Army hosted the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks yesterday in a game that was both ridiculously exciting and a blowout by the end of the fourth quarter.  Two weeks in, and these Black Knights are not only undefeated, they actually have the best record in all of college football.

Despite the final score, most of this game — throughout the second quarter, certainly, and deep into the third — it felt like the outcome of this one could go either way.  Halftime statistics argued that Army was by far the better team, but Louisiana-Monroe brought decidedly bigger, more athletic players, and in many cases, it seemed like the Warhawks were hitting harder as well.  Even with all of that, however, Army’s final stat-line showed complete and utter dominance.  The Black Knights rushed for more than 400 yards by the end of this game, covering a 3+ touchdown spread, going +1 on total turnovers, and giving every quarterback on their roster a chance to take at least one live game snap.

That’s about as dominant as it gets, my friends.

 

Turning Points & Momentum

The Black Knights forced a three-and-out from ULM’s offense to start, ran a 15-play, 60-yard drive to score on their first possession, forced another three-and-out, scored again off a 4-play, 61-yard drive aided by a 15-yard personal foul for a horse collar tackle, and then forced a ULM missed field goal.  So far, so good.  This looked like another easy day at the office for the Army Football team.

However, QB Christian Anderson fumbled on the next series, and though the Black Knights’ defense forced yet another three-and-out, that miscue seemed to throw the offense out-of-rhythm.  They missed a fourth down conversion on another busted play during the next series, and that set up a Warhawk touchdown.  Despite Army’s dominant first quarter, the score was now 14-7.  Suddenly, we had a football game.  

Army punted with 49-seconds left after Anderson got decked in the backfield late in the second quarter.  Disaster!  But ULM mismanaged the clock on the ensuing possession, and that let yearling backup QB Jemel Jones hit plebe WR Isiah Alston on a miracle 29-yard pass.  K Landon Salyers hit the ensuing 40-yard field goal and — somehow — the Black Knights took a 10-point lead into halftime.  

Army was getting the ball to come out for the second half, but this was still very much anyone’s ball game.

Army punted, ULM punted, and then Army got into 3rd-and-8 on their own 35-yard line.  It seemed like the game had become a defensive stalemate.  ULM LB Traveion Webster was everywhere, crashing the Fullback Dive from the outside and chasing down plays from every possible angle.  This particular would-be punt, though, marked the game’s second turning point.  Head Coach Jeff Monken called a fake, and Army’s special teams unit executed it to perfection.  LB Wilson Catoe carried the direct snap 47 yards, all the way to the ULM 18-yard line.

We're not afraid to roll the ?#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/p9QoafbLam

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 12, 2020

At this point, Army’s offense made an adjustment, and it marked a different kind of turning point.  OC Brent Davis brought in FB Jakobi Buchanan to counter Webster’s physicality with an upgrade in sheer size and physical violence.  Buchanan ran Webster over on the very next play, and that took ULM’s defense out of the game.  Buchanan’s run went for 7 yards — right through the Warhawks’ best defensive playmaker — and the Black Knights scored two plays later on another violent run, this time from QB Christian Anderson.

That drive, the way it happened and the way it ended, broke ULM both physically and emotionally.  Army went up 24-7.  They would add two more touchdowns and 160 additional rushing yards over the course of the game’s final quarter-plus.

FIGHT ON TO VICTORY!

2 Weeks. 2 Wins. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/bIlPlwDWnC

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 12, 2020

 

Quick Thoughts

1. To be honest, I thought ULM played a really good game. They’ve barely practiced, had a bunch of players opt-out in the past week, and lost their defensive coordinator.  They still had a very real chance to win this game. They have a lot of talent, but this was a tough spot for their season-opener.

2. Army’s defense has been extraordinarily good so far this season.  Not just good, but great!  The Warhawks have a lot of talent on offense.  QB Colby Suits went 14/19 passing for 148 yards, and that’s terrific.  However, his team gained just 200 total yards and scored just once because, bottom line, they couldn’t keep any consistency on the offense. 

ULM couldn’t run the ball — at all.  RB Josh Johnson averaged just 3.2 yards/carry, and with that, the Warhawks went just 4/12 on third down.

3. FB Jakobi Buchanan is such a good fit for Army’s offense.  He finished with 11 carries for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns.  That’s 9.6 yards/carry!

Sophomore Jakobi Buchanan goes over 100 yards for the first time in his career with this 40-yard TD run #ArmyFootball pic.twitter.com/mrTii8Pdru

— Sal Interdonato (@salinterdonato) September 12, 2020

4. It didn’t seem like QB Christian Anderson played particularly well at times, but he also finished with 21 carries for 95 yards (4.5 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns.  That’s actually really good!

5. That said, Anderson is not a great passer.  I think we can admit that.  He went 0/4 with a missed touchdown throw to a wide open receiver in the second quarter.  Moreover, Anderson looked a little rattled early in the third quarter, especially after the muffed pitch.  Good for him for working through it.  His power run to score the touchdown after the fake punt absolutely broke whatever resistance ULM had remaining.

6. WR Isiah Alston’s catch!

Another look at the great catch by Isaiah Alston ???#GoArmy | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/0Rf2KnfpBP

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 12, 2020

7. MLB Jon Rhattigan has been absolutely outstanding this season.

8. Ditto for NT Nolan Cockrill.  Wow!  What a game!!!

9. Last but certainly not least, this was the best we’ve seen Army’s special teams look in a long, long time.  They damn-near blocked every punt, they covered kicks against electric return guys, they ran a fake punt perfectly, and they hit a 40-yard field goal.  Outstanding.

 

Looking Forward

You’ve probably heard by now that Army’s game against BYU has been postponed due to a “small” outbreak of the coronavirus coupled to the Cougars’ extensive contact-tracing program.  Officially, the game is merely postponed, but one look at the schedule makes it hard to see where they could squeeze in a make-up date.

Full list of 2-0 college football teams:
• Army pic.twitter.com/FQ77FgF7nn

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 12, 2020

This sucks a lot.  Not only because Army had every chance to beat BYU, but also because they will presumably lose out on the 3:00 pm national television game on CBS.  Army’s Athletic Department has said that they’re going to try to schedule a different opponent this week to cover the opening in the schedule, but as of this writing, that seems like a real long shot.  Maybe they pull it out; certainly that TV deal is worth a lot of money if they can find the right matchup.  Whoever comes in, though, will go up against a Black Knights team that’s outscored its opponents 79-7 through the last two weeks.  Not sure who’s gonna sign up for that, especially with less than a week’s notice.  

I hear the the Air Force isn’t doing anything, though, so who knows?

As of this writing, Army’s next game is a tough road contest at #20 Cincinnati.  Assuming we get there, that’s gonna be a Hell of a good game.

Go Army!  Beat Cincinnati!!!

Cover image  via West Point – The U.S. Military Academy on Flickr.