Jeff Monken Press Conference: AutoZone Liberty Bowl

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point football head coach Jeff Monken met virtually with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Nowak Auditorium.

The Black Knights recently accepted a bid to the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., where they will take on West Virginia. The game is set for December 31 at 3 p.m. CT. It will be televised live on ESPN.

Army West Point Football Head Coach Jeff Monken
(Ref.: Opening statement)
"I am really excited to be sitting here as the Commander-in-Chief's champions. That is one of the great things about playing at Army, for these guys to have this opportunity to play for that trophy and the pride that comes with securing that trophy. I am just really happy for our players and excited for the opportunity to hopefully make a trip to the White House. Obviously, with things the way they are right now, we don't know if that will happen or not, but we're hoping. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for guys that do this. We have seniors that would have the chance to make their third trip there, they will be playing in their third bowl game, they just became the winningest class in program history, and so I am just really happy for them and proud of their efforts to lead this team. We had two really hard-fought battles. The one this past weekend was just a slugfest and to be able to come out with a victory makes me really proud of our players. The defense played really well. They had a great drive against us there in the second half to take the lead and when we needed the points most, our offense answered the bell and had a great drive and scored on fourth-and-one to win the football game. It was a great battle and very fitting for this trophy that all three teams fought so hard to try to win it.

We are thrilled for the opportunity to be in the Liberty Bowl. It is a great bowl game. We're playing an outstanding team and great program in West Virginia University and Neal Brown. He's a tremendous coach and they are a very talented football team. It's going to present a great challenge for us, but we are excited. We are excited to be in this game with the exposure that has come our way because of what happened with the Independence Bowl and being shut out there for a day. We are thrilled for this opportunity and we wish the best for the University of Tennessee. We had some issues with COVID and that is always a concern with every team, but just for people in general. We hope that everyone will be healthy and able to recover and not have any long-term effects from this virus. It did clear out an opportunity for us to play and we are honored and privileged to have the opportunity. We'll try to make the most of it."

(Ref.: On the performances of Jakobi Buchanan and Christian Anderson)
"Those two guys were the players of the game. We just couldn't decide between the two of them and we gave a game ball to each of them. Jakobi had to carry the load and was banged up in that series when we pulled him out and put Tyson Riley in there for a play or two, and he just soldiered on through. He really did a great job running the ball for us and played as well as he had all year without the ball. Christian started the season as the number one quarterback and then got hurt. He came back in the Tulane game and didn't have a great game in New Orleans, and I guess we essentially benched him and started another quarterback. When Tyhier (Tyler) got hurt, he was ready and came in and answered the call and really did a great job of leading our football team. I am really proud of both of those guys. Especially for Christian, given the situation he was in this year."

(Ref.: On the support the team has received from the college football world)
"I think a lot of people realize that a 9-2 team ought to be in a bowl game. It wouldn't have been different if it was anybody else. I think anybody that follows college football, if they saw a 9-2 team that didn't get in, they would be defending that team and say they should get an opportunity. We're humbled that so many people thought enough of our team that they wanted to get behind us. I'm sure too that folks are quick to support this Academy and this team because of what these guys stand for, what they're going to do for our nation, the commitment that they've made being here and for what they'll do to serve their country. We were just thrilled for the opportunity to get into this bowl game. Everybody making that push and saying these guys deserved to play probably just helped when a team wasn't able to play that the Liberty Bowl stepped up and said that we're going to take that team they deserve it. We're grateful for them."

(Ref.: On West Virginia)
"They are extremely athletic, a fast football team, very well-coached – just a very formidable opponent. They are really athletic on defense and they play in a great league. Just the teams you mentioned and the other teams that they play in that league, teams they've beaten in that league, it's just a really impressive football team. And as I said to open the press conference, this is going to be a tremendous challenge for us to have any opportunity to win the game. I hope our guys will play well enough to even be in position to do that. We're going to try and get a really good game plan together and get our guys to play really well in terms of their assignments and fundamentals and play really hard and hope that that'll be good enough."

(Ref.: On playing a Big 12 team)
"It's exciting for our players. They came here to play big time football against top-level opponents and I am glad that they are going to get the opportunity to play West Virginia. We've played a lot of good football teams this year already. We played an undefeated Cincinnati team who I think has garnered the respect of everyone in the college football world – certainly in the coaching, they are a tremendous football team. We just had two hard fought battles against our two biggest opponents and had to go to the wire to win the game. We had Tulane who's going to a bowl game, Georgia Southern who's going to a bowl game, UTSA is going to a bowl game – we've played some really good football teams and we're getting ready to play another one. Our guys came here to play that level of football and they're excited and has been the case since I've been here and will continue to be. We continue to play Power 5 teams and take on teams from the biggest conferences. I think that's important for Army Football, for the history of this program. We've been a part of the college football conversation since college football started and as anyone who looks back at the history can see, all of the big-name teams that Army has played. Army was a part of that conversation at the very highest level of college football for a long time. We want to remain relevant on the national scene with the biggest teams and the way to do that is to play some of those teams."

Army West Point Athletics

Jeff Monken Press Conference: AutoZone Liberty Bowl

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