I put in 3100 yards swimming yesterday morning. That always helps cool me out a bit before Army games, but also, my buddy Andy, captain of the Army Swim Team 1994-95, wants the team to do a cancer charity race down in Texas next year. I called the team up for a race in Connecticut this past year, and so I definitely have to support Andy in Texas. Which means I gotta get back in the water a few months ahead of schedule.
I mention it for two reasons. First, I am undoubtedly going to hit you guys up for donations in a few months. Also: it seems like Army Football plays a little better when I put in at least 3000 yards before game time. Or maybe it’s just better for my personal psychology.
Definitely, it’s one of those two.
Army beat Eastern Michigan yesterday, and though the game a bit more exciting through the third quarter than it maybe needed to be, it’s hard to argue with the final results. Army beat a good team by two touchdowns on the road, and oh by the way, Eastern Michigan absolutely had to have that victory to ensure bowl eligibility. The Eagles are now 4-5 heading into crunch time. That’s not where they wanted to be, especially after missing a bowl by about a foot via failed two-point conversion at Michie Stadium in 2017.
My initial thoughts were as follows:
I. What a difference QB Kelvin Hopkins makes to this offense! He went 7/8 passing for 126 yards with 2 touchdowns. EMU stacked the box inside against the Fullback Dive about a 1000% more successfully than I thought they would, especially down in the red zone, such that I’m not sure Army wins this game with Cam Thomas under center. I don’t want to take anything away from Thomas’s performance last week, but Hopkins was masterful. 105 yards rushing on 23 carries (4.6 yards/carry) and 7/8 throwing for almost 16 yards/completion plus two TDs.
That is outstanding.
With two passing TDs today, Kelvin Hopkins is the first Army QB to throw for a touchdown in three-straight games since Carson Williams in 2007. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/Tvh6nan3sH
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 27, 2018
II. The left side of Army’s O-Line absolutely mauled EMU’s defense through the first half yesterday–and throughout the game, really. It can be hard to tell on TV, but it looked like most of the fullback yardage came between C Bryce Holland and Army’s left guard (Ourlads.com says that’s man-mountain Jaxon Deaton), especially early.
Alas, you can’t run every play to the left, and it didn’t look like Army was getting nearly as much push on the right. I kept waiting for Army’s offense to go to the Rocket Sweep when EMU started really crashing the middle in the second half, but they used Hopkins’s arm instead. That absolutely worked. They also ran quite a few Quarterback Follow plays late in the 4th quarter, and those worked, too–eventually.
III. SB Jordan Asberry returns!
Actually, I’m not sure that Asberry ever went anywhere, but he’d found himself more in John Trainor’s former role as the “blocking slotback” for most this season. Yesterday he had 7 carries for 15 yards (2.1 yards/carry) and more importantly, 2 receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. He hadn’t been getting those carries on the Sweep of late. He looked good yesterday, though, and he’s got really good hands.
Wiiiiiiiide open. pic.twitter.com/wGgqUiXfdF
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2018
End zone, meet Jordan Asberry. pic.twitter.com/lgwnIJJldn
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2018
I found myself wondering where SB Kell Walker was. Walker had just 3 carries for 8 yards (2.7 yards/carry), and I can’t remember any of them. I hope Walker’s not nicked with Air Force coming to town.
IV. It’s good to see FB Andy Davidson getting some carries. Not sure where FB Calen Holt has been, but Davidson carried 13 times yesterday for 45 yards (3.5 yards/carry). He never quite broke one, but he’s very quick to the hole, and I thought he played well after having had a relatively quiet season so far.
Woolfolk also played well, of course. He had one ugly run where he tried to bounce it outside at the goal line, and that didn’t work. Overall, however, he took 24 carries for 89 yards (3.7 yards/carry). As is often the case, he seemed to get his toughest yards when his team needed him most.
That’s why he’s a team captain.
Lookout! There goes Darnell Woolfolk again. @ArmyWP_Football gets another score for good measure. pic.twitter.com/Bl0lMGZ3YV
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2018
V. I thought EMU’s defense did a really good job. They got smoked a bit in the first half, but they made some adjustments at halftime, and Army struggled afterwards. The Black Knights’ final stat-line was 73 carries for 289 yards (4.0 yards/carry), which is not bad by any definition of the word, but given the way the first half unfolded, I thought the Eagles were gonna get absolutely worked after the break. That’s not at all what happened.
VI. Army defense is so good. I know they gave up a couple of quick drives through the air, but look… Not many college offenses are good enough to drive the field using short passing plays. Sure, NFL guys like Drew Brees can do it, but in college, guys with that level of talent are not common at all. So rushing defense becomes a very important stat in college football. Really, at the college level you either need to be able to run the ball, or you need to get a lot of explosive plays. Otherwise, college teams don’t win much.
We’ve all seen that, right?
EMU rushed 11 times for a grand total of 34 yards with a long by QB Tyler Wiegers of 17 yards that occurred almost in garbage time. The Eagles’ next best rusher was RB Shaq Vann, who had all of 3 carries for just 7 yards. Bottom line, EMU’s running game had next to no impact whatsoever.
A perfect pass.
It's back-to-back touchdowns for @EMUFB and we've got a game. pic.twitter.com/M0dl3aZ0oR
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2018
Wiegers himself wound up 19/29 passing (65.5%) for 201 yards and a touchdown. That is a terrific stat line. I mean, it is truly excellent. However, it wasn’t close to enough to actually win without a supporting ground attack.
VII. K John Abercrombie makes such a difference for this Army team. Could they have won without going 3/3 on short field goals in the first half? I don’t think so.
Of course, it’s better to score touchdowns, but the other team gets a say. Or, as we used to say back in 4-7 Cav, “The enemy is not stupid.” EMU’s goal line defense has been very good all season, and they were good again yesterday. So Army needed to kick a few times. They did that, and it made a HUGE impact.
VIII. While we’re talking about kicking, this was not Punter Nick Schrage’s best game. He had 2 punts for a grand total of 40 yards. One snap was high, and although he didn’t field it clean, it was impressive that he still got the kick off. His other punt was just shanked. It happens. Giving a struggling offense a short field is never a good thing. Looking forward to seeing those 67 yard punts again!
Hey, still got the punt off. pic.twitter.com/0Ef2adGWKD
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 27, 2018
IX. Army has struggled in the 3rd quarter a couple of times this season. Last week’s struggles in the 4th were kind of an aberration, but struggling in the 3rd has become a regular occurence. We saw it against Hawaii, Liberty, Oklahoma, and now EMU. Even with almost 46 minutes time-of-possession, they still let EMU hang around a long, long time.
X. Army went 10/19 on 3rd down and 4/4 on 4th down. By comparison, EMU went 1/7 on 3rd down, and 1/2 on 4th down. More than any other factor, this is why the Black Knights are winning.
Via ESPN. It felt closer than it was.
XI. Five different receivers caught passes for the Black Knights yesterday. These included TE Quinten Parker and WR Kjetil Cline. It’s good to see Cline getting involved. He’s a former 3-star recruit who probably should be catching more balls given the way the season has unfolded.
XII. Last note: I ran two televisions yesterday, and it was so worth it because Texas Tech at Iowa State was also a madhouse, as was UMass at UConn. UMass at UConn didn’t nearly go Over (per my prediction), but Iowa State and Army both covered, so… you’re welcome?
https://twitter.com/Dan_T_Head/status/1056302606287544321
No really, who out there put money on Army (+2) when I told you to?
.@ArmyWP_Football is bowl eligible for the third consecutive season after knocking off Eastern Michigan today to improve to 6-2!
We are thankful to have @CoachJeffMonken returning to the program LIVE NEXT to discuss this feat with @richackerman.
LISTEN https://t.co/zgLVDsRnve pic.twitter.com/yY6BTZcTvs
— CBS Sports Radio (@CBSSportsRadio) October 27, 2018
Up next: Air Force Week!
Army Football P(Wins) vs. their schedule: After Week 9
The Zoomies’ offense has been explosive but inconsistent, and their rushing defense is totally legit. We’ll talk more about this as the week progresses, but I expect this won’t be an easy game. Hopkins is absolutely going to have to throw for Army to retain the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
Go Army! Beat Air Force!!!
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