Friends, your Army Black Knights rolled yesterday, establishing themselves as the — much! — better team within the game’s first five plays from scrimmage. UAB took the opening kickoff, but Army’s defense forced an immediate turnover on downs at the Blazers’ 34-yard-line. Black Knights QB Bryson Daily then broke the next play for a long touchdown run up the left sideline, and unbelievably, that all but ended the competitive part of yesterday’s contest.
Daily threw such a savage stiff arm on his first carry that video of it has since gone viral, earning more than 1.4 million views on Twitter over the course of the next eighteen hours.
This Army team is for real, and America now knows it.
This is a SAVAGE Stiff-Arm 😤 pic.twitter.com/PdzVClKFh2
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) October 12, 2024
Winning is never easy in college football. However, we said going into this game that UAB matched-up poorly with the Black Knights, and indeed, we then saw that exact thing down on the field. This Blazers team doesn’t tackle well, and they didn’t yesterday. Army ran all over them. On top of that, UAB backup QB Jalen Kitna spent most of yesterday off-target, under duress, late with his throws, and either behind his receivers or with his balls bouncing off the turf. He finished 25/39 passing (64.1%) for 242 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw 2 picks and took 3 sacks. UAB RB Lee Beebe Jr. also looked effective at times, but the Blazers didn’t do much to get him involved until the second half, and by that point, they’d gone down 34-3.
Army’s defense held Beebe and the rest of the Blazers offense to a grand total of 61 yards rushing on just 2.5 yards/carry. Though the Black Knights let UAB convert 5/13 third downs, Army forced two turnovers on downs, including one that came at the Army 3-yard-line as part of a dramatic goal line stand. These came in addition to S Casey Larkin’s two interceptions and the defense’s three forced punts.
Really, UAB didn’t have much of anything working yesterday on either side of the ball to the point that I personally got a bit of a surprise when the Black Knights starters came back out to start the second half. Maybe the coaching staff wanted to work the halftime adjustment process? Whatever the reason, the Black Knights scored off a 12-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half, and not only did that put the game completely out of reach, it was also the only drive of the day in which Army’s starters had to actually work their offense all the way down the field without hitting an explosive play.
Army’s offense finished with 413 yards rushing and 5 rushing touchdowns on 56 carries (7.4 yards/carry). Daily led the way with 12 carries for 136 yards (11.3 yards/carry) and 4 rushing touchdowns. He now ranks seventh nationally in total rushing yards, and his ultra-dark horse Heisman campaign looks like it might actually pick up a little momentum over the next few weeks. Oh by the way, Daily also completed 3 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. FB Kanye Udoh added 17 carries for 97 yards (5.7 yards/carry) and another touchdown. SBs Noah Short and Samari Howard combined for 9 carries for 79 yards (8.8 yards/carry). WR Casey Reynolds took 2 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, and he was maybe one long step away from making a third catch for another probable touchdown as the first half ended.
With all of that, the Black Knights remain the nation’s best rushing offense, posting an average 369.8 yards/game. Army also boasts the nation’s second-ranked scoring defense, having allowed just 9.8 points/game. They have the nation’s fourth-best rushing defense, having allowed just 78.3 rushing yards/game and just *2* rushing touchdowns in their six games this season. They’ve forced more fumbles — three — than they’ve allowed rushing touchdowns this year. On top of that, they own the nation’s longest winning streak. They’ve now won ten games in a row dating to last season. Moreover, we’ve not even reached the midpoint in October, and Army has already earned a bowl berth.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: these are the Glory Days for Army Football’s modern era. We should all enjoy it while we can.
Looking Forward
Army should face a much tougher test this weekend against the ECU Pirates (3-3, 1-1 in the AAC). Though the Pirates have played erratically at times this season, especially on offense, they boast ludicrous amounts of talent on both sides of the ball. They’ll also be coming off a bye.
ECU matches up very well against Army because their rushing defense is truly excellent. They give up just 148.5 rushing yards/game on 3.5 yards/carry. They do this despite their offense running a no-huddle hurry-up that puts that same defense on the field for an average of 36 minutes/game. In arguably their best defensive performance of the season, ECU held App. State’s excellent rushing attack to just 2.3 yards/carry despite spending fully 39 minutes on the field against the Mountaineers’ offense. The Pirates D spent almost the entire game on the field against a Mountaineer attack that stayed committed to the run, and still the Pirates absolutely stonewalled that rushing attack time and time again.
Can the Black Knights maintain their momentum against a talented team that’s fully prepared to beat them?
We’ll find out in a week. See you out there!
Go Army! Beat ECU!!!
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