Army Football’s home opener is less than two weeks away, and so far we’ve spent nearly the entire offseason talking about the team’s offense. But what about the defense?
To the extent that the Black Knights have garnered any respect whatsoever in preseason polls, that respect has mostly come on behalf of DC Nate Woody and what the Black Knights’ defense achieved last season. However, this season brings with it a whole new set of challenges and quite a few new faces, too.
Let’s get into it.
Overview
Army plays a blitzing 3-4 Defense similar in its base look to the NFL’s popular Big Nickel scheme. In its base look, the Black Knights play with three defensive linemen — a nose tackle and two defensive tackles — along the D-Line, two inside linebackers, a rush linebacker, a hybrid nickelback/safety that they call their “Apache,” two safeties, and two cornerbacks.
In the Triple-Option Preview, we discussed the offense in terms of basic tactical maneuvers. We described the Fullback Dive as a fixing attack and the Option Pitch as an enveloping attack. The same basic principles apply on defense. Army’s three-man defensive front serves as the defense’s fixing attack, seeking penetration but also holding blockers in place to enable the rush linebacker and/or a blitzing safety or inside linebacker the freedom of maneuver to either plug gaps and stop the run or to break free and get after the quarterback.
When the Black Knights get consistent penetration from their nose tackle, as they did in 2021 and 2022 with NT Nolan Cockrill, their defense wreaks havoc. A lot of times, though, the team struggles to manufacture an effective pass rush with just their defensive line, necessitating the kinds of attacking, blitz-heavy schemes which became commonplace first under former Army DC Jay Batemen and now under Woody. Just as they do on offense, the Black Knights’s defense also seeks to defeat superior individual athleticism with precise, disciplined team play.
At the end of the day, Army’s superpower isn’t its athleticism. It’s that this team plays a disciplined game correctly, over and over again.
We see this on both sides of the ball.
Alas, watching Army’s secondary play against the passing game can get a little maddening. On the back end, the Black Knights use a relentless bend-but-don’t-break scheme, keeping their cornerbacks way off the ball, so that they don’t get beat deep no matter what else happens. Their scheme seeks to stop the run and avoid big plays, but in order to do that, they will give up literally endless quick outs to the sidelines.
This works for two reasons. First, most college quarterbacks lack the sheer accuracy to drive the ball all the way down the field for a touchdown using just quick outs. NFL quarterbacks can do this, but most college players cannot. They can’t either because college quarterbacks lack the necessary accuracy to make a repetitive short passing game work or because their teams give up penalties or other negative yardage plays, and these negative plays break up the rhythm and therefore stop drives.
Regardless, once an opposing offense gets down into the red zone, its speed advantages on the outside tend to disappear, allowing Army’s secondary to play tighter, more disciplined coverage. This results in vastly improved red zone defense.
Friends, it’s not some accident that Army always fields one of college football’s best red zone defenses. Army has tough, talented players. What they don’t necessarily have are tall, fast players, especially on the outside. Given this reality, playing a stop-the-run, bend-but-don’t break scheme that tightens up in the red zone makes a ton of sense.
Weekend scrimmage highlights 🎥🏈 pic.twitter.com/ZcbEOg4MG8
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) August 19, 2024
Defensive Line
The Black Knights don’t have a lot of returning defensive production this season, but what they do have comes mostly on the D-Line. NTs Trey Sophia and Cody Winokour both return, with Winokour voted a team captain this year. 6’1”, 300+ lbs. NT Kody Harris-Miller has also emerged as a force this summer in camp. Add in fellow team captain DL Kyle Lewis, DL Dre Miller, and DL Jack Latore, and we see that this is the Black Knights’ most experienced defensive group.
Army likes to rotate a lot of D-Linemen, so all of these guys will see the field this year alongside several we’ve not noted. This is why Army returns experience at this group, and why that will most likely continue to be the case going forward.
Inside Linebackers
The Black Knights return cow ILB Kaleb Fortner. Last season, Fortner posted 68 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and 3.5 total tackles-for-loss plus one very timely forced fumble/fumble recovery against Navy. However, the Black Knights will need to find someone to pair with Fortner. Cow ILB Andon Thomas had the job as of this past week’s scrimmage, but I doubt we’ll know who’s actually won this spot before the opener.
Firstie Brett Gerena will also likely work into this mix. Gerena played in all 12 games last season, notching 10 tackles, half a sack, a forced fumble, and a blocked punt. We expect he’ll play quite a bit again this year as well.
We caught up with SB Samari Howard and ILB Adam Cash after this weekend’s scrimmage 🎤🎥🏈 pic.twitter.com/RFvc0Cwcrx
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) August 19, 2024
Outside Linebackers
Sal Interdonato reported that yearling LB Elo Modozie started during last week’s scrimmage. This will likely be Modozie’s first year as a full-time defensive starter, but he’s had an eventful career so far playing mostly on special teams. He put up 9 tackles as a plebe, including 1 sack, and he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. That’s a really good start and indicates high-level athleticism overall.
Cow OLB Eric Ford will probably also see some time. He posted 5 tackles last year, including 0.5 tackles-for-loss.
ICYMI: Our old friend @andrecarter2 coming off the edge, generating pressure and forcing an INT in the @Vikings preseason win over Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/wLpO6YCmz8
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) August 19, 2024
Apache
Again, Interdonato reported that firstie NB Chance Keith started at Apache during the team’s first scrimmage. Keith played in 11 games last season and in 10 in 2022. Last season, he posted 5 tackles.
Safety
Army returns two safeties with starting experience, firstie captain Max DiDomenico and cow Casey Larkin, though the team currently lists Larkin as a nickelback. DiDomenico had an outstanding 2023 campaign, posting 53 tackles, 1 tackle-for-loss, 2 interceptions, 3 passes defensed, and a forced fumble. Larkin posted 24 tackles in 2023 plus a pass defensed and half a tackle-for-loss.
Army will need to get good play from its safeties this year, especially early.
Cornerback
Even though they don’t return a lot of starters, the Black Knights have at least some experience almost everywhere on defense. However, they really don’t have very much returning production at cornerback. Cow Jabrill Williams returns with 12 games’ worth of playing experience over the last two years, but that came primarily on special teams. Williams recovered the blocked punt at Army-Navy in 2022 for the crucial, game-changing touchdown. He also blocked a punt and returned a different blocked punt for a touchdown both against Holy Cross in 2023.
Interdonato reported that CBs Donovan Platt and Jaydan Mayes started during the last scrimmage. Mayes didn’t see action last year, but he played well in 9 games as a plebe in 2022. Platt played in 11 games in 2022 and in 4 last year, logging 6 tackles and a tackle-for-loss.
With all of that said, if there’s one position where the Black Knights will need to develop some folks fast, it’s at cornerback. They’re not going to get through the season with just two or three corners, and they’ll need at least one that they trust one-on-one in tough situations.
The defense got theirs too on Saturday with a pair of INTs. pic.twitter.com/Wu4lvG63Tv
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) August 12, 2024
As with the offense, Army’s defense opens the season with both a lot of promise and with some legit burning questions, too. For better or worse, these guys are going to have to come together quickly as a group. However, if they can stop the run and avoid getting beaten deep, they will at least give themselves a chance in every game they play.
"I love Bryson Daily. He is the engine that drives this football team."@BeanieWells26 on Army QB Bryson Daily 🗣️ @ArmyWP_Football pic.twitter.com/wreP3RbWSp
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) August 20, 2024
Go Army! Beat Lehigh!!!
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