FINAL SCORE: Army 43, Georgia State 10
Key stats:
• Army had 42:07 time of possession
• Army won the turnover battle 2-0
• Army had 258 yards rushing, 98 passing for a total of 356 yards to Georgia State’s 177
• 3rd down efficiency:10-16; 4th down efficiency:3-3
• Army was 3-4 passing with 2 touchdowns
1st Quarter
Army exerts their dominance early to take a 14-0 lead
Army came out of the gates hot on opening day, forcing a fumble on Georgia State’s first possession and drove 40 yards on 8 plays for a touchdown. It was a classic Army drive with all B-back and QB (Tyhier Tyler) runs. The drive was capped off with a 4-yard plunge on 3rd and goal by FB Tyson Riley.
After Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody’s Army defense forced a punt after one Georgia State first down, there were 2 punts in a row that Army muffed (their return team couldn’t get out of the way of the ball and it bounced off them). These punts could have potentially shifted momentum in favor of Georgia State, but the Panthers were called for holding penalties on both plays. The third time was a charm for Army as Georgia State finally got off a punt and Tyrell Robinson successfully fielded it and returned it to the Army 39.
Army went on another “soul crushing” classic 10-play, 61-yard drive to take the lead 14-0. The highlight of the drive for me was a 26-yard completion from Tyler to WR Sean Eckert on a 2nd and 10. Tyler dropped a dime to a wide-open Eckert to keep the drive alive. The drive was capped by a 4-yard “rocket toss” to Senior Slotback A.J. Howard on 3rd and goal from the 4. Howard appeared to run out of room on the right sideline but fought through multiple tackles to land just inside the pylon for six points.
2nd Quarter
Army extends their lead going into halftime after a magnificent Jabari Moore interception right before half
Army forced a 3-and-out to start the quarter after Georgia State produced another negative yardage drive. Head Coach Jeff Monken had made it clear that the Black Knights’ offense would utilize two quarterbacks today. As such, Christian Anderson then came in at QB to lead Army on another classic Army drive of 13 plays and 53 yards to extend their lead to 21-0.
After Army converted a 4th and 1 to keep the drive going, they capped the drive with another B-back plunge. This time it was Jakobi “fire the” Buchanan(s) with a 2-yard dive on 3rd and goal.
Georgia State countered with their first and only touchdown scoring drive of the day, a 10-play, 75-yard drive where they finally found some success with the zone running game behind star RB Destin Coates, who capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.
On the Black Knights’ subsequent possession, the offense bogged down for the first time all day and were forced to punt after picking up one first down. Zach Harding, Army’s potential All-American punter, then came on and did what he does best, pinning Georgia State on their own 7-yard line with a 52-yard punt. I was sitting on that end of the field and the punt was a work of art. On the first Georgia State play of the drive, with time winding down in the half, Jabari Moore made maybe the best defensive play of the day, when he jumped a route in the flat and picked off a Cornelious Brown pass and returned it to the 9-yard line to set up Anderson and the Black Knights offense with 1st and goal.
Army took all 4 plays and converted a 4th and goal from the 2 ½ yard line on a beautifully executed QB draw by Anderson from the shotgun on the last play of the half. Cole Talley’s PAT was blocked, but Army led by a commanding 27-7 margin at halftime and was receiving the second half kickoff.
Post-Game with Head Coach Jeff Monken
3rd Quarter
Army scores another touchdown and keeps Georgia State out of the end zone to basically salt the game away
Army received the second half kickoff, and after one first down, they were forced to punt. Harding banged another 60-yard bomb that rolled into the end zone and set Georgia State up at their own 20.
After one Panthers’ first down, the defense clamped down yet again and forced a punt. Georgia State began creeping their safeties up to the line of scrimmage to slow down Army’s running game, especially on the perimeter. Brent Davis saw an opportunity and exploited it on the first play of the drive. He sent one of Army’s fastest players, Slotback Tyrell Robinson right down the middle on a post pattern. Anderson threw a dime into a relatively tight window and hit the elusive and speedy Robinson in stride for a 40-yard touchdown. Army failed to convert a 2-point attempt and led 33-7 with 9:33 left in the 3rd quarter. At that point, the “feel” inside Center Parc stadium was that the game was out of reach.
Georgia State took the ensuing kickoff and mixed zone running plays with some nice short and intermediate passes for a 13-play, 60-yard drive to get into the red zone. However, Army’s defense “bowed up” and forced a 33-yard Noel Ruiz field goal to make the score 33-10.
4th Quarter
Army scoring barrage continues and all 4 QB’s see action to close out a dominant win
Army responded to Georgia State’s field goal with a 13-play, 64-yard drive of their own punctuated with a 22-yard Cole Talley field goal to make the score 36-10.
On Georgia State’s next possession, they continued to go in the wrong direction and Army forced a 3-and-out after a -6 yard drive. Jemel Jones came in at QB for the Black Knights and led an 8-play, 64-yard scoring drive that ate 5:25 of clock. Jones capped the drive with an impressive 32-yard play-action touchdown pass to a wide-open Slotback Braheam Murphy for Army’s second passing touchdown of the day.
After another 3-and-out by Georgia State, Jabari Laws came in to finish the game at QB for Army.
Highlights:
• The Black Knight faithful have been saying for a while that, while Army doesn’t need a Peyton Manning or Trevor Lawrence at QB, all they really need to keep defenses honest and open up the playbook is a QB who can hit an open receiver a few times per game.Army’s passing game worked to perfection in this one.There was only one errant throw by Christian Anderson.Anderson, Jones, and Tyler all showed the ability to make big throws to open receivers on key down-and-distance situations to score or keep drives going and keep defenses “honest.”
• Fullback Coach Mike Viti’s B-back stable is “as advertised.”All 4 B-backs looked great running and blocking.Tyson Riley and Anthony Adkins are both big and fast and are capable of breaking tackles and breaking off big runs.Buchanan is nearly unstoppable in short yardage/goal line; and while Barnard is the best blocker of the group on QB zone plays, he also had a really nice day running the ball.On the day, the B-backs had 33 carries for 129 yards for almost 4 yards/carry.That’s almost ideal for Brent Davis’s offensive game plan.
• Offensive Coordinator Brent Davis utilized a lot of motion; unbalanced line; and “heavy” packages with tight ends and multiple tackles to get some more “beef” in the middle and help the FB dive and QB zone and keeper plays.The motion also caused all sorts of problems for Georgia State on the first two drives as they couldn’t determine strong side of the formation until it was too late.For those who want to criticize Davis and his creativity, I thought he called a brilliant game.
• Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody’s defense that was #1 nationally in 2020 looks just as good or better this year.They gave up 10 points to a very fast, skilled offense with a solid dual-threat QB and a good running game.While the offense’s time of possession certainly helped the defense, the defense forcing multiple 3-and-outs and creating 2 turnovers also led to that time of possession differential.What was very impressive about the defensive effort is that Frosh ILB Brian Burton split plays with Sophomore Spencer Jones and acquitted himself quite well with 3 tackles (2 solo).
• It was a team effort on defense with most of the starters each getting 3-5 tackles.Maybe the most impressive effort on defense was from 6’7”, 265 lb. Junior OLB Andre Carter II.Carter had 3 sacks at key times throughout the game.Watching from the stadium, his wingspan is imposing at Dog OLB, and he is going to be a “problem” for a lot of offensive coordinators on Army’s schedule this year.
• Punter Zach Harding is a weapon.Both his punts were picture perfect and even though the second one rolled harmlessly into the Georgia State end zone, both flipped field position, and gave a huge advantage to Army’s defense.Harding is a special talent at punter and something I hope the Army faithful appreciate.
Next up for the Black Knights: Army hosts Western Kentucky in their home opener at Michie Stadium next Saturday, September 11th, at 11:30 AM Eastern time.
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