Key Stats:
• Neither team scored any points off turnovers.
• Air Force held Army to 145 total yards on offense, including a dismal 78 yards rushing on 38 carries.
• Air Force ran 66 plays to Army’s 49 and won time of possession 34:49 to 25:11.
• Despite a strong effort by Army’s defense to keep the Black Knights close, Air Force still managed to rush for 226 yards on 53 carries. The 4.3 yards/carry average is a credit to the Army defense, but the 226 total yards is still a good performance against an academy rival.
• Jemel Jones was Army’s leading rusher with 37 yards on 21 carries. As Head Coach Jeff Monken said in his post-game press conference, “When we can’t run the ball effectively, we struggle to win.” After Army’s touchdown scoring drive in the 2nd quarter, Jones ran for 3 yards the rest of the game.
• Army’s top tacklers were safeties Quendrelin Hammonds and Marquel Broughton with 10 total tackles each.
• Andre Carter had two key tackles-for-loss in goal-line defense.
• Air Force fullback Brad Roberts, while held in check most of the day, still managed to be the game’s leading rusher with 135 yards on 33 carries for a 4.1 average.
Game Summary:
• This was a game that was dominated by both defenses and a lot of 3-and-outs on offense by both teams.Both teams were about even in 3rd and 4th down conversions and turnovers.
• The difference in this one was two field goals from Air Force, as they had a little more success with their running game in the 2nd half than Army did. Army Head Coach Jeff Monken said, “I didn’t think we could run the ball worse than we did last year (in this game), but we did.”When Army runs like they did in the 2nd half, they aren’t going to beat any good teams.
• Air Force drew first blood with a Matthew Dapore 35-yard field goal after Army’s defense held tough following a failed 4th and 1 conversion by the Army offense on their own 37-yard line.
• After an Army 3-and-out and a punt, Air Force was stopped at the Army 33-yard line where Dapore missed a 50-yard field goal.
• Army’s lone scoring drive was a 2nd quarter, 6-play, 68-yard, 3:31 drive that ended with a Jemel Jones 3-yard QB draw for a touchdown right up the middle.
• Following Jones’ touchdown to put Army up 7-3, safety Marquel Broughton picked off a Haziq Daniels pass at the Army 42-yard line to give the offense great field position and a chance to increase their lead. Air Force’s defense kept Army off the scoreboard. In a close game like this where points are at a premium, points off turnovers and capitalizing on turnovers are essential.
• Air Force’s defense dominated Army’s offense and completely shut them down in the 2nd half. Army’s offensive possessions in the 2nd half were 3 3-and-outs; a 6-and-out; and an interception. That won’t be a team as good as Air Force.
• Because Air Force did such a good job shutting Army’s running game and offense down, Army’s defense spent a lot of time on the field in the second half. While the Army defense put up a valiant effort in the loss, the Air Force offense began to find small cracks in the Army rush defense.
• Haziq Daniels found paydirt on Air Force’s only touchdown on a 17-yard QB counter in the 3rd quarter to give Air Force a 10-7 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
• Air Force capped the scoring with a 26-yard Dapore field goal in the 4th quarter.
• Air Force could have made the margin even larger, but Army’s red zone defense was impressive all day.
Post-Game Thoughts:
Seven (7) – that’s the total number of offensive touchdowns Army has scored against its academy rivals in the last 6 match-ups. That’s a little over a touchdown/game. Amazingly, Army’s defense has been good enough the last 3+ years against their rivals that they’re 3-3 during that stretch.
The bottom line is if Army scores their average 1 touchdown against Navy this year, they’ll probably lose again. One touchdown/game isn’t good and won’t win Commander-in-Chief’s trophies. Yes, we understand that the 3 schools know each other very well and that these games are always low scoring, but the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Army teams led by Quarterbacks Ahmad Bradshaw and Kelvin Hopkins routinely scored 2-3 touchdowns/game against their academy rivals. That’s enough to get the job done in these tight, low-scoring contests.
In the post-game press conference, to say Coach Monken was discouraged about the performance of the running game was the understatement of the year. Army can’t beat anyone with running statistics like we saw today against Air Force. We’re not sure what the right answer is for Army’s offense against their academy rivals, but something needs to change…quickly.
On the positive side of things, the defense played exceptionally well…maybe their best game of the year. They held Air Force to one offensive touchdown and turned away the Falcons’ offense in the red zone and held them to field goals on two separate occasions. This gives the Army defense something to “hang their hat on” heading into the biggest rivalry of the year against Navy in December.
Army falls to Air Force, 13-7
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