Army takes down UMass, 44-7

• Army won the turnover battle, 4-0.

• Army rushed for 329 yards on 56 carries for a 5.9 yard/carry average.

• UMass was 3/12 on 3rd down and 0/1 on 4th down.

• QB Tyhier Tyler led the Army offense with 11 carries for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns along with going 2-2 in the air for 67 yards.All of this was in the 1st half.

• Sr. Safety D’Andre Tobias had an interception for the second straight game, and Freshman CB Jaydan Mayes had his first career interception.

• UMass’s offense and RB Ellis Meriweather picked up where they left off last year.On the first series of downs, the Army defense forced a 3rd and 16, but UMass ran a swing pass to Meriweather that he took 27 yards for a first down. Meriweather and the rest of the UMass offense continued to gash the Black Knights’ run defense on the first drive as they went 75 yards in 9 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The UMass scoring drive was capped with a 2-yard touchdown run by QB Gino Campiotti.

• Army went 3-and-out on their first offensive possession and UMass was in good shape to take a surprising 2-score lead to start the game.Then, QB Brady Olson had the ball slip out of his hands on a pass play and Fabrice Voyne recovered for Army to put the Black Knights’ offense in business at the Minutemen’s 35-yard line.

• After a 3rd and 8 one-handed circus catch by wide receiver Isaiah Alston (which may have been the most athletic play I’ve ever seen by an Army football player), while he was being held, moved the ball to the 10-yard line, FB Ja’Kobi Buchanan plowed his way into the end zone to tie the score at 7.

• After Meriweather left the game with an injury, UMass’s offense stalled. Army forced a 3-and-out on the next possession and went 77 yards in 4 plays to take a 14-7 lead after a 27-yard midline option run by Tyhier Tyler.

• Army’s defense held UMass to 0 yards on their next drive to force another 3-and-out and Army countered with a 5-play, 50-yard scoring drive capped by a 4-yard Tyler TD run to make it 21-7.

• UMass moved the ball to the Army 28-yard line on their next drive before Cam Jones recovered a fumble by UMass WR Isaac Ross. Army Offensive Coordinator Brent Davis dialed up a home run ball after the sudden change and Tyler hit TE Josh Lingenfelter for a 44-yard completion to start the drive. Tyler finished the drive with his third touchdown run of the 2nd quarter from the 1-yard line to give Army a 28-7 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

• With a 3-touchdown lead and concerned about the health of the team with the Army-Navy game coming up in two weeks, Coach Jeff Monken sat a few key starters to begin the second half. Jemel Jones came in at quarterback and Army’s offense stalled with 3 punts to begin the second half. However, DC Nate Woody made some adjustments in the run defense at halftime and held U Mass to a 3-and-out; another successful goal line stand when UMass had 1st and goal at the Army 1-yard line, and then the interception by Mayes to give Army’s offense a short field. The Black Knights took over at the U Mass 40-yard line after the interception and took 11 plays for FB Ja’Kobi Buchanan to punch it in from the 1-yard line to give Army a 35-7 lead early in the 4th quarter.

• On the next play from scrimmage, Olson threw the interception to Tobias and Army took over at the U Mass 22-yard line. The Black Knights went 16 yards in 6 plays with Sophomore QB Bryson Daily leading the offense and settled for a 20-yard field goal by Quinn Maretzki to make it 38-7.

• After another 3-and-out by Nate Woody’s defense, Daily came back in and took a midline option play 54 yards “to the house” to cap Army’s scoring and give the Black Knights a 44-7 lead after Maretzki missed another extra point.

In the postgame press conference, both QB Tyhier Tyler and Head Coach Jeff Monken were excited about the win today, but both immediately shifted focus and mentioned they had a lot of things to clean up before the biggest game of the year in two weeks in Philadelphia against arch-rival Navy.

So, this is where we are, Army fans. 5-6 headed into Navy wasn’t the season any of us had hoped for, including the players and coaches, but Army did beat all the teams on their schedule that were considered “should wins,” and beat them handily, scoring over 40 points in 4 of their 5 wins. Other than the Wake Forest game and the Georgia State game (where the Black Knights spotted the Panthers a 17-0 halftime lead), their biggest margin of defeat in the 6 losses was 10 points.

I’m not going to get into the semantics of Army making a bowl at this point. It’s a long shot, but if they beat Navy the possibility is still on the table. So really, the Navy game is a 1-game season for the 2022 Black Knights. Win and finish .500 and salvage an otherwise disappointing season. Lose, and the 5-7 mark with losses to both academies will put this season in the record books with the disappointing 2019 campaign.

We’ll talk plenty here at GBK about the Army/Navy game in the next two weeks, but here are my takeaways on some things that went right today and that have been trending in the right direction that could bode well for Army in the rivalry game against an improving Navy team who just beat UCF last week and comes in at 4-7.

• Turnovers: After struggling to take care of the football and force turnovers most of the season, Army is +6 in their last two wins. This is a huge turnaround and of the utmost importance going into the Army/Navy game. The team that wins the turnover battle in that game has a massive advantage. Neither team turned the ball over last year, but in 2020, Army forced a key fumble in the red zone that led to their only touchdown of the day.

• QB play: Throughout the season, we have vacillated on who the best QB is at Army. Part of that is because all 3 Senior QB’s have been somewhat flashy, but inconsistent throughout the season. Tyhier Tyler appears to have the “hot hand” right now and is probably the QB of choice to take on the Midshipmen. He played well in each of the last 3 games but struggled to take care of the ball against Troy.In the last two games, he has done a much better job with ball security. Even Tyler mentioned this as the #1 key to his success against Navy.

• Rushing Offense: While sporadic at times the last few weeks, the rushing offense has really picked up steam and has seemed to find its stride after the second half against Air Force. Army rushed for 279 yards against Troy; 320 against UConn; and 329 against UMass. The Army offensive staff will need to find new and creative ways to get the running game untracked against the Midshipmen.

• Goal Line Defense: Army has faced three 1st and goal situations inside the 2-yard line over the last two weeks and has given up a total of 3 points in those situations. Based on the nature of the Army/Navy game, there will undoubtedly be key goal-line stands. Army’s success in the red zone will be crucial to the outcome. Their red zone success won them the game in 2020 and may have lost them the game in 2021.

Players (Jayden Mayes & Tyhier Tyler) and HC Jeff Monken

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