• Army won the turnover battle 2-0. When Army wins the turnover battle, they almost always win. Maybe even more important in this contest were the turnovers on downs. Liberty went for it early and often in this one, converting only 2/7 fourth downs and giving Army short fields on their four scoring drives in the first half.

• While Malik Willis made some nifty moves to avoid Army pressure most of the day, Coach Woody dialed up the heat all afternoon and Army came away with 5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, and 1 QB hurry.

• Army threw for 102 yards and a touchdown in the first half. On the day, Christian Anderson went 3/4 through the air with some timely big plays.

• Fullback Ja’Kobi Buchanan led all Army rushers for the second straight week with 22 carries for 80 yards and 3 touchdowns.

• Cornerback Jabari Moore led all Army tacklers with 9 total tackles and added a late interception to basically end the game.

• MLB Arik Smith added 7 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss.

• Zach Harding punted four times for a 47.5-yard average and placed all 4 punts inside the Liberty 20-yard line, including two inside the 10.

Army jumps out to a 10-0 lead behind two key 4th down stops by their defense

• Liberty won the coin toss and elected to receive. After picking up a few first downs, Army stopped the Flames’ offense and a 4th and 10 Malik Willis to Kevin Shaa pass was incomplete as Willis had to elude heavy pressure from Army.

• The Black Knights took over in plus territory at the Liberty 42-yard line and had a 3rd and goal at the Liberty 3 before Anderson was tackled for a loss on what looked like a QB counter or play-action pass play. Cole Talley came in and made a 26-yard field goal to give Army a 3-0 lead.

• Army held Liberty to a 4th and 6 at their own 42 after a Liberty false start penalty pushed them back 5 yards. Liberty tried a fake punt and Bo Nicolas-Paul stepped in front of the Max Morgan pass for an interception to give Army the ball in plus-territory again at Liberty’s 45.

• This time around, Army took only 5 plays to go 45 yards for a touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 32-yard Christian Anderson to Brahem Murphy touchdown pass on a skinny post to put Army ahead 10-0.

More 4th down stops for Army and Buchanan begins to roll

•On Liberty’s third series, it was more of the same for the Flames offense as Malik Willis hit CJ Daniels for a 32-yard completion to the Army 43-yard line. Just like Liberty’s first two possessions, the Army defense stiffened behind relentless pressure on Willis. Once again, Hugh Freeze rolled the dice and went for it on 4th and 7 from the Army 40. This time, MLB Arik Smith came up with a huge 16-yard sack and Army took over on the Liberty 44-yard line.

• It took the Black Knights only 5 plays to get in the end zone. This time, the scoring play was a 19-yard trap to FB Ja’Kobi “Fire the” Buchanan’s who cruised in for his first of 3 rushing touchdowns to make it 17-0 Army.

• Liberty began their next drive with a promising start, picking up two first downs to midfield before another false start penalty set them up with a 2nd and 11. Army applied more pressure and although Malik Willis avoided tackles and sacks, he was forced into 3 straight incompletions to give Army the ball back again at their own 45.

• This time, Army took only 4 plays to go 55 yards for a touchdown. After Christian Anderson completed his second pass of the day to Tyrell Robinson for 51 yards, it took Buchanan two plays to get in from the 3 to make the score 24-0.

Liberty finally converted a 4th down conversion on their next drive on 4th and 2 from the Army 47. The Army defense stiffened once again in the red zone and held Liberty to a 36-yard field goal to make the score 24-3.

• Following the Liberty kick-off and fair catch, Army started their next drive with their worst field position of the day at their own 25. After Anderson hit WR Isaiah Alston for a first down on 2nd and 15 from the 20-yard line, Liberty was able to hold the Army offense to a 4th and 10. Zach Harding came in for his first of four great punts of 48 yards. Liberty started their next drive on their own 15-yard line.

• Army held Liberty to a 3-and-out on their next possession thanks to a 10-yard Jaylen Jacobs sack of Malik Willis.

• Army ran out the clock to end the half up 24-3.

Army starts the 2nd half with a textbook Army drive, but Liberty mounts a furious comeback to cut the lead to two scores

•OC Brent Davis couldn’t have asked for a better drive for Army to start the second half. After fair catching the kickoff, the Black Knights ran 14 plays and took 8:15 off the clock.QB Tyhier Tyler commanded this drive, and it was capped off by Buchanan’s 1-yard touchdown plunge to give Army a 31-3 lead and seemingly put the game on ice.

• Liberty’s offense finally got on track on the next drive as Malik Willis continued to avoid pressure from the Black Knights to make great passes to his receivers who were making some circus catches of their own. The drive culminated with a 14-yard Willis to Noah Firth pass for a touchdown to make it 31-10.

• On the next drive, Liberty held Tyler and the Army offense to their second 3-and-out of the day. Zach Harding once again came in and flipped field position with a 54-yard punt to the Liberty 15.

• Willis and the Flames’ offense got rolling again with quick passes over the middle of Army’s defense to exploit Liberty’s speed advantage. Liberty went 85 yards in 15 plays. The drive was capped by a Willis 7-yard run up the middle on a pass play. Liberty mysteriously went for 2 and Army stopped Willis short of the goal line to lead 31-16.

Liberty has its chances, but dropped passes cost them any chance at a comeback and Army leaves Lynchburg with an upset road win to go to 8-3 on the season

• Tyler and the Army offense did eat 5:58 of clock on their next drive and went 20 yards in 10 plays, but eventually, Liberty’s defense stiffened, forcing a 4th and 13 at Army’s 45-yard line.Once again, Zach Harding did what he does best and banged a perfect 54-yard punt to the Liberty 1-yard line that was downed on a hustle play by Fabrice Voyne.

• With Liberty having to go 99 yards on their next drive, they did manage to piece together some nice passing plays and completions and complete another 4th down conversion before dropped passes did them in and they eventually surrendered the ball at the Army 25-yard line after a drop on 4th and 10. Liberty dropped at least two touchdown passes on this drive.

• The Black Knights took over at their own 25-yard line with a little over 5 minutes to play and a chance to salt the game away for good. After first downs by Buchanan and Tyler, Liberty actually managed to stuff Buchanan for about a half yard on 3rd and 2. Coach Monken chose to punt at the Liberty 43-yard line and once again, Harding didn’t disappoint. He dropped a 34-yard punt on the Liberty 9-yard line.

• On Liberty’s final desperation drive with a little over a minute left, Willis continued to make defenders miss and make amazing plays. Unfortunately, Liberty was again bit by a “case of the drops” and key penalties. They dropped at least one more touchdown pass and had a key holding penalty on Andre Carter bring back another touchdown pass. All in all, Liberty cost themselves about 4 touchdown opportunities the last two drives of the game.

Finally, on 3rd and 20 from the Liberty 32, Jabari Moore was able to intercept a Willis pass that he threw under duress.

• Army lined up in victory formation to end the game and go home with the victory, 31-16.

• Coach Monken mentioned in his post-game presser that Punter Zach Harding had as big an impact on the outcome of the game today as anyone. Harding continues to be an unsung hero and may be one of Army’s best weapons.

• Coach Monken was particularly pleased with the way his offense played against a very tough defensive coordinator who knows him well in Jack Curtis. Curtis was Coach Monken’s Defensive Coordinator at Georgia Southern and was recently a DC at Tulane.

• Coach Monken mentioned Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody’s outstanding preparation for a great athlete like Willis. He said that he had never seen an opposing quarterback like Willis who just wouldn’t go down on the first hit.

• Andre Carter II was double-teamed most of the game, so he only had one tackle and no sacks. He did manage to draw a holding call and just missed on 1-2 sacks. All in all, Carter had a good game in my opinion as the double teams he was drawing freed up other Army pass rushers. It just won’t show up in the stat sheet.

• Army is 8-3 or better for the third time heading into the Army-Navy game during the Monken era. A win against Navy will give the 2021 team a chance to be the third team in the last five years to get to double-digit wins.

Next up for the Black Knights: The biggest game of the year against Navy at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday, December 11th at 3 PM Eastern.

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