Army West Point Athletics
Jeff Monken Press Conference: West Virginia
December 29, 2020 | Football, Athletics
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 will take on West Virginia in the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., on December 31 at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live on ESPN. Â
Army West Point Football Head Coach Jeff Monken
(Ref.: Opening Statement)Â
"I'm excited that we're here. I'm excited that we are preparing for the bowl game and the opportunity to play in the post season. It's one of the great rewards of playing college football and having an outstanding season is being able to play in a bowl game, and particularly a game like the Liberty Bowl that has so much history and playing a tremendous opponent like West Virginia. Our players are excited, our staff is excited and I think everyone here at the Academy is just thrilled for the opportunity that we've been afforded to be able to apart of this game. Originally, obviously having secured an opportunity to play in the Independence Bowl and unfortunately that game wasn't able to be played but to be able to find our way into a major event like the Liberty Bowl is really a privilege for us. We got our team back and reconvened on the practice field yesterday. We obviously won't have a lot of time to prepare for this game – just again this afternoon and tomorrow before we travel to Memphis to play the game. Our guys are excited to be back and I think having had the opportunity to recharge the batteries a little bit after a really long semester and a long stretch from June 1st when we started our workouts and had guys back on campus. It's pretty unique to experience a season like this, which has been the case for everybody, but I think there's just a renewed spirit about this brotherhood after those guys had a chance to see some family and now be back here together. We're working really hard as a staff. It's a difficult opponent to prepare for - they are so talented and so well-coached. We recognize all of the challenges that are out there in front of us but we've got a great group of guys that work really hard. They play with a lot of pride and a lot of passion for these colors, playing for Army West Point and so we're going to try and make the most of this great opportunity to play on national TV and be a part of the bowl scene in 2020."
(Ref.: Looking back on 2020)
"2020 will be looked back upon as a crazy year with all the challenges that we've all experienced with our families and the restrictions on our way of life as we've enjoyed it. As we look back upon 2020 as a program, it's been a great season within a very tough year. I will recall this season fondly for many years to come. This is one of the most memorable seasons because of all we've had to go through to get here, but it's also one of the most memorable seasons because of what we've been able to accomplish together. This is the best team I've ever coached. It's the best team I've ever been a part of and I've been around some great groups and some very successful teams and some great teams with players I am very fond of. None more than this season and maybe a lot of it is because of all we have had to go through and all the challenges that were put in front of us and still be able to accomplish the things that we have. It is a great senior class. Regardless of what happens in the game on Thursday, and I hope we give ourselves a chance to win and fight our way to victory, but regardless of what happens, this has been a great senior class. They have led this team with great poise and with being demanding, but also very loving and servant-minded. They have taken on the epitome of what we imagine a West Point leader and West Point football player can be. They hold this brotherhood dearly. It has been a great season and I am so excited to play in such a big bowl game like the Liberty Bowl. We are very fortunate and we are looking forward to the opportunity."
(Ref.: on West Virginia)Â
"It starts with Neal Brown. He's an outstanding coach and he has a great staff. They do a tremendous job of coaching their guys. I followed Coach Brown when he was at Troy and they had so much success. They had some huge victories there and just the great job that they do coaching in such a difficult league like the Big 12. They've got a talented roster with really good players. I don't know where to start. They have a really good quarterback and a bunch of tremendous players that he tosses the ball around to and their running back is fantastic. He's one of the best running backs in the country in my opinion and in the opinions of a lot of other people. That starts with the offensive line. They have to protect the quarterback and give him the chance to throw to all of those terrific players and block for that running back. He can't get all those yards on his own. I am very impressed with their offense. Defensively they are as athletic and talented as any defense that we have faced all year. (Darius) Stills in the middle there is a great player and a First Team All-American. How special is it for him to be able to play with his brother there on the defensive line? They are very good up front and in their secondary. Look at the people they have to cover in their league and the talent that it takes to be able to play in a skill position in that conference. They are an outstanding defense. They have the stats to back it up. They are just a strong, stout defense, so it will be a challenge to run the ball against a defense that we know is very good at stopping the run. We don't know a lot about them. We don't play them every year and obviously for our offense to play them defensively is rolling the dice. We have to prepare for a lot of different things and see if they settle in to one thing or if they're doing a lot of different things to try to defend us. That makes it a particular challenge for us offensively because there is nothing we can get from film that would give us any indication of what we might see. The kicking game, that to me really indicates how athletic a football team is and how hard they're going to play. We watch them on special teams and they're not only very talented, but they're very well-coached. I watch the little things that they do in coaching their guys on covering kicks and blocking kicks and on fitting gaps and punt block schemes. They are very sound and very well-coached and very athletic. We are very impressed with their football team and it is going to be a tremendous challenge. We're just going to do our very best to position our team to hopefully be hanging around with a chance to win in the fourth quarter."
