Not a subscriber to GBK? There’s no better time than now as the Army Black Knights take their 6-5 record for their December 10th head-to-head with their academy rival the Navy Midshipmen, but also gearing up for a bowl game this 2016-17 football campaign.

CLICK HERE

When the Army Black Knights step onto the field at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, they will be bringing their signature triple option offense with them. This is an “O” that is 2nd in the nation in rushing, that averages an impressive 328.9 yards per game and offensive coordinator Brent Davis feels that his group is in a position to do what they do best against a stout Navy Midshipmen defense.

However, in order for Army to be effective offensively, they will surely need all components (personnel) working in concert.

Based on the Black Knights and Midshipmen’s similar offensive style of play, this is a game that is going to be abbreviated by the amount of possessions, whereby it’s going to be a short game and the outcome will most likely come down to T.O.P. (time of possession), netting scores when the ‘O’ has the ball and of course not turning the ball over.

And when we talk about Army’s offensive personnel we can say that they are coming in with a healthy core of players, which at this time of the football campaign is a blessing in disguise.

Last year this time, junior quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw was dressed, but his injury caused him to miss the last two games of the season which of course included the season finale against Navy. Minus being banged up for one game this season, Bradshaw appears to be the guy when it comes to being the designated starting quarterback ... which Davis said is that a safe assessment, albeit the final game of the regular season.

“I would say that Ahmad is the starting quarterback,” offered the offensive coordinator. “We feel like there’s certainly situations where we want to play Chris [Carter] and we feel like Malik McGue can give us a spark with certain things that he can do, but Ahmad’s the starting quarterback.”

Having the consistency under center is a plus, but also having depth appears to have worked in Army’s favor this year. The same can be said for for the fullback position, that consist of the trio of Andy Davidson (821 yds), Darnell Woolfolk (454 yds) and Cole Macek (254 yds). The very good news for the Army fanbase is that the former two are probably as healthy as they have been in quite sometime.

“They’ve all been banged up since week four, not just for the final push,” Davis told GoBlackKnights.com, who also talked about their common denominators as runners, but what also distinguishes their styles. “They haven’t had their same punch that they had earlier this year because of injuries and they’ve really toughed it out and fought through it ... all three of them.”

“I would say the thing that they have in common the most is their hard nose attitude. That’s the whole position group and Coach [Mike] Viti has done a great job with their mindset. But, they have just had some injuries and you can play through them, but you just aren’t the same as a running back. So, I think at times that has shown in games. But again, it’s not from the lack of effort or the lack of toughness ... they’ve just been banged up most of the year.”

“Andy may have a little more big play potential, just as far as overall speed,” added Davis. “But, Darnell has been really consistent with gaining positive yardage, does a great job at falling forward, not getting tackled by one guy and moving the pile.”

Of course, none of the aforementioned skilled position players will be effective this weekend without the big guys up front. Davis is optimistic that not only does he have perhaps his most talented group of O-linemen since his arrival at the academy 3-years ago, but they are also relatively healthy as healthy can be at this stage of 2016 campaign.

“Brett Toth (Jr.) has really played well all season long, he’s been really consistent and I’m really proud of the improvement that he’s made,” declared Davis. “That’s from a guy that didn’t get to play the entire season last season because he was injured off and on. His maturity level has really increased and he has the opportunity to be an outstanding player.”

“I think Justin Gilbert (Sr.) has really been consistent all year as well,” continued the OC. “Particularly played really well in the Notre Dame game and I mean particularly well against some really good competition. So, he hit his stride around the middle of the season. He’s battle through injuries, but he’s been able to stay in the line-up and that’s been a huge influence on the rest of the offensive line.”

“I think Bryce Holland (Jr.) is probably the emotional leader of the offensive line,” Davis said of this former Rivals 3-star player. “He has done a great job being a voice and he continues to get better as the center. He’s an everyday guy working his tail off ... just really excited about having him for two more years.”

“Mike Houghton (Jr.) has been out for about four weeks and he was the starter at right guard ... I wasn’t going right to left,” explained Davis. “I thought Mike was really improving early in the season and played really well against Temple. I believe Mike was player of the game one week, so he’s done some good things and we are hoping that he can get back in there against Navy and that would really help our depth.”

“Then Jaxson Deaton (Fr.) is a freshman, who has started a couple of games for us,” pointed out the offensive coordinator. “He played really well I thought against Notre Dame. For a freshman to be on that stage against the players that they have, he really held his own. He’s still a freshman and he’s got a lot to learn and a lot to develop, but I think he can really be good player for the next three years.”

“Rick Kurz (Soph.) at left tackle has really been solid all year,” Davis said of the 2nd year player. “He’s only able to practice half the time just due to injury (turf toe), but he’s really done a good job of staying engaged when he’s not in practice. We hope to get him back in there, we missed him against Morgan State. I am excited about getting him back in there against Navy.”

“The other two guys that have played, really three more would be Mike Johnson (Fr.) has started a couple of games at guard and played really well against Wake Forest,” Davis explained. “He is playing tackle now, so he has had to move positions in the middle of the year due to injuries and also due to the fact that he has a shoulder injury that easier for him to play through at tackle than it is at guard.”

“Another guy is Josh Boylan (Jr.), who was the back-up center and still is, but due to injuries at guard with Mike Johnson and Mike Houghton being injured we moved Josh to guard and he’s been pulling double-duty,” noted the OC. “He’s done a real good job, because that’s not the easiest thing to do and so he actually played the bulk of the game against Morgan State at guard and he’s going to play a lot against Navy ... potentially be a starter in the Navy at guard.”

Davis concluded with one of his senior linemen. “Then Colby Enegren (Sr.), who started earlier in the season, but was injured and has come back. He’s really done a good job as a senior, providing leadership to the group.”

“That’s really the guys that have a chance to play next Saturday for the most part,” he added.

As Army fans know, the Black Knights opened the season with an impressive 28-13 win over Temple, while the Midshipmen and Owls squared off last Saturday for the AAC Championship game and Temple’s offense had its way with the Navy defense.

We asked Davis had he had an opportunity to catch any portion of the game and if so, what are his thoughts?

“I saw a little bit of it while I was doing two different home visits [recruiting] and first off, Temple’s a really good defense and that’s what stood out more than anything ... we knew they were when we played them,” he said. “We felt that way after the game, we felt that way before the game and I felt that way after catching some of it the other day. I think their stats back it up and obviously they are the 3rd ranked defense in the country.”

So, is there any added value is noting Temple’s offensive success against Navy that could carry over to Saturday’s upcoming contest for Army’s offense?

“No, it’s completely different with what they [Temple] were doing on offense compared to what we do,” Davis stated. “So, I wouldn’t say that [Navy-Temple] it would have that much of effect on our game plan.”

However, the offensive coordinator was crystal clear on what the “O” must do on Saturday versus Navy’s defense in order to be successful.

“Take care of the football,” he stated initially. “Even in last year’s game, you’ll look at it and we had two snaps that were on the ground and I think one of them we lost and we had an interception. So, we turned the ball over twice and also wasted a couple of plays with the snap being on the ground ... that is something that we can’t do. So, first and foremost that would be that we need to take care of the football. Obviously they’ve done a good job at defending option teams and we don’t want to put our defense in bad situations, because our defense has done a good job defending them.”

“So, taking care of the football would be the No. 1 priority and then we have to find a way to get the ball to the people that can move it on the field. I think in last year’s game we did a good job in getting the ball to Edgar Poe and he was able to make some plays for us. The passing game, that was a big help in the game and gave us a chance to win the game. We just needed to make one more play or not turn the ball over. Either one of those and we probably win the game.”

**To chat with GBK Analysts and other Army fans about this article and more, please visit The 12th Knight message board**