, however, wasn't on Monken's mind when the first quarter ended with Morgan State leading, 14-7.

His team had already made enough mistakes to last until November, starting with a botched punt return after Morgan State had gone three-and-out to start the game; a missed coverage shortly after Army had taken a 7-0 lead that led to a 69-yard touchdown pass from Morgan State quarterback DeAndre Harris to Manasseh Bailey; a missed blocking assignment that got Laws clobbered from behind—causing him to fumble; and a 25-yard touchdown run one play later that gave the Bears a 14-7 lead.

All this in less than a quarter against a team that had been outscored 109-15 in its first two games.

That's why it wasn't surprising to see Monken surrounded by his team on the sideline, the players on one knee, Monken in full-throated coaching rant.

Most of what he said can't be repeated here on a family website, but he did threaten to put the scout team into the game if the players on the two-deep didn't wake up quickly. The pre-game hope had been that some of the scout teamers who dress for home games might see the field but that was supposed to be after Army had the game under control, not because the coach was at his wit's end.

As it turned out, Army outscored the Bears 45-7 in the game's final three quarters. Anderson, who had never taken a snap in a varsity game, came in for Laws after he took another brutal hit and had to come out. He appeared to be fine, standing on the sideline the rest of the game, but clearly Monken was taking no chances with him or with starter Kelvin Hopkins Jr.—who actually came in for one play after Anderson's helmet got knocked off—handed off and then headed back to the sidelines.

Morgan State running back Jabriel Johnson had gone 25-yards after the Laws fumble to give the Bears that 14-7 lead. That was Army's ninth turnover in four games. A year ago, the Black Knights had eight turnovers in 13 games.

Fortunately, after Monken's tirade, Army took control of the game. Sandon McCoy scored from 11-yards out on the first play of the second quarter to cap a 9-play 75-yard drive that tied the score at 14-14.

An Elijah Riley interception then set up a 35-yard David Cooper field goal that gave the Black Knights a 17-14 lead. Even then, Monken came away unhappy: Riley returned the interception to the Morgan State 31, but a false start penalty and six-yard loss on a pitch to Kell Walker (a play that included a holding penalty that was declined) resulted in Army settling for the field goal.

One more piece of good news: For the second straight season, Army seems to have found a solid kicker in a senior with no previous experience. Cooper's now two-for-two on field goals; the first one a 40-yarder against Texas-San Antonio a week ago. He had kicked one extra point prior to this season.

One possession later, with Morgan State putting just about everyone on its defense in the box, Brent Davis opened a series with a pass play: Anderson dropped and threw a perfect strike to a wide-open Hobbs, who ran the rest of the 80-yards un-touched. Midway through the second quarter it was 24-14 and everyone—well, almost everyone—was breathing a little easier.

But the offense spluttered twice in the final minutes of the half when given opportunities to stretch the lead. On the last possession, another penalty knocked the Black Knights out of the field goal range and Monken was spluttering when he did his halftime interviews with CBS's Tina Cervasio and Marino.

"I've never been more embarrassed as a coach," he said. "It starts with me, but that was unacceptable."

One can only imagine what he said in the locker room but, again, you can bet most of it wasn't printable here.

The Black Knights came out, took the kickoff and promptly drove 65-yards to a Slomka three-yard-run and a 31-14 lead. Army would have four possessions in the second half and would reach the end zone on all four—four different fullbacks scoring on short runs.

That said, it has been the defense that stood out in Army's first three games—giving up a total of 34 points in 12 regulation quarters. That's why it was surprising when the Bears were able to answer the Black Knights' first third quarter touchdown with a 15-play, 75-yard drive of their own that included three third down conversions and a fourth down conversion and was culminated by another Harris to Bailey hook-up, this one a 23-yard strike.

The defense would finish with four turnovers—three interceptions and a fumble recovery—but one suspects that defensive coordinator John Loose wasn't any happier with his guys than Monken was with his team as a whole.

In the end, it was a win, although not a pretty one or one that Monken, his coaches and his players are likely to dwell on for very long. The day was perhaps best summed up by Riley: "We're going to have to lock it in during the bye week. We're going to be hard on each other and not allow another game like this."

Those are the kind of words usually spoken after a loss, but that was pretty much the way everyone felt, even after a 31-point win.

More important is that Riley's right: Army can't afford any more games like this. The four September opponents Army faced have a combined record of 3-11. The four October opponents are currently 8-6.

Tulane, which comes to Michie after the bye week, is 3-1--including a win at Houston. Its only loss was 24-6 at Auburn. Then come a pair of road games—Western Kentucky and a Georgia State team that won at Tennessee. The Volunteers are struggling, but for a Sun Belt team to walk into Neyland Stadium and win is impressive. The month finishes with a home game against San Jose State—a team that was 1-11 a year ago but is now 2-1 after going to Arkansas and winning. The Razorbacks aren't Alabama or Georgia, but they are an SEC team.

Are all four games winnable? Absolutely. But, as Monken will no doubt point out to his players early and often the next couple weeks, they're also lose-able.

And, in case you forgot, November begins at Air Force. The time for sloppy play is over. At least it better be.

Army West Point Athletics

Feinstein's Findings: You Finished the Week 1-0

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Players Mentioned

Christian Anderson

David Cooper

Artice Hobbs IV

Kelvin Hopkins Jr.

Jabari Laws

Sandon McCoy

Elijah Riley

Connor Slomka

Kell Walker

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