It was the first game of a season that has been in doubt since the COVID pandemic became a reality. The Big Ten, Pac 12, the MAC, Ivy League, and Patriot League all canceled their seasons along with UConn and UMass, leaving a lot of gaps to be filled in the 2020 schedule. The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee from C-USA agreed to fill the gap in the opening game only a few weeks ago, so neither team had much chance to prepare for each other.

The net result was a 42-0 win which was Army’s largest shutout of an FBS team since 1963.

“Most complete opening game that we played since I’ve been coaching here,” shared Army Head Coach Jeff Monken when responding to GoBlackKnights.com’s post-game question relative to the performance today of defense as a whole, but also the play of the offensive line.

MTSU elected to receive the ball and their QB O'Hara had the Blue Raiders moving the football against the Black Knight defense until defensive back Cedrick Cunningham forced a fumble that linebacker Jon Rhattigan recovered on the Army 43.

Nine plays later, fullback and captain Sandon McCoy scored from a yard out to give Army an early 7-0 lead.

On the next possession, the Black Knight defense held MTSU to a 3 and out forcing a punt that rolled out of bounds on the Army 14.

MTSU held Army to 3 yards on the first two snaps, but quarterback Christian Anderson fired a quick pass to freshman wide receiver Isaiah Alston for 18 yards and a key third-down conversion to keep the drive alive. Anderson then led the team to a third and 6 at the MTSU 13 before time ran out in the first quarter. Freshman slotback Tyrell Robinson gained 26 yards in three plays on the drive.

Three plays into the second quarter, McCoy plunged into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day to extend Army’s lead to 14-0.

On their next possession, MTSU picked up one first down on a defensive holding call, but Malkelm Morrison picked off a third-down pass attempt at the MTSU 41 to give Army their third possession of the game with good field position.

A 15-yard holding penalty on receiver Michael Roberts negated a first down conversion by Robinson, and MTSU held Army to no gain on the next three plays, forcing Monken to call for a field goal attempt from 44 yards out. Landon Salyers converted but MTSU was called for roughing the kicker giving Army a first down on the MTSU 14 instead. Three plays later, McCoy broke into the end zone from 4 yards out for his third TD of the game.

On the next MTSU possession, it appeared that Cunningham had scored a touchdown off a fumble, but a review of the play overruled the call on the field and MTSU got the ball back on their own 19. With the help of a couple of costly penalties on Army, the Blue Raiders reached the Army 2 yard line and appeared poised to get on the scoreboard, but a 12-yard loss dropped them back to the 14 and bad clock management allowed time ran out in the half before they could capitalize on the breaks.

Freshman slotback Tyrell Robinson took the second-half kickoff on the Army 20 and carried it out to the 29. Army drove to the MTSU 24 in 6 plays, where, facing a 4th down and 3, HC Jeff Monken elected to go for the conversion rather than the field goal. Anderson found a hole and carried it in for Army’s fourth score of the game.

On their next possession, MTSU made a couple of first downs out to their own 39, but on 2d and 12, Ohara threw the ball into the arms of Jon Rhattigan for an easy pick-six to open Army’s lead to 35-0.

MTSU returned the next kickoff to their 25 and brought in a new quarterback, Cunningham, to run the offense. They moved the ball 28 yards to the Army 47, where they held to a 4th and 11. The MTSU punter got off a good kick that rolled to the Army 1 yard line, where Army began its 5th possession of the day. Three plays got them to a first down on the 11 before time ran out in the third quarter.

With a 35 point lead, Monken sent in sophomore QB Jemel Jones to run the second-team offense and the yearling led them the remaining 89 yards, capped by a 22-yard sprint into the end zone by sophomore fullback Anthony Adkins. Perhaps more importantly, Jones took nearly 11 minutes off the clock in the process.

On their final possession, the Blue Raiders drove the ball into Army territory, but Cam Jones forced a fumble that Isaiah Morris recovered to give control back to the Army with 1:13 left on the clock. Monken sent Maurice Bellan in at QB to run the final minute off the clock.

• Army had 340 yards rushing in 62 attempts for an average of 5.5 yards per attempt.

• Anderson completed 2 of his 4 pass attempts for 28 yards.

• The defense held MTSU to 75 yards rushing in 24 attempts for a 3.1 average..

• The two MTSU quarterbacks completed 16 of 24 pass attempts for 109 yards with 2 Interceptions.

• Army controlled the ball for 35 minutes and 29 seconds

• Army converted on 13 of its 15 third-down attempts and 1 of 1 fourth-down attempt

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