The Army Black Knights hosted the Citadel Bulldogs yesterday on what had to be one of the most beautiful college football Saturdays in recent memory.  Despite the perfect weather, though, Head Coach Jeff Monken’s crew barely escaped, winning arguably the ugliest victory of his entire tenure.  

I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a disheartening victory.  Any victory at Army is a win against the odds, after all.  And yet, Saturday’s game left me feeling dispirited and angry.  The game itself was so hard to watch that it made me question my fandom and the passion with which I follow this team.  The whole thing from start to finish felt like a physically unhealthy experience.  It just wasn’t good…

I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.  

Philadelphia Eagles RT Brett Toth tweeted that Army’s line play made him “want to fight someone.”  One of my classmates texted to tell me at halftime to tell me that he thought he was going to vomit.

Has me pissed off. Seeing players stopping to watch what’s happening with the ball carrier makes me want to fight somebody

— Brett Toth (@bretttoth78) October 10, 2020

Better to learn from a win than a loss but that should be a gut check for a lot of people on the field that aren’t bought into the mentality

— Brett Toth (@bretttoth78) October 10, 2020

The Black Knights came into yesterday’s contest ranked second in the nation in rushing with 350.5 yards/game.  They stood 5th nationally in rushing efficiency, averaging an otherworldly 6.1 yards/carry.  More to the point, they were up against one of the very worst rushing defenses at any level of college football.  The Citadel came into yesterday’s contest allowing a whopping 206.3 yards/game on the ground and 5.9 yards/carry.  In 13 opponent trips to the red zone, the Bulldogs had given up 10 touchdowns!  The Citadel has been quite good in recent years, but they were mediocre at best last year, and in 2020, they’ve been something else entirely.

And yet here we are.  Coach Monken talked about some of the issues before the game, the most pressing of which was that Army’s staff and the Citadel’s staff have worked closely together since the start of his tenure.  Neither staff had any secrets.  Rather, these guys were allies and old friends.  The teams weren’t expecting to play each other, so they often worked together.  The upshot of that being that both teams not only run the triple-option, they run it in the same way.  

Essentially, Army and the Citadel share a single offensive playbook.

Thus, this was never going to be a game of tactics or strategy.  No one was getting fooled.  For once, this was going to be a game about Army winning one-on-one match-ups with superior size and athleticism.  Considering the success they’d had recently, both on the field and on the recruiting trail, this did not seem complicated.

And yet, the Citadel Bulldogs consistently won almost all of those one-on-one match-ups — mostly with decisive action.

Could have played TE at any power 5 school. Tore his ACL in his senior year of HS. Wound up at a really good Citadel team. Transferred to UGA in 94. Would have started at TE at UGA in 1995 but tore same knee in the Spring. There ya go. Now you know.

— Jeff Ganas (@JeffGanas) October 10, 2020

The worst was the Bulldogs’ nose tackle, who consistently whipped Army’s interior offensive line despite giving up 40 or more pounds to the Black Knights’ guards and center.  But the Bulldogs also threw over the top repeatedly against Army’s secondary, completing 2 passes to WR Raleigh Webb for 55 yards and drawing at least 2 penalties for pass interference that also moved the chains at critical moments.  The best rusher on the field was Citadel RB Keyonte Sessions, who averaged 7.5 yards/carry.  The best quarterback was Citadel QB Jaylan Adams, who went 3/4 passing and carried 14 times for 3.9 yards/carry.

Thankfully, the Black Knights had a few guys show up.  In particular, LB Arik Smith played his best game ever in a Black Knight uniform.  Smith had 11 tackles, 4 solo, including 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss.  He was Army’s best player by a mile on Saturday.  LB Jon Rhattigan flew around again like always as well, shutting down the option and chasing down plays, and DL Amadeo West added 7 tackles, 2 solo, plus a sack-and-a-half.  West seemed to be the one who pushed the Citadel out of field goal range every time they got into it.  

Collectively, those three guys had 36.1% of Army’s total stops on defense.  In general, it must be said that the defense played well enough to keep the Black Knights in this game.  That by itself gave the team a chance to win.

Arik Smith was a BEAST vs. The Citadel ??

◼️ 11 total tackles
◼️ 3 TFLs
◼️ 2 sacks#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/d1ohQ1m43n

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 10, 2020

TE Chris Cameron was arguably the only bright spot for Army on offense.  Cameron had one monster catch for 25 yards that kept an Army offensive drive alive at a crucial moment early in the second half, and he frequently worked as Army’s lead blocker in the running game — kind of an unheard of thing for a triple-option team with a massive and experienced O-Line.  Yearling SB Braheam Murphy also played reasonably well, carrying 3 times for 20 yards, and though plebe SB Tyrell Robinson was ineffective with 5 carries for 11 yards, it was his blocking that often sprung Murphy into open space.

But still.  Army finished with all of 153 yards rushing on 50 carries (3.1 yards/carry).  QB Jemel Jones went a miserable 4/10 passing with one touchdown but also 2 interceptions, and he carried 17 times for just 49 yards (2.9 yards/carry).  The Citadel sold out completely to stop Army from running up the midline, holding Army fullbacks to just 52 yards on 18 carries (2.9 yards/carry) with no touchdowns.  Jones seemed to adjust late in the game, finally giving ground up the middle, so he could bounce some runs outside or just running power off the Quarterback Follow, but even that was often hit-or-miss.  

The Black Knights ran the ball 50 times on Saturday.  Quarterbacks kept 24 of those; 18 went to the fullbacks.  The rest were mostly inside trap plays to slotbacks or Rocket Sweeps outside.  The inside traps seemed to catch the Citadel off-guard, but the sweeps mostly got blown up in the backfield.  If Army ran even one Speed Option Pitch play, I didn’t see it.  Mostly they stayed with the Fullback Dive or Quarterback Power off-tackle, and the Citadel was right there waiting for it, having beaten their blocks to the point of attack.  

Jones finds the opening and attacks the end zone. #GoArmypic.twitter.com/qKV8ctElSO

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 10, 2020

Since coming off the bench last week vs. Abilene Christian, Jemel Jones has accounted for 5️⃣ TDs.

3️⃣ on the ground and 2️⃣ through the air. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/RBLzdf5toh

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 10, 2020

The good news is that Army made a few big plays.  A handful of players bailed this team out in a handful of big spots.  Mostly, though, this game was hard to watch.  Among other things, Army punted 4 times, turned the ball over on downs once, and watched their quarterback hobble off the field hurt late in the 4th quarter.

But hey, it certainly could have been worse.

So.

Army travels to face the University of Texas at San Antonio next weekend.  UTSA was awful last year, but they are vastly improved in 2020, a fact that they proved rather eloquently yesterday by taking #15 BYU to the very brink.  The Roadrunners are currently 3-2, have averaged 209.3 yards/game on the ground, and have given up just 147.3 yards rushing/game to opposing offenses.  Folks, this team plays hard.  Until yesterday, I thought this was gonna be the game that would finally tell us what to expect from this Army Team overall.  I guess I still think that, but honestly, now I’m not nearly so optimistic.

Has Army played anybody?

This week, we’re gonna find out.  Is this the team that’s gonna lead the nation in rushing at the end of the year, having imposed its will on hapless defenses all over the country?  Or is this a team that’s looked good solely because they haven’t played anybody?  I want to believe, I really do, but I don’t want to feel like a maniac for doing it.  Army fans everywhere need to see that spark and aggression that is Army’s trademark, but even more than that, the team needs to prove to themselves who they are and who they can be.  The Black Knights need to show us their best selves this Saturday, but more than that, they need to be their best selves as we head into the heart of the season.

Take risks or lose chances.

See you on Saturday at the @Alamodome!#BirdsUp ? pic.twitter.com/ue2g8m7TZd

— UTSA Football ? (@UTSAFTBL) October 11, 2020

Go Army!  Beat UTSA!!!