Army West Point Athletics
Feinstein's Findings: The Young Guns Come Through
October 18, 2020 | Football
      The following is written with abject apologies to Charles Dickens.
            "It was the best of times; it might have been the worst of times. It was the age of Jeff Monken's wisdom; it was the age of foolish Texas-San Antonio penalties.
            If Dickens had been writing about Saturday's Army-Texas-San Antonio game instead of Paris and London in the 18th century, he might well have ended his description of Army's 28-16 victory by writing, "it is a far, far better thing that Cade Ballard and Tyhier Tyler have done than they had ever done before."
            What Ballard and Tyler did on Saturday in the Alamadome was lead the Black Knights to an unlikely but convincing victory. Ballard, a five-foot-9-inch 205 pound freshman had taken exactly zero snaps as a college football player coming into the game. Tyler, a sophomore, listed generously at 5-8 and 185 pounds (the generous part being the 5-8) had matched him in game experience.
            And yet, they were Army's quarterbacks against a team that had stayed in the game a week ago at 15th-ranked Brigham Young until the final minute before losing, 27-20.
            This game would have looked like a tough out if Jabari Laws—the starter against UTSA a year ago—Christian Anderson or Jemel Jones, the starters in Army's first five games this season, had been available.
            None was in San Antonio Saturday. Maurice Bellan, who had played well in one series late in the tooth-pull 14-9 win over Citadel a week ago, was on the sideline but Monken decided to go with the kids.
            Tyler rushed the ball for 95 yards on 19 carries, including a 37-yard sprint to the end zone. Ballard had the one and only Army pass completion of the day, but it was massive, a 53-yarder to Camden Harrison, who played for the first time all season and turned a good play into a great one after catching the ball at the UTSA 40 by sprinting down the sideline to the 10.
            A roughing-the-passer penalty on the play put the ball at the five and Ballard jumped up from the late hit and ran right on the next play and into the end zone.
            Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.
            How often do we see Monken GLOWING after a game that doesn't involve Air Force or Navy? Clearly—and justifiably--he was thrilled with this one.
            The victory, of course, was about more than the kid quarterbacks. It was about an offensive line that bounced back from last Saturday's struggles to help the offense rush for 305 yards (5.1 yards a carry as opposed to last week's 3.1 yards per attempt). Most notably, the fullbacks picked up a combined 165 yards on 27 carries, consistantly bulling up the middle for 4, 5 and 6 yards that led to first downs and clock-eating drives, notably one in the fourth quarter that didn't produce points but, for all intents and purposes, put the game to rest.
            It was also—as always—about the defense, which has been so good week in and week out all season. It gave up yards (383) all day but found ways to get stops when it absolutely had to get stops. UTSA starting quarterback Lowell Narcisse kept completing passes in front of Army's defensive backs but never got the ball deep, which explains why his team averaged just 4.8 yards per pass attempt—less than it averaged when it put the ball in the hands of running back Sincere McCormick (18 carries, 133 yards) who came into the game having rushed the ball for 569 yards—the most in the country.
            For some reason, the UTSA offensive coaches went long stretches without giving McCormick the ball, almost as if they'd forgotten he was there. That was to Army's benefit. So was the undisciplined play of the Roadrunners, who were whistled for nine penalties—several at key moments—for 85 yards. Army wasn't exactly perfect, called twice for pass interference en-route to five penalties for 51 yards, but that was plenty good enough.
            This was a game to be nervous about. UTSA was 4-8 a year ago, including a 31-13 loss to the Black Knights, but had a new coaching staff led by Jeff Traylor and THIRTY-TWO transfers, including Narcisse, who started his college career at LSU, transferred to a junior college and then landed at UTSA a year ago.
            Narcisse is tough to defend. He came off the bench in the BYU game and completed 17-of-20 passes for 229 yards and gave his team (now 3-3) a chance to win the game. A lefty, he is 6-foot-5, 230 pounds and he is big and strong and FAST. Throughout the first half he was able to avoid sacks in spite of the various blitz packages that defensive coordinator Nate Woody threw at him.
            Given that the game was in the hands of two quarterbacks who had never seen the field in a college football game, a good start for Army was important—especially after what Monken had called his team's 'inept,' offensive performance a week earlier.Â
            They got exactly that on their first possession. Backed up to their own 10-yard-line by a UTSA punt (after their opening drive was stalled by a holding call; the penalty proving to be a harbinger) Army's offense went like this: Tyrell Robinson for seven; Sandon McCoy for four; Jakobi Buchanan for four; Ballard for nine and Anthony Adkins for SIXTY-SIX.
            Adkins, the sophomore the coaches think is going to be a star, bounced off tacklers at the line of scrimmage, sprinted to the left and was gone, outrunning the UTSA defensive backs in a manner that a 6-1 255 pounds fullback isn't supposed to be able to do. He would finish with 101 yards on just eight carries.
            Just like that it was 7-0 and the start was exactly what the doctor—and the Army coaches—ordered.
            UTSA pieced together a 14-play drive—one that felt as if it lasted forever, perhaps because 12 of the plays were underneath passes that kept the drive alive but didn't really result in any substantial yardage. The drive was slowed by two false start penalties and the defense got a stop at the 33. Hunter Duplessis, UTSA's superb placekicker, came in and drilled a 50-yard field goal, his 20th in a row, dating to last season.
            Monken and offensive coordinator Brent Davis then switched things up, bringing Tyler in to play quarterback. Tyler's quicker than Ballard and he showed off that quickness during Army's 13-play 74-yard drive that pushed the score to 14-3. Tyler took turns running the ball with the fullbacks, picking up 34-yards on five carries. Buchanan, who finished with 41-yards on 10 carries, rumbled the last five yards for the touchdown.
            But UTSA answered with another 14-play drive, this time getting into the end zone with 11 seconds left in the half. Narcisse kept plays alive with his legs and found receiver Zakhari Franklin, who would finish with 12 catches for 132 yards, time and again. Franklin scored on a 1-yard-pass after two pass interference calls—the first one questionable, the second a flat-out bad call—moved the ball to the one.
            And so, it was 14-10 at halftime, the momentum seemingly with the home team. Except it was Army that scored first. After an exchange of punts, the Black Knights began doing their thing, pushing the ball from their own 30 to what should have been a third-and-three on their own 48 after a four-yard pickup by Tyler.
            But UTSA's Corey Mayfield Jr. decided it might be a good idea to jump on the pile of tacklers and Army blockers who were engaged in a rugby scrum after the whistle had blown. It was an obvious personal foul, even if CBS Sports Network's Corey Chavous somehow couldn't understand the call. "Nobody got hurt," he said, watching Mayfield arrive ridiculously late and make his dive onto the scrum as if it was a pile of autumn leaves.
            Actually, someone did get hurt—Mayfield's team--because the ball was moved to its 37-yard-line. The call easily could have been, "personal foul, 15 yards, for being flat out dumb."
            Two plays later, Tyler ran left, cut upfield into a huge hole and wasn't touched until he dove over the pylon to make it 21-10 with 4:04 left in the third.
            The Roadrunners answered with a touchdown, but it came at a price. On fourth-and-one from the Army 31, Narcisse took off on a quarterback-follow play through the right side. He picked up 20 yards, dragging a couple of tacklers. But he was clearly in pain when the play ended and he ended up being carted off the field with an air cast on his left leg. Given that he had two ACL injuries in high school, it was not a pretty sight. One of those who chased Narcisse as he left to shake his hand and wish him luck was Army superintendent Darryl Williams.
            Frank Harris, who had been the starter earlier in the season, came on for Narcisse and quickly found Franklin in the corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but the margin was 21-16 with 12:47 still left to play.
            Then came the sequence that decided the game. Two plays for the Black Knights produced a loss of three yards. But on the second play, Tyler's facemask was grabbed by Antonio Parks, moving the ball to the 37—first down.
            Tyler's helmet came off as Parks grabbed him. By rule, he didn't have to come out because of the penalty, but he did anyway because Monken and Davis had an idea. Army was 0-for-2 passing the ball at that point. Ballard came back and, on play action, found Harrison down the middle. Harrison, Army's leading receiver a year ago, hadn't played in the first five games. Wide open, he grabbed the ball and raced to the 10. Those 53 yards were the sum total of the Black Knights passing attack for the day.
            It was enough. Ballard scored from the five on the next play to make it 28-16.
            UTSA drove to a first-and-goal as the clock began to melt away, but AGAIN, the defense came up with a stop—two incompletions, a short pass to McCormick for no gain and Harris pulling the ball down and being pushed out-of-bounds on on fourth down three long yards shy of the goal line.
            Starting from there, Army ran the ball 12 times—never for more than seven yards—and picked up four first downs, including Buchanan easily picking up a fourth-and-one from the 23. By the time Tyler made the offense's only mistake of the day—a fumble near midfield--the clock was down to 3:23 and UTSA was out of time outs. One last stop on downs ended any chance for a miracle comeback.
            And so, the Black Knights are 5-1 after their most impressive win of the season. The 305 yards rushing representing a return to the norm; they made the plays on defense when they had to make them and could find real joy in the play of the kid quarterbacks.
            Mercer comes to Michie next Saturday for Army's third and last game against an FCS opponent. Then, unless Bob Beretta pulls a Halloween treat out of his scheduling bag-of-tricks, come a bye week and Air Force.
            November promises to be difficult. But for now, October has been the best of times. Sorry, Mr. Dickens.
            "It was the best of times; it might have been the worst of times. It was the age of Jeff Monken's wisdom; it was the age of foolish Texas-San Antonio penalties.
            If Dickens had been writing about Saturday's Army-Texas-San Antonio game instead of Paris and London in the 18th century, he might well have ended his description of Army's 28-16 victory by writing, "it is a far, far better thing that Cade Ballard and Tyhier Tyler have done than they had ever done before."
            What Ballard and Tyler did on Saturday in the Alamadome was lead the Black Knights to an unlikely but convincing victory. Ballard, a five-foot-9-inch 205 pound freshman had taken exactly zero snaps as a college football player coming into the game. Tyler, a sophomore, listed generously at 5-8 and 185 pounds (the generous part being the 5-8) had matched him in game experience.
            And yet, they were Army's quarterbacks against a team that had stayed in the game a week ago at 15th-ranked Brigham Young until the final minute before losing, 27-20.
            This game would have looked like a tough out if Jabari Laws—the starter against UTSA a year ago—Christian Anderson or Jemel Jones, the starters in Army's first five games this season, had been available.
            None was in San Antonio Saturday. Maurice Bellan, who had played well in one series late in the tooth-pull 14-9 win over Citadel a week ago, was on the sideline but Monken decided to go with the kids.
            Tyler rushed the ball for 95 yards on 19 carries, including a 37-yard sprint to the end zone. Ballard had the one and only Army pass completion of the day, but it was massive, a 53-yarder to Camden Harrison, who played for the first time all season and turned a good play into a great one after catching the ball at the UTSA 40 by sprinting down the sideline to the 10.
            A roughing-the-passer penalty on the play put the ball at the five and Ballard jumped up from the late hit and ran right on the next play and into the end zone.
            Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.
            How often do we see Monken GLOWING after a game that doesn't involve Air Force or Navy? Clearly—and justifiably--he was thrilled with this one.
            The victory, of course, was about more than the kid quarterbacks. It was about an offensive line that bounced back from last Saturday's struggles to help the offense rush for 305 yards (5.1 yards a carry as opposed to last week's 3.1 yards per attempt). Most notably, the fullbacks picked up a combined 165 yards on 27 carries, consistantly bulling up the middle for 4, 5 and 6 yards that led to first downs and clock-eating drives, notably one in the fourth quarter that didn't produce points but, for all intents and purposes, put the game to rest.
            It was also—as always—about the defense, which has been so good week in and week out all season. It gave up yards (383) all day but found ways to get stops when it absolutely had to get stops. UTSA starting quarterback Lowell Narcisse kept completing passes in front of Army's defensive backs but never got the ball deep, which explains why his team averaged just 4.8 yards per pass attempt—less than it averaged when it put the ball in the hands of running back Sincere McCormick (18 carries, 133 yards) who came into the game having rushed the ball for 569 yards—the most in the country.
            For some reason, the UTSA offensive coaches went long stretches without giving McCormick the ball, almost as if they'd forgotten he was there. That was to Army's benefit. So was the undisciplined play of the Roadrunners, who were whistled for nine penalties—several at key moments—for 85 yards. Army wasn't exactly perfect, called twice for pass interference en-route to five penalties for 51 yards, but that was plenty good enough.
            This was a game to be nervous about. UTSA was 4-8 a year ago, including a 31-13 loss to the Black Knights, but had a new coaching staff led by Jeff Traylor and THIRTY-TWO transfers, including Narcisse, who started his college career at LSU, transferred to a junior college and then landed at UTSA a year ago.
            Narcisse is tough to defend. He came off the bench in the BYU game and completed 17-of-20 passes for 229 yards and gave his team (now 3-3) a chance to win the game. A lefty, he is 6-foot-5, 230 pounds and he is big and strong and FAST. Throughout the first half he was able to avoid sacks in spite of the various blitz packages that defensive coordinator Nate Woody threw at him.
            Given that the game was in the hands of two quarterbacks who had never seen the field in a college football game, a good start for Army was important—especially after what Monken had called his team's 'inept,' offensive performance a week earlier.Â
            They got exactly that on their first possession. Backed up to their own 10-yard-line by a UTSA punt (after their opening drive was stalled by a holding call; the penalty proving to be a harbinger) Army's offense went like this: Tyrell Robinson for seven; Sandon McCoy for four; Jakobi Buchanan for four; Ballard for nine and Anthony Adkins for SIXTY-SIX.
            Adkins, the sophomore the coaches think is going to be a star, bounced off tacklers at the line of scrimmage, sprinted to the left and was gone, outrunning the UTSA defensive backs in a manner that a 6-1 255 pounds fullback isn't supposed to be able to do. He would finish with 101 yards on just eight carries.
            Just like that it was 7-0 and the start was exactly what the doctor—and the Army coaches—ordered.
            UTSA pieced together a 14-play drive—one that felt as if it lasted forever, perhaps because 12 of the plays were underneath passes that kept the drive alive but didn't really result in any substantial yardage. The drive was slowed by two false start penalties and the defense got a stop at the 33. Hunter Duplessis, UTSA's superb placekicker, came in and drilled a 50-yard field goal, his 20th in a row, dating to last season.
            Monken and offensive coordinator Brent Davis then switched things up, bringing Tyler in to play quarterback. Tyler's quicker than Ballard and he showed off that quickness during Army's 13-play 74-yard drive that pushed the score to 14-3. Tyler took turns running the ball with the fullbacks, picking up 34-yards on five carries. Buchanan, who finished with 41-yards on 10 carries, rumbled the last five yards for the touchdown.
            But UTSA answered with another 14-play drive, this time getting into the end zone with 11 seconds left in the half. Narcisse kept plays alive with his legs and found receiver Zakhari Franklin, who would finish with 12 catches for 132 yards, time and again. Franklin scored on a 1-yard-pass after two pass interference calls—the first one questionable, the second a flat-out bad call—moved the ball to the one.
            And so, it was 14-10 at halftime, the momentum seemingly with the home team. Except it was Army that scored first. After an exchange of punts, the Black Knights began doing their thing, pushing the ball from their own 30 to what should have been a third-and-three on their own 48 after a four-yard pickup by Tyler.
            But UTSA's Corey Mayfield Jr. decided it might be a good idea to jump on the pile of tacklers and Army blockers who were engaged in a rugby scrum after the whistle had blown. It was an obvious personal foul, even if CBS Sports Network's Corey Chavous somehow couldn't understand the call. "Nobody got hurt," he said, watching Mayfield arrive ridiculously late and make his dive onto the scrum as if it was a pile of autumn leaves.
            Actually, someone did get hurt—Mayfield's team--because the ball was moved to its 37-yard-line. The call easily could have been, "personal foul, 15 yards, for being flat out dumb."
            Two plays later, Tyler ran left, cut upfield into a huge hole and wasn't touched until he dove over the pylon to make it 21-10 with 4:04 left in the third.
            The Roadrunners answered with a touchdown, but it came at a price. On fourth-and-one from the Army 31, Narcisse took off on a quarterback-follow play through the right side. He picked up 20 yards, dragging a couple of tacklers. But he was clearly in pain when the play ended and he ended up being carted off the field with an air cast on his left leg. Given that he had two ACL injuries in high school, it was not a pretty sight. One of those who chased Narcisse as he left to shake his hand and wish him luck was Army superintendent Darryl Williams.
            Frank Harris, who had been the starter earlier in the season, came on for Narcisse and quickly found Franklin in the corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but the margin was 21-16 with 12:47 still left to play.
            Then came the sequence that decided the game. Two plays for the Black Knights produced a loss of three yards. But on the second play, Tyler's facemask was grabbed by Antonio Parks, moving the ball to the 37—first down.
            Tyler's helmet came off as Parks grabbed him. By rule, he didn't have to come out because of the penalty, but he did anyway because Monken and Davis had an idea. Army was 0-for-2 passing the ball at that point. Ballard came back and, on play action, found Harrison down the middle. Harrison, Army's leading receiver a year ago, hadn't played in the first five games. Wide open, he grabbed the ball and raced to the 10. Those 53 yards were the sum total of the Black Knights passing attack for the day.
            It was enough. Ballard scored from the five on the next play to make it 28-16.
            UTSA drove to a first-and-goal as the clock began to melt away, but AGAIN, the defense came up with a stop—two incompletions, a short pass to McCormick for no gain and Harris pulling the ball down and being pushed out-of-bounds on on fourth down three long yards shy of the goal line.
            Starting from there, Army ran the ball 12 times—never for more than seven yards—and picked up four first downs, including Buchanan easily picking up a fourth-and-one from the 23. By the time Tyler made the offense's only mistake of the day—a fumble near midfield--the clock was down to 3:23 and UTSA was out of time outs. One last stop on downs ended any chance for a miracle comeback.
            And so, the Black Knights are 5-1 after their most impressive win of the season. The 305 yards rushing representing a return to the norm; they made the plays on defense when they had to make them and could find real joy in the play of the kid quarterbacks.
            Mercer comes to Michie next Saturday for Army's third and last game against an FCS opponent. Then, unless Bob Beretta pulls a Halloween treat out of his scheduling bag-of-tricks, come a bye week and Air Force.
            November promises to be difficult. But for now, October has been the best of times. Sorry, Mr. Dickens.
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