Wow, friends, what a game!  Cardiac cadets in full effect, but a win is win, and this one felt pretty damn good.

And that's a wrap ?

The best way to close out our final game at Michie Stadium!#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/HBuPbaGXOw

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 19, 2020

Feels great to be Champions! So proud of this incredible group of young men and fantastic senior class. Winningest class in Army history! ⁦@ArmyWP_Football⁩ #CIC #SingSecond #LastOfTheHard ?‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/u0KX5gVlEa

— Jeff Monken (@CoachJeffMonken) December 20, 2020

Army now holds the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the third time in four years, they’ve beaten Navy four out of the last five, and they’re headed to a bowl game with a $2.2M payout, ostensibly against a Power 5 opponent.

This has been a good day.

Thoughts on the Game

Heading into the game, I felt confident because Army’s defense had played really well against the run all season long.  When the Black Knights have struggled this season, it’s mostly been against precision passers working from the pocket.  Granted, Air Force tends to throw the ball more and better than either of the other service academies, but still, I didn’t think for an instant that they would throw it well enough to overcome Army’s rushing defense.  

Bottom line, I didn’t think there was any way in the world that the Zoomies would throw their way to a win.  I thought they’d have to run it.

For a while, though, it looked like they might just beat the Black Knights from the pocket after all.  Up 7-3 in the waning minutes of the 3rd quarter, the Zoomies had every chance to put the game away, based largely on the success of their second-half passing attack.  Army hadn’t given up any deep plays over the top, but as is their wont, they’d given plenty of stuff underneath and up the sidelines, including one maddeningly accurate completion on 3rd-and-18 deep in Air Force territory.  Despite everything, I honestly thought for a minute there that Air Force was gonna win with precision passing after all.

But, y’know, you live by the sword, you die by the sword.  

What concentration from Jabari Moore on the INT. #GoARMY #BEATairforce pic.twitter.com/6E1tfJhhfM

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 19, 2020

At the end of the day, Air Force got greedy down the field one too many times.  They threw deep when they probably just needed to pound the fullback, and Army CB Jabari Moore made one more play in the end zone than Air Force could match.  His interception gave Army’s offense a chance to finally push a drive all the way to the finish, and damn if that’s not exactly what they did.

This was an amazing game for a lot of reasons.  Not least because the Black Knights had more than 50 players unavailable due to various medical issues.  The coaching staff never confirmed exactly what the problems were, but it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the Black Knights had gotten hammered by positive coronavirus tests and contact tracing coming out of the Navy game.  The Mids struggled to contain the virus all season, and it seems that they left a heavy dose of COVID-19 as a parting gift alongside the 170-pound Commander-in-Chief’s trophy.

What can you do?  

When Air Force was in this situation a few weeks ago, Head Coach Jeff Monken famously said that he would’ve played with just plebes if he had to, and folks, that is almost what he had to do.  Your Army Black Knights took the field with less than half their normal complement of slotbacks and wide receivers and exactly half of their starting fullbacks.  When FB Sandon McCoy went down with an injury, it left Army almost solely dependent on yearling FB Jakobi Buchanan, who had no choice but to finish the game and score the game winning touchdown despite being at least slightly hobbled on that final climactic last drive.

These guys are warriors.  Not just because they fought and won on the fields of friendly strife, but because they had to do it undermanned against a determined and well-rested adversary.  

They never flinched, and the rest is history.

Maybe the best quote I’ve ever heard:

“When we send the Army into a fight, we don’t send them to ‘participate.’ We don’t send them to ‘try their hardest.’ We send them to win. And you did. Winning matters.”

– General James C. McConville

12/19/2020#GoArmy ???‍☠️

— Matt Drinkall (@DrinkallCoach) December 20, 2020

The Numbers Look Prettier Than the Final Score

It felt like Army struggled to run the ball in this game, but that’s not exactly what happened.  In fact, the Black Knights finished with a very respectable 290 yards rushing on 71 carries.  That works out to almost 4.1 yards/carry.  That’s almost always enough to give the Black Knights the win, and it was here, too, even if the game came down to the final drive.  In fact, the team finished 9/17 on 3rd downs and 2/3 on 4th downs, and that’s actually really good!  With those stats, it’s honestly amazing that the team had so much trouble punching the ball into the end zone.  Reality is that they spent long stretches working Air Force’s vaunted rushing defense pretty hard.  

Granted, Army was hurt by a turnover on what looked like a busted route in the backfield, but overall, the team’s offense moved the ball effectively, even if that’s not necessarily how it felt while we were watching the game.  But this was a good performance, especially against a service academy defense.  They were much better against Air Force, for example, than they were against the Citadel.  But then Air Force, for all their bottom-line defensive statistics, had been giving up something like 4 yards/carry to competent offenses through most of this season.  Playing in the Mountain West, they hadn’t necessarily seen a bunch of run-heavy teams, but the signs were there that Army might be able to move the ball.  They did, too, but they also had trouble sustaining drives until it really, really mattered.

QB Christian Anderson was outstanding in relief of Tyhier Tyler, who most certainly went out on an uncalled targeting penalty.  I’m not sure how you miss the linebacker leading with his helmet into Tyler’s face, but the officials did somehow, even on replay.  So Anderson came in, and he finished with 18 carries for 85 yards (4.7 yards/carry), and I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I could stand to see him on some more rollouts with run/pass options.  That play is right in his wheelhouse, and he is an excellent runner in space.  

Offensive hero Jakobi Buchanan finished with 86 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries (4.1 yards/carry), and man, he really, really came through when they needed him.  I got a little worried that my man was gonna wear down in the longest extended action of his career, but when they absolutely had to have a yard, he pounded forward and got that yard — and the touchdown to seal the game.

With the CIC on the line, we drove 80 yards on 16 plays, to lift that ?.#GoARMY pic.twitter.com/3b1hquKUt3

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 20, 2020

You’ll not be surprised to learn that LB John Rhattigan led the team in tackles with 7, including 4 solo.  S Cam Jones and FB Arik Smith were next with 5 each plus 1 interception each.  How’s that for a stat?  I thought Smith was arguably the player of the game for Army, though obviously the coaches will watch tape and come up with a more considered opinion.  In any event, Army’s defense did what they do, and the team won because those guys are heroes.

Army special teams was also very good — again.  P Zach Harding kicked 3 times for 109 yards with at least 2 dropped inside the 20.  Army kick returners returned 2 kickoffs for 13.5 yards apiece, and at least one of those came off a short kick that set up excellent starting field position. K Quinn Maretzki made his only field goal and extra point attempts.  By comparison, Air Force received 3 punts and 3 kickoffs, putting up exactly 0 return yards.  They also attempted 2 short field goals and pulled both.

Special teams matter in these games, and Army suddenly has a commanding advantage.  As much as anything we’ve seen this season, that is amazing!

From a fan’s perspective, it was satisfying to watch Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun decide to kick field goals twice on 4th-and-short and then miss, especially with his team averaging 5.9 yards/carry.  We’ll never know how different decisions might have changed the game, but my goodness, it’s so satisfying to see cowardice go unrewarded.  I honestly couldn’t believe he wasn’t willing to take a shot on 4th-and-short like that deep in plus territory.  That was crazy!

For the 3rd time in 4 years.

The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy will reside at West Point. #GoARMY | #BEATairforce | #BEATnavy pic.twitter.com/jaXgsJVRMR

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 19, 2020

The Independence Bowl

So.  Army now waits to find out who they’ll play in the Independence Bowl.  They were supposed to meet a Pac-12 team, but half of the Pac-12 has already decided to forgo bowl season, and it looks likely to throw bowl selections into chaos.  The good news is that the Independence Bowl has a comparatively high payout, so it’s unlikely that the Power 5 will willingly give that up.  The bad news, though, is that no one wants to play the triple-option with less than a week to prep.

As of this writing, ESPN is projecting Nebraska.  Meanwhile, 247 Sports still says Arizona State.  Meanwhile, Stadium’s Brett McMurphy says Colorado.  I guess we’ll see.

As it was said in the Firstie Club, “I’m not looking for an overly motivated team, but I want P5.”

Yes.  That’s it exactly.

When the adrenaline is pumping ??#GoARMY pic.twitter.com/WbWYwe2krj

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 20, 2020

Go Army!  Beat the Independence Bowl!!!