The Black Knights host the UTSA Roadrunners this Saturday in a game that may well determine who hosts the American Athletic Conference Championship provided Memphis can somehow get a win against Tulane on Thanksgiving night. Moreover, having dropped their first game of the season last week against Notre Dame, Army needs to bounce back as strongly as possible to ensure that the Irish don’t effectively beat them twice — once on the field and once via some kind of tough loss hangover.
We trust Head Coach Jeff Monken and company to have the team ready to play, but this is a tough spot coming off a very physical contest. The Black Knights will need their very best stuff this weekend to beat a team that has been excellent at times on both offense and defense in a series in which the home team has never come away victorious.
RT if your team has already clinched a spot in their Conference Championship game 💪🏆 pic.twitter.com/kuzJXlMjZk
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 26, 2024
The University of Texas at San Antonio
The UTSA Roadrunners come into Saturday’s game 6-5, 4-3 in the AAC, having won all six of their home games and having dropped all five of their road contests. This team has improved dramatically over the past month, but they’ve also played all of their last three games within the friendly confines of the Alamodome, so it’s a little tough to gauge how well they’ll travel this weekend. They might look like world-beaters — as they have throughout all of their last three games — but they might also sleepwalk off the bus. They’ve done both at various times this season.
At their best, UTSA can be one of the top teams in the entirety of the American Athletic Conference. At their worst, they’ve let formerly FCS Kennesaw State hang around into the fourth quarter in KSU’s first-ever FBS game and dropped a mind boggling road loss at Tulsa despite being up 35-7 at the half.
Your need to know for a holiday weekend clash at Michie Stadium! pic.twitter.com/c0K9HXBOS2
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 27, 2024
Offense
This UTSA offense does a lot of things well, so it’s difficult to say how Army’s defense can attack them to throw them off rhythm.
Sophomore QB Owen McCown won the full-time starter’s job over Eddie Lee Marburger about a third of the way into the season. McCown has gone 254/409 passing (62.1%) for 2963 yards with 23 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions and a whopping *25* sacks. He’s not the same kind of running threat we saw from Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard, but McCown remains quite a capable runner. He’s carried 76 times for 253 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, but that’s inclusive of sack yardage. Once we net out all those sacks, we see that McCown has actually carried for almost 8 yards/carry on legit Quarterback Runs.
RB Robert Henry leads this team in rushing with 130 carries for 706 yards (5.4 yards/carry) and 7 rushing touchdowns. He has also caught 21 balls for nearly 200 yards and another touchdown. Add in RB Brandon High Jr.’s 66 carries for 358 yards (also 5.4 yards/carry) plus another 5 rushing touchdowns, and we can see that this team runs the ball very well.
To stop UTSA, Army’s defense must stop the run first.
The Roadrunners also have a very good passing offense. Six different players have at least 20 catches and two, WRs Chris Carpenter and Devin McCuin, have 37 catches apiece. Add in possession receivers WR Willie McCoy and TE Houston Thomas, and we see that, yeah, this team also possesses a fully functioning, high-powered passing attack.
To win this weekend, Army’s defense will need to stop the run, put pressure on McCown while maintaining rush lane integrity, and avoid getting beat deep for explosive plays in the passing game. Doing all of that will be a tough task.
Congrats @CoachNateWoody 👏👏👏
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 26, 2024
Our DC was named to the list of nominees for the @BroylesAward, which honors the top assistant coach in the nation. pic.twitter.com/TFGsg9Rwm7
Defense
Unfortunately, Army’s offense also has a tough task this weekend. Maybe not quite as tough as they had against Notre Dame but still notably difficult. To start, UTSA’s D-Line is STOUT at the point of attack.
This defense is:
— Tied for #2 nationally in fourth down defense (29.2% conversions allowed)
— #7 in third down defense (29.3% conversions allowed)
— #9 rushing defense (100.5 rushing yards/game on 3.07 yards/carry)
— #23 Red Zone defense (10 touchdowns and 12 field goals on 30 opponent trips)
UTSA might not have the same kind of backside pursuit we saw from the Irish last weekend, but they might prove to be almost as difficult to move up front, and perimeter blocks will once again be hard to come by this weekend.
This could be a problem.
As Rob always says, we can tell that this D-Line gets after it because five of their top six tacklers are linebackers, led by LB Martavius French. French has 68 tackles, 43 solo, 3 passes defensed, and 1 sack. S Elliott Davison and LB Jamal Ligon come next, but we’ll highlight LB Jimmori Robinson. Robinson has just 40 total tackles this year, but the dude has put up *9.5* sacks and caused 2 forced fumbles. Wow.
Overall, this team has notched 36 sacks, 10 interceptions, and 15 forced fumbles with 9 fumble recoveries. That puts them at +3 on turnover margin (45th) despite their offense losing 7 fumbles and throwing 10 interceptions this season as well.
When this team loses, it’s usually because they turn the ball over. However, their defense has bailed them out more than a few times, and they are terrific against the run.
Headed up north #210TriangleOfToughness#LetsGo210 | #BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/SK6EluTXgq
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) November 26, 2024
Special Teams
PK Tate Sandell has a great leg. Sandell has gone 28/29 on extra points and 15/19 on field goals, but notably, all of his misses have come from 40+ yards out with 3 misses — but 2 makes! — from 50+ yards away. Bottom line, they’ll let this kid try it from a long way out, and he’s got a decent chance of hitting, even on 50_ yard kicks.
Surprisingly, P Caile Hogan punts a lot more than you might think. UTSA somehow punted 4 times against Temple, and Hogan averaged just 40 yards/kick in that game. He put just 1 kick inside the opposing 20 yard line.
That might be the least impressive stat line on this entire team.
.@CoachJeffMonken on what sets @ArmyWP_Football apart🏈
— Bowl Season (@BowlSeason) November 26, 2024
Full episode➡️ https://t.co/WjbR3gNzQD#collegefootball #CFB #armyfootball pic.twitter.com/hsz1Tfhj0d
Final Thoughts
This will be a tough game. UTSA has an excellent team, and Army got banged up last week playing against the Fighting Irish. In particular, the Black Knights will be down both their starting nose tackle and one of their starting defensive ends. That’s especially tough when facing a team that runs the ball as well as the Roadrunners do.
Against that, UTSA has also turned the ball over a good bit this season, and as we’ve noted, they’ve not played well — at all! — on the road. That matters even more than usual this week given that we’re expecting legitimately cold weather this weekend with plenty of wind. So these guys have to travel from west to east and from the comfort of a dome out into the frigid confines of Michie Stadium.
So both teams face serious challenges this weekend.
Inspired by the 101st Airborne Division, we will honor the relentless fighting force of the #ScreamingEagles on Dec. 14 #GoArmy x #BeatNavy pic.twitter.com/XpOVQNrHW3
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 18, 2024
Friends, Army has a lot to play for this weekend. Most especially, they do not want to head into the American Conference Championship and the Army-Navy Game off a home loss. Let’s get loud and help our team win.
Go Army! Beat UTSA!!!
Cover image via USMA Flickr.
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