The last two Army football games have either the been the very best or very worst of the 2020 season, depending on your perspective. If you are a red-blooded, meat-eating American and a member of the Army Football Faithful, one who enjoys watching the Pride and Dream prevail in close games against their service academy rivals to win the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, then Hell yeah, it was some of the best football ever. If, on the other hand, you’re one of those floopy, pass-happy football fans who likes crazy point totals, games with no defense, “basketball on grass,” and Communism — we’re looking at you PAC-12 — then hey, you might possibly be on the wrong website. 

It’s been a long time since the As For Football crew has dropped Superlatives, but after wins like those, our boys are due for some well-deserved irreverent recognition.

This week's Radio Rewind features the big plays down the stretch that led to a CIC ? Title.@LearfieldAudio#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/OAUtS5uY2V

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 21, 2020

 

OL Jordyn Law: CLEP out of Plebe Boxing

You get this on behalf of the whole Army offense and especially the offensive line. I don’t know when Army last started a plebe on the O-Line, but here you were, called to do it twice this year. That epitomizes the challenges we’ve had with personnel this season.  Churning through four quarterbacks gets headlines, as did rolling into Air Force with just two of our top four fullbacks, but the whole offense has been doing “next man up” all year long. 

Versus Air Force, you guys entered the game looking like Rocky in Round 14: “Cut me, Mick”. Then you took the field like Rocky, landing body blows on the Air Force defense all day. That 10-minute, 20-play drive in the first half may have only netted 3 points, but it set the stage for the game winning drive in the final minutes. 

I mean, 20 plays? That would put down Ivan Drago. 

So, you and Tyrell Robinson can kick your feet up in the day room during plebe boxing instead of being terrorized by DPE because you’ve landed more than enough punches for this particular year.

 

Arik Smith: General Leonard “Bring the Wood” Award

Your fellow linebacker Jon Rhattigan has gotten a lot of props this year, both from the AFF crew and from CBS Sports’ broadcast team. But the Air Force game was your time to bring the wood. With 5 tackles, 3 solo, and an interception to seal the game, you were hitting hard in this contest. 

With no Corps and maybe fifty West Point residents in the stands freezing their nards off, we could clearly hear the action on the field. I personally heard you blasting Zoomie running backs all day, be they lead blockers or guys toting the rock. 

You stuffed Air Force FB Brad Roberts for 1-yard gains twice, including a key 3rd-and-3 stop in the first quarter to force a missed field goal, along with a particularly loud solo stick on the Zoomies’ first drive of the second quarter as well. The guns looked good in the post-game press conference, but let’s make sure Satan has you hitting the weights hard in the offseason.  We want you bringing the wood even harder in 2021. 

 

Christian Anderson: PMI for Life

You’ve had tough year, my man. And let’s be real, the Tulane game was not your best look. But when new starting QB Tyhier Tyrell got knocked out, you stepped up in a big way. 

The offense never missed a beat. 

That last drive was a thing of beauty: 16 plays, 80 yards, and over 7 minutes time-of-possession. You looked cool as the back side of my pillow running the show. We were able to run a variety of plays with you at the helm on that last drive, including a quick pitch to Robinson on a double-option to the boundary and two gorgeous naked bootlegs, one of which was insanely clutch on 4th-and-4 from the Army 23. Man, a naked bootleg is supposed to work a couple times in a game, not a couple times in a drive. But you sold the fake, picked up some nice downfield blocking, and ran in the open field with easy aplomb to get the first down. 

Grab you some PMI for the rest of the year, and when you lay out on your rack for a nap, flip over that pillow after a while, so you can see how cool you played it.

 

Army Defensive Backs: First-to-Fire Gunnery Qualification

It’s cliché to say “If it flies, it dies,” but this ball-hawking performance was so impressive that we got an actual note from the Chief of Air Defense Artillery branch.  

The running joke is that defensive backs play in the backfield because they can’t catch well enough to play receiver. Well, at West Point we don’t throw to receivers, but our DB’s picked up more receptions from Air Force’s quarterback than the Army offense managed to pick up in the entire game. 

But it’s all good. 

Cam Jones had the head’s up pick in the Zoomies’ first drive courtesy of Cedric Cunningham’s tipped ball. I guess that’s why DB’s are always doing that stupid tip drill pregame. Then Jabari Moore comes through with a sweet over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone to crush the Zoomies’ chances, basically for the rest of the game. Jones and Cunningham also contributed 10 tackles in this contest, helping Army hold Air Force’s vaunted running attack to a meager 154 yards and forcing them to beat us through the air. 

Well played, gents. We know you’re still underclassmen, but expect to be hearing from ADA branch sometime soon. 

WE'RE BOWL BOUND‼️#GoARMY pic.twitter.com/QQZUEVoU3d

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 22, 2020

 

Coach Nate Woody: Number 2

As Austin Powers famously asked, “Who does Number Two work for?” 

Well, the Army defense is now the Number Two defense in the land — #2 in total defense and #2 in scoring defense — and they work for Coach Nate Woody. 

What Coach Woody has done is nothing short of incredible. It’s been crucial to this team’s success. We’ve had both highs and lows on offense this year, but the defense has kept us in every game. They were absolutely lights out versus Navy and Air Force, allowing an extremely stingy 7 points and 262 total rush yards.  That’s insane! 

For the first time in program history, we won 8 games in a single season at Michie Stadium, which opened in 1924. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/jGHrk4fnBl

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 21, 2020

 

Coach Jeff Monken: Reinstatement of Canonization

Last year was rough, but 2020 has put all those bad memories to rest. Saint Monken has accomplished some incredible things in his tenure at West Point. Chief among them, he’s instilled a culture and an expectation of winning in the Army Team, bringing an attitude of toughness and a sheer faith to West Point that had been missing for a long, long time. With yesterday’s bowl news, this year’s firstie class has the chance to be the first class in academy history to post three 10-win seasons.

As amazing as it seems, these are once again the glory days of Army Football. 

With the victory over Air Force, the Black Knights own the Commander in Chief’s trophy for the third time in four years and own victories over Navy four out of the last five years. We want to see Coach Monken stay until he has at least 100 victories, until we’ve reestablished the lead in the Army-Navy rivalry, and we own more CiC’s than Air Force. 

That might take some time, but we’ll wait. This has been a good ride.

Audible‼️ Excited to face @ArmyWP_Football on New Year’s Eve.#HailWV https://t.co/dIGyXwYMnU pic.twitter.com/ojk4uws7Ie

— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) December 22, 2020

 Go Army!  Beat West Virginia!!!