This Week in Service Academy Football

On By MikeIn air farce, army8 Comments

Army (2-7) defeated Air Force (5-4), 41-21. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is still up for grabs, but we do know one thing: it won’t be in Colorado Springs a month from now. Army made a weird week even weirder by topping Air Force in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score made it look. Maybe weird isn’t the right word, since Air Force people running their mouths is hardly unusual. Stuff like Alex Means channeling Chance Harridge and saying that he can’t imagine losing to Army is pretty standard. The weird part came when Troy Calhoun started talking about all the advantages that Army has over Air Force as a program; stuff like coaches’ housing and Heisman winners from 60 years ago. Whatever you say, Howdy Doody.

Anyway, that’s all just a sideshow. In the main event, Army’s offense did what they’ve been doing all year yardage-wise, rushing for 314. What they didn’t do was turn the ball over. Air Force, on the other hand, has had its own issues taking care of the ball this season, and they went above and beyond in reinforcing their pro-turnover platform by losing two fumbles and throwing three interceptions. It would be easy to just point to the turnovers and say, “see, that’s why they lost,” but that isn’t even close to the whole story. The truth is that Army throttled the Air Force offense. I have been fairly complimentary of the Air Force offensive line this season, but they were absolutely manhandled in this game. Army lived in the Air Force backfield and held the Falcons to only 103 rushing yards.

We might have to take a closer look at this game later down the road.

NAVY 56, ECU 28

On By MikeIn navy football9 Comments

After Navy lost to Notre Dame in 2008, I said this:

If there’s a silver lining in all this, it’s that maybe Notre Dame’s defensive success this year will lead them to line up the same way in 2009.

That’s exactly what the Irish did, and Navy won. It makes me wonder what some coaches see when they watch film after a game. It’s sort of amazing how little understanding there is of the Navy offense among some of the Mids’ opponents. Navy made a lot of mistakes in that 2008 loss to the Irish, but apparently the Notre Dame staff didn’t recognize it. They lined up the same way the following year, only this time, Navy corrected their past mistakes.

Looking at the stat sheet from 2008, you can sort of sympathize with Notre Dame’s coaches for feeling comfortable about their game plan. The Mids only had 178 rushing yards that day, and completed only 3 passes in 14 attempts. The final score was close, but that was thanks to a furious last-minute comeback. For most of the game, Navy’s offense didn’t do much of anything. Even if they didn’t recognize all the missed opportunities Navy had to beat their defense, there was at least a statistical basis for Notre Dame’s coaches thinking that their gameplan was sound.

Continue reading “NAVY 56, ECU 28” →

WHILE YOU’RE WAITING

On By MikeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

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It’s been a busy week for me, so the ECU recap is running late. Don’t worry, it’ll happen. In the meantime, I’m going to do some shameless begging for this year’s Birddog fundraiser, the National Marathon To Finish Breast Cancer.

The usual formula for starting a fundraising campaign like this is to relate some kind of personal story about the cause. But do I really need to here? There isn’t a single person reading this that hasn’t been affected in some way by some form of cancer. You have all seen what patients and their families go through as they struggle with the physical pain and  hardships, both emotional and financial, that come with fighting the disease. You already know the feeling of hopelessness while you wish that there was anything you could do to help.

But there is something you can do. It’s said that football games are won in practice the week before. The same is true about the fight against cancer. The advances in treatment and patient care that we see today are the result of years of research. That research was made possible by the generous donations of people like you. The amount of progress we have seen in cancer treatment, even over just the last decade, is nothing short of amazing. Imagine what we might see in the next decade with the research that we can start today. Don’t wait until you or a loved one needs it. Donate now. Put in the practice before the game.

You can do so knowing that your donation will go a long way. Every single dime that you give goes to charity. 70% of your donation will fund breast cancer research at the Mayo Clinic. The remaining 30% goes toward patient care through The Donna Foundation. You will be caring for people who need it now, and laying the foundation for the care of those who will need it in the future.

That is why I am asking for your sponsorship. It’s been more than 4 years since we did the March of Dimes fundraiser. We raised almost $1000 back then, so my goal to raise $5000 is admittedly a bit ambitious. We have a lot more people reading the blog now than we did back then, though, so I’m hoping that reaching more people means raising more money. Besides, the race isn’t until February. That’s plenty of time to donate now, forget that you donated, then donate again two months from now. Donating is easy; just click on the picture to get started. Even if you can’t donate, you can still help. Post the link to Facebook. Tweet it. Spread the word.

Some of you have sent me notes saying that you like the game breakdowns so much that you’d pay for them. Instead of wasting your money on me, why not put that money to good use? As fun as it is to call for the backup quarterback and make fun of Air Force, let’s add one more play to this blog’s playbook: giving! Thanks for reading, and thanks for your help.

New Big East Power Rankings – Week 9

On By AndyIn Big East5 Comments

And then there was one. Nine weeks into the season, Louisville is the sole undefeated team left in the New Big East. We all knew that that Highlander rules applied, but I don’t think anyone foresaw a couple of MAC teams wielding the swords that would lop the zeroes off of the records of Rutgers and Cincinnati. A week after Cincinnati fell to Toledo, Rutgers hosted Kent State and became the first ranked team the Golden Flashes beat in the history of the program – some 92 years.

Despite the disappointing out of conferences losses, it’s fair to say that the New Big East is doing better than most would have forecast before the season. In fact, Louisville checks in at #10 in the latest BCS rankings, while Boise at #19 just needs to keep winning and will likely finish inside the top 16. It’s something of the dawn of a new era for Boise State, as evidenced by comments from CNNSI writer Stewart Mandel:

Yup – Boise has transitioned from BCS buster to riding on the coattails of past success. At this point it doesn’t even matter that Nevada spent 60 minutes shoveling dirt on its pride against Air Force last Friday night. The Broncos simply need to keep winning and a BCS bowl should take care of itself. The Statue of Liberty play seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

Click on through to the rankings!

Continue reading “New Big East Power Rankings – Week 9” →

This Week in Service Academy Football

On By MikeIn air farce, army2 Comments

Army (1-7): Lost to Ball State, 30-22. This game was a bit of role reversal for Army. Usually their offense plays pretty well, but just can’t keep up with the gobs of points that the defense gives up. Against Ball State, though, the Army defense was sort of decent. That’s relatively speaking, obviously. Giving up 413 yards isn’t good, but it was good enough to at least keep the game within reach. Ball State went up 14-0 after their first two drives, but they were never able to pull away. Army didn’t give up another touchdown until the 4th quarter, and by Army standards, that’s a pretty big deal. That was probably as good a performance as Rich Ellerson is going to get out of his young defense this season.

Unfortunately for Army, the offense couldn’t respond. In some ways, this was like the Eastern Michigan game. Ball State even used the same defense: the 4-4 cover 3 with the free safety playing the pitch. While Army was able to run for 341 yards, they weren’t very consistent in moving the ball. Just like against EMU, lousy blocking doomed the offense and led to four 3 & outs. On top of that, Hayden Tippett fumbled away a scoring opportunity at the end of the first half after Army had moved to the Ball State 30. Nevertheless, Army still had a chance to make it a one-score game with a little more than 2 minutes left, but Dan Grochowski’s FG attempt from 43 yards sailed wide left.

Both the offense and defense have had their individual moments this year, but neither have shown that they are good enough to carry the team when the other is struggling. Air Force has shown that it’s capable of losing to one-win teams, though, so maybe there’s a little hope for Army this week. But only a little.

Air Force (5-3): Beat Nevada, 48-31. This was probably Air Force’s best performance of the season, seen by DOZENS of people in Colorado Springs on Friday night. Nevada is a pretty good football team, and Air Force outgained them by 220 yards even without the services of Cody Getz. Filling in for Getz as the Falcon’s go-to back was Wes Cobb, who ran for 152 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Nevada’s defense appeared completely lost at times, and Air Force never had to punt. Not that the Wolf Pack didn’t have their opportunities. Nevada pulled to within a field goal after recovering a fumble near midfield in the third quarter, but Air Force responded with a pair of long drives on their next two possessions to regain a two-score advantage that they would hold on to the rest of the way.

The loss to UNLV is killing Air Force in the Mountain West. At 4-1, the Falcons are tied with Fresno State and San Diego State in second place in the league standings, and have yet to play either one. They could have controlled their own destiny for a share of their first MWC title since they don’t play Boise State. Instead, they have to hope that the 4-0 Broncos trip up somewhere along the way. Boise State already beat Fresno State. They get SDSU at home this week and hit the road to play Nevada at the end of the year. Meanwhile, Air Force plays both SDSU and Fresno State on the road. It’s a tall order.

Q & A with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco

On By MikeIn Big EastLeave a comment

Q & A with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco | Cougars | a Chron.com blog.

Definitely worth a read. I don’t like an east-west divisional alignment very much, since it feels too much like “new” Big East vs. “old” Big East. I would have thought that the western schools would want more of an association with the established Big East programs. If that’s not the case, and the western schools would prefer a more geographic fit for our divisions, then great. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the divisions change by the time Navy (and a mystery 14th member) joins.

NAVY 31, INDIANA 30

On By MikeIn navy football15 Comments

It’s a strange situation whenever Navy plays a struggling BCS-conference program. When we see a team coming into Annapolis with a 2-4 record, it’s only natural to think that maybe the Mids should win this one. You have to be careful not to fool yourself. Not that Navy isn’t capable of winning games against BCS programs, because we’ve seen over and over again that they are. It’s just that there’s a big difference between “should” win the game and “can” win the game. Even struggling BCS teams are still BCS teams, with the talent that goes with it. For every blowout of Missouri or Notre Dame we’ve seen over the last decade, you can point to even more tight games with Duke or Vanderbilt. These teams might have their issues, but their issues are at a whole different level; a Big Ten team with problems is a different proposition than a MAC team with problems.

That’s why beating Indiana is such a big deal. On the 4-4-4 spectrum, any game against a Big Ten team is a reach for Navy.

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New Big East Power Rankings – Week 8

On By AndyIn navy football6 Comments

This tweet sums up the biggest news in the New Big East this week:

Mr. Stevens (a must follow on Twitter if you’re the tweeting type) was referring Cincinnati and their trip to Toledo for a taste of MACtion. And just like those other BCS conference teams, the Bearcats left with a loss. Perhaps a lucrative new TV deal can help keep the conference’s top teams from heading to MAC schools for mid-season match-ups.

So a little shine is off the Louisville-Cincinnati match-up this weekend, but the conference is performing better than any preseason prognostications imagined. The top 5 teams are a combined 30-4. Rutgers and Louisville are 15th and 16th in the latest BCS standings, while Boise has moved up to 21st. The computers really like Rutgers (average of 10th), but Boise’s hill to climb (currently 20th in computers) got harder this weekend with Nevada’s loss.

Continue reading “New Big East Power Rankings – Week 8” →