Army West Point Athletics
Photo by: Dustin Satloff
Football's Offensive Line Named Joe Moore Award Finalist
December 04, 2024 | Football
NEW YORK — The Foundation for Teamwork and the Joe Moore Award have unveiled the 2024 Finalists for college football's Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit and Army West Point's offensive line has been selected as one of three finalist.
WATCH -- https://x.com/CBSSportsCFB/status/1864121536866607282
The O-lines of #24 Army, #1 Oregon, and #2 Texas earned finalist spots after a rigorous evaluation of their physicality, execution, and impact on their teams' success.*
Since 2015, the Joe Moore Award has recognized and celebrated offensive lines that exemplify the ultimate blend of toughness, teamwork, effort, consistency, technique, and a relentless drive to dominate at the line of scrimmage. The Joe Moore Award extends its gratitude to its esteemed Voting Committee and to DonJoy® for their steadfast support of the award and its mission.
"This year, inconsistency was the theme across college football, and offensive lines were no exception," said Aaron Taylor, CBS college football analyst and co-founder of the Joe Moore Award. Taylor, who played guard at Notre Dame for the award's namesake, legendary coach Joe Moore, added: "That made our evaluations especially tough—even contentious at times—as we debated how to weigh consistency, inconsistency, fundamentals, technique, raw talent, level of competition, and offensive schemes. Ultimately, it sparked one of the most spirited discussions in Joe Moore Award history, forcing us - individually and collectively - to defend and define what truly sets the best apart."
"The semifinalists for The Joe Moore Award represent excellence in college football, embodying the spirit of resilience and the importance of teamwork in achieving shared goals," said Terry Ross, Group President of Enovis Prevention & Recovery. "DonJoy is honored to partner with The Joe Moore Award, providing cutting-edge technology that protects players, enabling them to perform at their peak. We are in this together, protecting the trenches."
Army (10-1)
WATCH -- https://x.com/CBSSportsCFB/status/1864121536866607282
The O-lines of #24 Army, #1 Oregon, and #2 Texas earned finalist spots after a rigorous evaluation of their physicality, execution, and impact on their teams' success.*
Since 2015, the Joe Moore Award has recognized and celebrated offensive lines that exemplify the ultimate blend of toughness, teamwork, effort, consistency, technique, and a relentless drive to dominate at the line of scrimmage. The Joe Moore Award extends its gratitude to its esteemed Voting Committee and to DonJoy® for their steadfast support of the award and its mission.
"This year, inconsistency was the theme across college football, and offensive lines were no exception," said Aaron Taylor, CBS college football analyst and co-founder of the Joe Moore Award. Taylor, who played guard at Notre Dame for the award's namesake, legendary coach Joe Moore, added: "That made our evaluations especially tough—even contentious at times—as we debated how to weigh consistency, inconsistency, fundamentals, technique, raw talent, level of competition, and offensive schemes. Ultimately, it sparked one of the most spirited discussions in Joe Moore Award history, forcing us - individually and collectively - to defend and define what truly sets the best apart."
"The semifinalists for The Joe Moore Award represent excellence in college football, embodying the spirit of resilience and the importance of teamwork in achieving shared goals," said Terry Ross, Group President of Enovis Prevention & Recovery. "DonJoy is honored to partner with The Joe Moore Award, providing cutting-edge technology that protects players, enabling them to perform at their peak. We are in this together, protecting the trenches."
Army (10-1)
- Army leads the nation in rush yards per game (312.56)
- Army has gained an average of 5.7 yards per rush (6th in FBS).
- Army averages 312.6 rush yds per game, leading the FBS by more than 53 yards per game.
- The Black Knights O-line paved the way for an incredible 2.88 yards before contact per rush (3rd in FBS).
- 50.2% of Army's rush yds come before contact (6th highest in FBS).
- Only 13% of runs see contact at or behind the line of scrimmage (lowest rate in FBS).
- The Black Knights have only allowed 6 sacks, tied for 2nd-fewest in FBS despite seeing the highest blitz rate on drop backs (64.8%).
- The Black Knights have used the same five starters in every game this season: LT Connor Finucane, LG Bill Katsigiannis, C Brady Small, RG Paolo Gennarelli, RT Lucas Scott.
- Army has only allowed 34 TFL on the season, fewest in the FBS despite having the 2nd highest number of rushing attempts (604).
- Alley Fight: Army's O-line led the way to an impressive 5.4 yds/rush against 8+ defenders in the box (2nd best in FBS).
What the committee is saying:
- "Opposite of some of the Power 5 blue bloods in physical make-up. Do not have the size and talent of their opponents. They work themselves to be their best, over years of hard work, and it came together beautifully for them this year.."
- "This group plays together and demonstrates what it means to be a unit that plays with one set of eyes. They allow the offense to function at a high level on a high percentage of plays. Everything goes through them"
- "They come off the ball vs base defenses and create space for runners thru attacking with leverage then leg drive-a lot of acceleration on contact. Each run shows a good understanding of how to maintain leverage between the defender and ball. Consistently lower and inside of the men they block."
- "They love to 'start the fight'. They consistently block players that are more talented than they are. Epitome of what toughness and great effort - at all times – looks like. They represent the essence of what this position and award are all about."
- "You can pick any play you want from any game and see what this award is about. They could easily win this award.
- "Watching the Notre Dame tape, I thought the O-line played and executed well with strong fundamentals, which gave them a chance against a superior opponent, despite being unable to adapt to a catch-up game. The main issue appeared to be the offense's inability to block the perimeter or pose a passing threat."
Players Mentioned
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