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Undefeated Army Heads West
To Face Tulsa Saturday
By John Chuhran
The question has been whispered quietly in the background since the first game of the year. It gets louder each week – how good is the Army Football team?
The undefeated Black Knights (5-0, 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference) will attempt to add more believers Saturday when they visit Oklahoma to play Tulsa (2-3, 0-1). Kickoff is set for 12 PM EDT with video coverage on ESPNU (subscription required) and radio coverage on the Army Sports Network (Varsity Sports App).
Coming off a 42-14 win over Temple, Army is now getting noticed nationally. In this week’s major college football polls, they earned two votes in the coach’s rankings and three votes in the Associated Press standings. The Black Knights lead the nation in average rushing yards per game (371.3) and rank second in time of possession (36:31). Averaging 444.3 total yards and 36.25 points per game, they have scored on 17 of 18 possessions inside the red zone (inside the 20 yard line), missing only when they took a knee to end the game in Philadelphia 10 days ago. The stingy Army defense has allowed an average of just 258.3 yards per game and held the opposition to an average of just 10.5 points per game. Army ended the 2023 season with three straight wins and now sits tied with Missouri for longest winning streak in the country, eight games.
Despite defeating Temple by 28 points, Army head coach Jeff Monken knows that his team could have played better.
“We might have won 42-14,” Monken said, “but we had some self-imposed blowups – we missed a read, we pitched the ball on the ground, and we batted the ball out of bounds. They got us in a bad situation. We had a third-and-three play that we jump offsides or had a false start on offense and we didn't even have a play called. I don't know where we were going. It's just silly things like that and it's our job as coaches to have those guys prepared to make good decisions, to be error free and not have penalties.
“Defensively, we had a play where we were lined up incorrectly. We got lined up late and that's our fault as a (coaching) staff. We're not getting a call in quickly enough. They were going fast and we were backwards on our call and we turned a tight end scott free, untouched. He ran down the field then we missed a tackle and they scored a touchdown. Those are things that we can't do.
“Whether it's the kicking game or offense or defense, there's a number of things that we've got to do better. Our third-down defense has to improve. We’ve got to be better on that down – that's the only down that really matters. When it gets to third down, you’ve got to be able to get them stopped and get them off the field. There are a lot of areas where we need to improve and that's why we practice, working on fundamentals in the kicking game and then offensively and defensively and then trying to put it together.”
While the final results so far have been impressive, Monken is trying to keep his team focused on the upcoming game instead of reading press clippings as his team prepares to face the Hurricane, which is coming off a 52-20 loss to North Texas last week.
“They've handled it (the win streak) with maturity,” Monken said. “I hope we'll continue being able to put the past behind us. I think that's important regardless of what the result is. They say Triumph is an impostor just as Tragedy is an impostor. It affects your attitude and our guys do a really good job internally with leadership. We’ve got some strong leaders in the senior class and in the locker room and they've handled it well and have remained grounded. Our guys recognize who they are and every week they recognize that we've got to play really well, together, and really hard.”
“We've got to execute the fundamentals. We can't make silly mistakes missing assignments and committing foolish penalties and things like that because the teams we face are far too athletic – big, physical, powerful, fast. Frankly, we're outmatched, so our guys have to play really well and execute well. Sometimes it's hard to look in the mirror and say, ‘well, you know I may not be as talented as the guy across from me.’ But that's where humility comes in. We have to realize there are good players and talented players everywhere. If we don't do the things that separate us from other people that are playing the game, then we're going to find ourselves on the short end of the stick. Our guys have handled it well. I hope they'll continue to do that.”
Monken is blunt about how Army has achieved its success.
“What we want to do is run the ball and control the clock and limit the possessions of the other team,” Monken said.” That's our goal – we aren’t secretive about that. If anybody that watches us play, that's what we do and that's what we have to remain as an offense, I think, to be who we are. That complements our defense, that complements the kind of team that we are. We need to play complementary football and that really is the three phases of the game working together, philosophically aligned. That's who we are. We want to run the ball and stop the (opposing) run. That's where it starts and ends.”
That doesn’t happen by simply saying the right things. Young men actually have to do the work to achieve results. For Army, which always chooses to receive the second half kickoff when it wins the coin toss, everything begins with a solid defense.
“I think the defense has played really solid,” Monken said, “from the standpoint of not giving up a lot of points and that's been key. The two plays I mentioned from the Temple game are disappointing because they're big plays. We've done a good job of keeping them out of the end zone, but those two big plays resulted in touchdowns. With the Bend-Don't-Break philosophy, we've had some teams get down there close and we've been able to keep them out of the end zone. I guess, really, all that matters is the points per possession, are we keeping them from scoring touchdowns? They've done a good job of that. Our guys are playing really hard. I think we've tackled better this year than we have in years past and that's contributed to the success. With the defensive line, we're playing a lot of guys there – there's seven, eight guys that are getting significant snaps and they're not playing so many snaps that they're getting fatigued. That's great to be able to rotate some guys in there – I think that’s the strength of that unit.
“There's a lot of guys that are able to take snaps in the secondary where we had the most questions (after) losing a couple seniors that had played so much football for us and having some guys that were inexperienced or had sat out a year ago. I've been pleased with that group. They've played well – they've tackled well. We gave up the long touchdown over our head in the secondary the other night and that's just something we've got to do a better job of positioning our players. Those guys have done a good job.
“The linebackers, Kalib Forner (21 tackles) and Brett Gerena (17, 1 sack, 1 interception) have played a good bit. Andon Thomas (team leading 22 tackles, 1 int.), who was hurt early a year ago, has been a real bright spot for us – he's played as well as anybody on the defense has and he's made a lot of tackles. Elo Modozi (10 tackles, 1 sack) is playing the outside linebacker position full-time now as a starter and he’s done a really nice job. Casey Larkin (9 tackles) is just playing really aggressive and at a high speed – not that he's got a rocket attached to his back or anything like that; he just plays really hard and really fast. Those guys have been pleasant surprises. There are others, too. (senior co-captain) Max DeDomenico (16 tackles, 1 int.) really holds everything together with the leadership that he brings. Chance Keith (9, 1 sack), who's a senior, hadn't played a lot of football before this year, but he has taken the role at that nickel (back) position and done a really good job.”
Monken is blunt about how Army has achieved its success. Having the top rushing team in the nation means that passing is not the key to an Army victory. Passing has only one possible positive result contrasted with four or five negative endings.
“You know, we're not throwing it all over the place,” Monken said. “I wouldn't exactly call us a passing juggernaut or anything like that. But (senior co-captain quarterback) Bryson (Daily 12-for-25 for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns) has done a good job of placing the ball where our guys have a chance to catch it. It's been great to see him have some confidence in the passing game and be able to deliver on some throws. Not all of them have been perfect throws, but we've completed some that have set us up for scores and have resulted in touchdowns themselves, so hopefully we can continue to do that when we need to and his accuracy will continue to improve.”
Top Army receivers have been Casey Reynolds (team leading 5 catches, 124 yards, 2 TDs), Cam Schurr (4, 51, 1) and Noah Short (4, 80, 1). But the running attack remains the focus, and that cannot succeed without the hidden heroes of the Army offense – the linemen. Daily (team leader in carries (82), yardage (492), and rushing touchdowns (8)), and the other top runners (Kanye Udoh (51 carries for 297 yards, 4 TDs), Noah Short (25 for 344, 2), Hayden Reed (13 for 71), Jake Rendina (17 for 69, 1), and Samari Howard (12 for 62)) could do nothing without a line that opened holes and gave Daily time to decide what play fits the opposing scheme.
“I hope they'll (the linemen) get better,” Monken said. “They'll need to and we'll need to play better this week. There's a lot of guys in that unit that should be playing their best football right now. Guys like Bill Katsigiannis, and Connor Finucane and Lucas Scott – all three senior starters up front. I think they're playing as good as they have since they've been here. Brady Small has been playing really well; obviously, he’s just a sophomore, but he's been playing well, he's a tough guy and plays really hard. Paolo Gennarelli is the newest guy to the group and he's played some really good snaps for us. Then there’s Will Jeffcoat, who's another veteran guy who's going to see more time just because he's practiced so well and played so well when he's gotten in games; and Jordyn Law, another senior who's played a good bit for us. That's a veteran group that we had a lot of faith in and they should be playing good. They've got a lot of experience.”
Experience should help against Tulsa. At the military service academies, players tend to stay for all four years at West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs. But in the new world of the player portal, many players change schools each year and it takes time for players to master new plays and coaches to see how newcomers fit into an existing nucleus of returnees.
“They do have a few guys that transferred – I think 15 transfer players from either other colleges or junior colleges included – so they've got some veteran players that have come into the program that have played college football. I tell our guys nobody's going to be intimidated when we come rolling into town. I mean, they’ve got guys on their team that have played in Power Five conferences. They just played Oklahoma State a couple weeks ago, they traveled to big stadiums and battled other teams and they’ve got good players and talented players. We have to execute at a really high level and overcome physically where we're mismatched. I go up and down the roster – guys I've watched on their film the last couple of weeks that are really good players – and you start scratching your head. ‘How are we going to get off of a block on this guy, how are we going to tackle him, how are we going to cover him?’
“We need to get better and get prepared for Tulsa. They’ve got an impressive team and some very talented players. I've known coach (Kevin) Wilson for a good while – I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. He certainly has an unbelievable resume, a tremendous offensive mind. They have a challenging football team – the weapons that they have, the scheme that they run both on offense and defense, and a well-coached football team.”
Tulsa is averaging 27.8 points and 416.8 total yards (187.2 rushing, 229.6 passing) per game. Key players to watch Saturday include quarterback Kirk Francis (90-for-154 for 980 yards, 6 TDs, 4 int.), receivers Kamdyn Benjamin (32 catches for 427 yards and 2 TDs), Lloyd Avant (10 for 40), Zion Steptoe (9 for 109), Braylin Presley (7 for 92), and Connor Vaughn (5 for 45, 3 TDs). Top Rushers are (46 carries for 218 yards and 3 TDs), Bill Jackson (34 for 207 with a team high 77 yards last week), Avant (43 for 168), Viron Ellison Jr. (16 for 113), and Cardell Williams (9 for 70, 2 TDs).
Defensively, the Hurricane gave up 618 total yards and five passing touchdowns last week against North Texas. Defenders of note include Dayne Hodge (30 tackles, 1 interception), Gavin Potter (29), Myles Jackson, and Zach Marcheselli (both 20 tackles and 1 forced fumble).
Interview with Army #60 Sr Connor Finucane.
To Face Tulsa Saturday
By John Chuhran
The question has been whispered quietly in the background since the first game of the year. It gets louder each week – how good is the Army Football team?
The undefeated Black Knights (5-0, 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference) will attempt to add more believers Saturday when they visit Oklahoma to play Tulsa (2-3, 0-1). Kickoff is set for 12 PM EDT with video coverage on ESPNU (subscription required) and radio coverage on the Army Sports Network (Varsity Sports App).
Coming off a 42-14 win over Temple, Army is now getting noticed nationally. In this week’s major college football polls, they earned two votes in the coach’s rankings and three votes in the Associated Press standings. The Black Knights lead the nation in average rushing yards per game (371.3) and rank second in time of possession (36:31). Averaging 444.3 total yards and 36.25 points per game, they have scored on 17 of 18 possessions inside the red zone (inside the 20 yard line), missing only when they took a knee to end the game in Philadelphia 10 days ago. The stingy Army defense has allowed an average of just 258.3 yards per game and held the opposition to an average of just 10.5 points per game. Army ended the 2023 season with three straight wins and now sits tied with Missouri for longest winning streak in the country, eight games.
Despite defeating Temple by 28 points, Army head coach Jeff Monken knows that his team could have played better.
“We might have won 42-14,” Monken said, “but we had some self-imposed blowups – we missed a read, we pitched the ball on the ground, and we batted the ball out of bounds. They got us in a bad situation. We had a third-and-three play that we jump offsides or had a false start on offense and we didn't even have a play called. I don't know where we were going. It's just silly things like that and it's our job as coaches to have those guys prepared to make good decisions, to be error free and not have penalties.
“Defensively, we had a play where we were lined up incorrectly. We got lined up late and that's our fault as a (coaching) staff. We're not getting a call in quickly enough. They were going fast and we were backwards on our call and we turned a tight end scott free, untouched. He ran down the field then we missed a tackle and they scored a touchdown. Those are things that we can't do.
“Whether it's the kicking game or offense or defense, there's a number of things that we've got to do better. Our third-down defense has to improve. We’ve got to be better on that down – that's the only down that really matters. When it gets to third down, you’ve got to be able to get them stopped and get them off the field. There are a lot of areas where we need to improve and that's why we practice, working on fundamentals in the kicking game and then offensively and defensively and then trying to put it together.”
While the final results so far have been impressive, Monken is trying to keep his team focused on the upcoming game instead of reading press clippings as his team prepares to face the Hurricane, which is coming off a 52-20 loss to North Texas last week.
“They've handled it (the win streak) with maturity,” Monken said. “I hope we'll continue being able to put the past behind us. I think that's important regardless of what the result is. They say Triumph is an impostor just as Tragedy is an impostor. It affects your attitude and our guys do a really good job internally with leadership. We’ve got some strong leaders in the senior class and in the locker room and they've handled it well and have remained grounded. Our guys recognize who they are and every week they recognize that we've got to play really well, together, and really hard.”
“We've got to execute the fundamentals. We can't make silly mistakes missing assignments and committing foolish penalties and things like that because the teams we face are far too athletic – big, physical, powerful, fast. Frankly, we're outmatched, so our guys have to play really well and execute well. Sometimes it's hard to look in the mirror and say, ‘well, you know I may not be as talented as the guy across from me.’ But that's where humility comes in. We have to realize there are good players and talented players everywhere. If we don't do the things that separate us from other people that are playing the game, then we're going to find ourselves on the short end of the stick. Our guys have handled it well. I hope they'll continue to do that.”
Monken is blunt about how Army has achieved its success.
“What we want to do is run the ball and control the clock and limit the possessions of the other team,” Monken said.” That's our goal – we aren’t secretive about that. If anybody that watches us play, that's what we do and that's what we have to remain as an offense, I think, to be who we are. That complements our defense, that complements the kind of team that we are. We need to play complementary football and that really is the three phases of the game working together, philosophically aligned. That's who we are. We want to run the ball and stop the (opposing) run. That's where it starts and ends.”
That doesn’t happen by simply saying the right things. Young men actually have to do the work to achieve results. For Army, which always chooses to receive the second half kickoff when it wins the coin toss, everything begins with a solid defense.
“I think the defense has played really solid,” Monken said, “from the standpoint of not giving up a lot of points and that's been key. The two plays I mentioned from the Temple game are disappointing because they're big plays. We've done a good job of keeping them out of the end zone, but those two big plays resulted in touchdowns. With the Bend-Don't-Break philosophy, we've had some teams get down there close and we've been able to keep them out of the end zone. I guess, really, all that matters is the points per possession, are we keeping them from scoring touchdowns? They've done a good job of that. Our guys are playing really hard. I think we've tackled better this year than we have in years past and that's contributed to the success. With the defensive line, we're playing a lot of guys there – there's seven, eight guys that are getting significant snaps and they're not playing so many snaps that they're getting fatigued. That's great to be able to rotate some guys in there – I think that’s the strength of that unit.
“There's a lot of guys that are able to take snaps in the secondary where we had the most questions (after) losing a couple seniors that had played so much football for us and having some guys that were inexperienced or had sat out a year ago. I've been pleased with that group. They've played well – they've tackled well. We gave up the long touchdown over our head in the secondary the other night and that's just something we've got to do a better job of positioning our players. Those guys have done a good job.
“The linebackers, Kalib Forner (21 tackles) and Brett Gerena (17, 1 sack, 1 interception) have played a good bit. Andon Thomas (team leading 22 tackles, 1 int.), who was hurt early a year ago, has been a real bright spot for us – he's played as well as anybody on the defense has and he's made a lot of tackles. Elo Modozi (10 tackles, 1 sack) is playing the outside linebacker position full-time now as a starter and he’s done a really nice job. Casey Larkin (9 tackles) is just playing really aggressive and at a high speed – not that he's got a rocket attached to his back or anything like that; he just plays really hard and really fast. Those guys have been pleasant surprises. There are others, too. (senior co-captain) Max DeDomenico (16 tackles, 1 int.) really holds everything together with the leadership that he brings. Chance Keith (9, 1 sack), who's a senior, hadn't played a lot of football before this year, but he has taken the role at that nickel (back) position and done a really good job.”
Monken is blunt about how Army has achieved its success. Having the top rushing team in the nation means that passing is not the key to an Army victory. Passing has only one possible positive result contrasted with four or five negative endings.
“You know, we're not throwing it all over the place,” Monken said. “I wouldn't exactly call us a passing juggernaut or anything like that. But (senior co-captain quarterback) Bryson (Daily 12-for-25 for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns) has done a good job of placing the ball where our guys have a chance to catch it. It's been great to see him have some confidence in the passing game and be able to deliver on some throws. Not all of them have been perfect throws, but we've completed some that have set us up for scores and have resulted in touchdowns themselves, so hopefully we can continue to do that when we need to and his accuracy will continue to improve.”
Top Army receivers have been Casey Reynolds (team leading 5 catches, 124 yards, 2 TDs), Cam Schurr (4, 51, 1) and Noah Short (4, 80, 1). But the running attack remains the focus, and that cannot succeed without the hidden heroes of the Army offense – the linemen. Daily (team leader in carries (82), yardage (492), and rushing touchdowns (8)), and the other top runners (Kanye Udoh (51 carries for 297 yards, 4 TDs), Noah Short (25 for 344, 2), Hayden Reed (13 for 71), Jake Rendina (17 for 69, 1), and Samari Howard (12 for 62)) could do nothing without a line that opened holes and gave Daily time to decide what play fits the opposing scheme.
“I hope they'll (the linemen) get better,” Monken said. “They'll need to and we'll need to play better this week. There's a lot of guys in that unit that should be playing their best football right now. Guys like Bill Katsigiannis, and Connor Finucane and Lucas Scott – all three senior starters up front. I think they're playing as good as they have since they've been here. Brady Small has been playing really well; obviously, he’s just a sophomore, but he's been playing well, he's a tough guy and plays really hard. Paolo Gennarelli is the newest guy to the group and he's played some really good snaps for us. Then there’s Will Jeffcoat, who's another veteran guy who's going to see more time just because he's practiced so well and played so well when he's gotten in games; and Jordyn Law, another senior who's played a good bit for us. That's a veteran group that we had a lot of faith in and they should be playing good. They've got a lot of experience.”
Experience should help against Tulsa. At the military service academies, players tend to stay for all four years at West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs. But in the new world of the player portal, many players change schools each year and it takes time for players to master new plays and coaches to see how newcomers fit into an existing nucleus of returnees.
“They do have a few guys that transferred – I think 15 transfer players from either other colleges or junior colleges included – so they've got some veteran players that have come into the program that have played college football. I tell our guys nobody's going to be intimidated when we come rolling into town. I mean, they’ve got guys on their team that have played in Power Five conferences. They just played Oklahoma State a couple weeks ago, they traveled to big stadiums and battled other teams and they’ve got good players and talented players. We have to execute at a really high level and overcome physically where we're mismatched. I go up and down the roster – guys I've watched on their film the last couple of weeks that are really good players – and you start scratching your head. ‘How are we going to get off of a block on this guy, how are we going to tackle him, how are we going to cover him?’
“We need to get better and get prepared for Tulsa. They’ve got an impressive team and some very talented players. I've known coach (Kevin) Wilson for a good while – I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. He certainly has an unbelievable resume, a tremendous offensive mind. They have a challenging football team – the weapons that they have, the scheme that they run both on offense and defense, and a well-coached football team.”
Tulsa is averaging 27.8 points and 416.8 total yards (187.2 rushing, 229.6 passing) per game. Key players to watch Saturday include quarterback Kirk Francis (90-for-154 for 980 yards, 6 TDs, 4 int.), receivers Kamdyn Benjamin (32 catches for 427 yards and 2 TDs), Lloyd Avant (10 for 40), Zion Steptoe (9 for 109), Braylin Presley (7 for 92), and Connor Vaughn (5 for 45, 3 TDs). Top Rushers are (46 carries for 218 yards and 3 TDs), Bill Jackson (34 for 207 with a team high 77 yards last week), Avant (43 for 168), Viron Ellison Jr. (16 for 113), and Cardell Williams (9 for 70, 2 TDs).
Defensively, the Hurricane gave up 618 total yards and five passing touchdowns last week against North Texas. Defenders of note include Dayne Hodge (30 tackles, 1 interception), Gavin Potter (29), Myles Jackson, and Zach Marcheselli (both 20 tackles and 1 forced fumble).
Interview with Army #60 Sr Connor Finucane.
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