Not a subscriber to GBK? There’s no better time than now, as the Black Knights are 'blowing-up' their 2017 Army football season with a 7-2 start as Army will now host the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday at Michie Stadium.

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There are no statistics kept for offensive linemen. They are seldom, if ever, asked to do post game interviews. Normally the only time you hear their name called during a game is when they’re called for holding or a false start. Fans who watch the game on TV may get a glimpse of what they have done when a broadcaster points it out in a replay, but fans at the game seldom have a chance to see what’s going on in the trenches, even if they’re a parent of one of the linemen. Linemen have to get their satisfaction from the achievements of the running backs and quarterback they support. They are often among the first players to greet their teammates after a score, deriving satisfaction from knowing that they played an important part in that score.

Except for those who are selected for one of the few Watch Lists that exist for linemen (Outland and Rimington trophies), offensive linemen are acknowledged as a unit, and their performance is measured by the number of rushing yards and passing yards that their offense generates. Of course, we know that each lineman is graded on every play by their coaches but, we fans seldom if ever see those grades. Running backs; and quarterbacks who know what’s good for them always give credit to their offensive linemen in those post game interviews, but even that credit is always to the unit as a whole.

This year’s offensive line at Army West Point has proven to be quite durable and highly effective. They set out this year to be the best offensive line in the country, and for at least a few of the more astute Army fans, they’ve established themselves as just that. In a recent straw poll of MVPs, a few of our readers nominated the offensive line, and several others agreed that they at least deserved a lot of consideration. Consider, if you will, the following statistics:

Army West Point currently ranks #1 in the nation in Rushing Offense with an average of 365 yards per game, nearly 20 yards more per game than #2 Navy and 43 yards more than Air Force.

Army West Point ranks #1 in Sacks Allowed with just 0.11 Sacks per game. Of course that ranking is bolstered by the fact that Army attempts to pass less often than any other team, but Navy ranks 4th and AFA 48th in this category and neither passes much more than Army.

Army West Point currently ranks #3 in Tackles for Loss Allowed with an average of 3.22 per game. Navy ranks 17th and AFA ranks 49th.

Army West Point currently ranks #2 in Third Down Conversions and #16 in Fourth Down Conversions. They’d probably rank higher if they hadn’t tried to pass on a few of those conversion attempts.

Four of Army’s five fullbacks have yet to lose yardage on any play in a game. This despite the fact that every opponent defense knows that the first key to stopping Army is to stop the fullback.

What little yardage has been lost by Army’s running backs is usually on the perimeter, when the running backs get outside the tackles.

Two of Army’s offensive linemen are on national watch lists; Bryce Holland on the Rimington Watch List and Brett Toth on the Outland Trophy Watch List.

GoBlackKnights.com spoke to the two watch list candidates after Tuesday’s practice to get their impressions on the accomplishments of the offensive line this season and to provide us some deeper insights into the workings of the line.

GBK: When you guys hear those stats, along with a 7-2 record, how does that make you feel personally and collectively.

HOLLAND: It makes us feel really good and we’re really proud as a unit, that’s for sure. Everything we do, we try to do it to the best of our ability and that’s why we are successful. Coach always preaches, practice with a purpose and that’s what we try to come out here and do everyday. So, we come out here and practice with a purpose, we get better every day and it’s the same thing he’s been talking about since the first day that we’ve been here. Come out here being ready to work every day, bringing your lunch pail and just working. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be having the success that we’re having right now.

We know who we are and we know what we have to do to win and for us, it’s another day. We hear those stats and for us it’s gratifying, but it’s a culmination of all the hard work we put it and the work we are going to keep putting in.

TOTH: Well specifically as an offensive line unit, it just comes down to our fundamentals and it let’s us know that we are assignment sound and we are doing our jobs. The best part of that is meeting those guys in the end-zone every time they score and celebrating together.

GBK: Take us inside the huddle or on the bench when you guys are ready to try and make it happen offensively ... what are typical conversations amongst your group.

HOLLAND: The offensive is about making sure that we are all on the same page. So it’s communicating about our jobs, about our assignments, and what looks we’re seeing up to Coach [Brent] Davis (offensive coordinator in coach’s box). Communicating with him, what he sees, what we see, what needs to be modified. For the most part, we try to keep it light while we are watching the game. Keep our energy levels up and stay collected and not let the sway of the game get into your head .... whether you are up by 40 or down by 3-points going into the 4th quarter.

Holland was a Rivals 3-star rated recruit out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona. He earned three varsity letters as the team center and served as team captain as a senior. He was an all-state selection and named to the Arizona Top-25. He collected Academic All-America honors and helped football team to a Division I championship. Holland was initially recruited by former head coach Rich Ellerson and had some concerns when Ellerson was replaced, but he quickly bought into the program that head coach Jeff Monken building at Army West Point.

Matt Hugenberg had a lock on the center job in Holland’s plebe year, but Bryce worked hard and earned a couple of starts at guard in 2014. He suffered a season ending injury his yearling year but came back strong to win the starting center job in 2016 and has started every game since.

We asked Toth how he would describe Holland in one word and he answered “Bryce would be consistent.”

Toth played football, basketball and competed in track at West Ashley High School in Charleston, SC. He earned three varsity letters as a tight end and served as the team captain, earning all-conference and all-state honors; but he had an unimpressive a 5.2 rating from Rivals and only three offers from Carolina FCS schools when he was recruited by Tony Coaxum in 2014.

At 6-6 and weighing less than 260, Toth looked more like a tight end than a tackle when he arrived on R-Day, but he earned some early playing time at tackle in the game against Buffalo in his plebe year. He saw action in 4 games with 2 starts as a yearling, in large part due to injuries on the offensive line that season. He moved into the regular starting lineup as a junior and earned some recognition from Bleacher Report who identified him as one of the top 25 tackles in the country in 2017. He was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List at the beginning of this season, and he’s attracted attention from several NFL scouts now that his playing weight tops 300 pounds. Astute Army fans and a few commentators have taken notice as he is seen running interference for Army’s running backs on sweeps to the perimeter.

We asked Holland how he would describe Toth, and he responded “Genius, because he knows the defense, everything they are doing, knows our entire offense, knows where his position fits in.”

Rivals had Houghton listed as an unrated 6-4, 230 pound defensive end from Prospect High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois when he was recruited by Army West Point in 2013, the year before Monken arrived. He played both ways in high school and ended up on the OL at USMAPS in 2013, which gave him a head start over Holland and Bryce when he reported for plebe year in 2014.

Houghton appeared in 7 games with 2 starts as a plebe and 11 games with 9 starts as a yearling. Injuries limited his playing time as a junior somewhat, but he still saw action in 11 games with 6 starts, and he has started all 9 games this season.

We asked Holland and Toth for their one word descriptions of Houghton, and these were their answers:

Holland: “Mike I would say ruthless.”

Toth: “Mike would definitely be the finisher out of all of us.”

Boylan took a longer road to his starting job with this year’s offensive line. He earned four varsity letters as a center at Tyler Grace Community School, serving twice as team captain. Despite the fact that he was a two-time all-state selection, three-time first-team all-district selection , and named First Team All-East Texas in 2012, he had no Division 1 offers coming out of high school and played at Hebron Academy Prep before entering USMA in 2014.

Boylan saw no varsity action in 2014 and limited action in 3 games in 2015. He was competing for the starting job at Center with Holland at the start of 2016, but as we noted above, Holland nailed down the starting job at center, and Boylan was eventually moved to guard where he started the last two games of the season. Boylan has started all 9 games at guard this year, and Monken moved him over to center when Holland was injured for a couple of plays this year.

So how did Holland and Toth describe Boylan?

Holland: “Boylan is relentless, He’s always going 100% full speed and just trying to take people’s heads off.”

Toth: “The most fundamentally sound out of all us.”

Kurz is the only junior in the regular starting lineup this season, but he began the year as one of the more experienced members of the offensive line. He played his high school football at St. Xavier High School in West Chester, Ohio where he was a three year letterman at left tackle, a two-time team captain, and first team All-Greater Catholic League in 2013 and 2014. He played at USMAPS in 2014 before reporting in as a plebe in 2015. Rivals gave Kurz a 5.3 rating, and he had an offer from Indiana State.

Kurz appeared in all 12 games in 2015 with 5 starts. He played in 11 games with 8 starts, and he started the first 7 games of 2017 and has played in every game this year.

And how do Holland and Toth describe their junior member of the M.O.B.?

Holland: “I don’t know, he just mauls kids {laughing}.”

Toth: “Kurz would definitely take relentless.”

While the 5 starters get most of the credit for this year’s success, we would be remiss in not mentioning a couple of guys who have filled in ably in reserve.

Junior Tackle Austin Schuffert filled in for Kurz in 5 games this year and got the start against Air Force this past weekend as Brent Davis works on getting him some additional experience. Schuffert played his high school football in Prattville, Alabama before playing at USMAPS in 2014.

Sophomore Guard Jaxson Deaton is regarded as a key player in future Army lines and he has gained some early experience while filling in on a regular basis both last season and this season. Deaton played his high school football in Frisco Texas where he was a two-year letterman at tackle and guard, earning all county honors at tackle and team captain his senior year.

Deaton played in 11 games as a plebe and had two starts against Notre Dame and Morgan State. He has appeared in 6 games this season with a start against Temple.

As we discussed above, unity is a key element in the success of an offensive line. So what does the offensive ine do to promote the unit cohesiveness? We asked Holland and Toth to comment.

GBK: Talk about the camaraderie amongst you guys.

HOLLAND: The camaraderie with the O-line is that we have all pretty much played together for the last 3-4 years. There has obviously been a mix of guys, but there’s 4-seniors on the offensive line counting myself in that group, which obviously I’m the weird case {chuckles} ... but there’s obviously Rick Kurz who played a ton of football. So, we’ve all played together, we’re all best friends and we all spend most of our time together and when you have a group like that, knows that offense in and out, knows our assignments in and out, knows the group in and out ... it’s hard not to be successful when you put in all the work that we do.

TOTH: We definitely pride ourselves on being one of the most physical groups on the field. The culture that we have within the group is this strong inclination that if we control the line up front, we are going to have a successful day. We definitely take pride in our work and our communication upstairs because none of us want to be the guy to let the other four down, so that keeps us straight. I think it comes down to pride ... our identity, where we are just going to be the hardest workers on the field.

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