Everyone has heard the expression, “close but no cigar”.
Technically speaking, it means that a person almost accomplished what they were trying to do, but not quite. In other words, they were close to reaching their goal, but fell short at the end.
During the Jeff Monken Era of Army football, the Black Knights have gone head-to-head with some highly ranked programs.
In 2017 Army traveled to Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes, who were ranked No. 7 in the nation at the time of the kickoff. And when it was all said and done, the Buckeyes were just too much for the visiting Black Knights, who fell, 38-7.
• Barrett and the Ohio State Buckeyes prove too much for Army Black Knights (9/16/2017)
Final Score:
Army - 7
Ohio State - 38
However, in 2018, the Black Knights made their way to Sooners’ territory to face off against then No. 5 Oklahoma and the game was back and forth and went down to the wire. Although the Black Knights lost 28-21, it was easy to see that Monken and his program were not only able to compete but potentially win against high-power programs.
• Army forces #5 Oklahoma into OT before falling to Sooners, 28-21 (9/23/2018)
Final Score:
Army - 21
Oklahoma - 28
This was followed by Army’s 2019 showdown in Ann Arbor against the 7th-ranked Michigan Wolverines. If you ask any Army fan who witnessed this game, it was a game that the Black Knights lost versus the Wolverines winning. But in the end, the scoreboard read, Michigan 24 - Army 21 … oh by the way, Michigan won this contest in Double OT.
• Army Black Knights fall to 7th Ranked Michigan in Double OT (9/7/2019)
Final Score:
Army - 21
Michigan - 24
What do Oklahoma and Michigan games have in common?
• Going head to head with teams that were ranked in the Top Ten at the time of the contest.
• Both contests were played on the road (as was the Ohio State game), each was very competitive and each game could have gone either way.
• Although Army came up short in 2 of 3 of those games, their offense (triple option) was effective and productive.
Well, the proverbial question is … will Saturday’s contest against No. 17 LSU provide the Army football faithful with that level of competitive football that they have been accustomed to under Monken or will it be a version of the Army-Ohio State contest from back in 2017?
But as former New York Jets Head Coach Herm Edwards once said …” This is what is great about sports, this is what the greatest thing about sport is … YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”
So on Saturday, there is no doubt that the Black Knights of Army West Point will bring that mindset to Tiger Stadium (aka Death Valley) in Baton Rouge (LA) in front of 100k plus fans.
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