Dec. 2
Navy 26 ... Army 14
It wasn't like the recent Navy blowouts of Army, but it was a solid
performance by the Midshipmen rolling up 264 yards of rushing offense getting a
nine-yard touchdown run from Reggie Campbell and a 33-yard Jason Tomlinson
scoring dash as part of a 26-point run to put the game away. Army scored first
on a 41-yard Jeremy Trimble run for a score in the first quarter, but couldn't
get back on the board until there were two seconds left with a 12-yard catch
from Tim Dunn. The Midshipmen defense scored twice in the fourth on a safety
from Tyler Tidwell and a 40-yard interception return for a score from Keenan
Little.
Player of the game ...
Navy S Keenan Little
made seven tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Carson Williams,
16-23, 151 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Mike Viti, 15-57 Receiving: Jeremy Trimble,
5-48
Navy - Passing: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, 1-6, 11
yds
Rushing: Eric Kettani, 15-67 Receiving:
Jason Tomlinson, 1-11
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Army lost
to Navy again, but at least the gap closed a bit since getting
obliterated over the past few seasons. The big key was the play of Carson
Williams, who came up with one of his most efficient games yet even with two
interceptions and four sacks. It wasn't always pretty, but he kept his head
under fire. What he didn't do was keep the chains moving and didn't get the
offense in range for enough scoring opportinties.
|
2006
Schedule
2006 Record: 2-10 |
| 9/2 |
at Arkansas St L 14-6 |
| 9/9 |
Kent State W 17-14 OT |
| 9/16 |
at Texas A&M L 28-24 |
| 9/23 |
at Baylor W 27-20 OT |
|
9/30 |
Rice L 48-14 |
| 10/7 |
VMI W 62-7 |
| 10/14 |
at Connecticut L 21-7 |
| 10/21 |
TCU L 31-17 |
| 10/28 |
at Tulane L 42-28 |
| 11/3 |
Air Force L 43-9 |
| 11/18 |
at Notre Dame L 41-9 |
| 12/2 |
vs. Navy L 26-14 |
|
|
2005
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
3-8
2005 Record:
4-7
Preview
2005 predicted wins
|
| 9/10 |
at Boston College L 44-7 |
| 9/17 |
Baylor L 20-10 |
| 9/24 |
Iowa State L 28-21 |
|
10/1 |
Connecticut L 47-13 |
| 10/8 |
Central Mich
L 14-10 |
| 10/15 |
at TCU L 38-17 |
| 10/22 |
at Akron W 20-0 |
| 11/5 |
at Air Force W 27-24 |
| 11/12 |
Massachusetts
W 34-27 |
| 11/19 |
Arkansas St
W 38-10 |
| 12/3 |
Navy L 42-23 |
|
Nov. 18
Notre Dame 41 ... Army 9
Notre Dame had few problems after a slow start cranking out 41
straight points in the blowout. Army gained just 150 yards of total offense
starting out the scoring with a 27-yard Austin Miller field goal and ending with
a 12-yard Tim Dunn catch as time expired. In between, Brady Quinn threw three
touchdown passes, including two to Rhema McKnight, Darius Walker ran for scores
from Ten and seven yards out and David Grimes recovered a fumble for a
touchdown.
Player of the game ...
Notre Dame RB
Darius Walker carried 24 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns to go along with
five catches for 25 yards.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David Pevoto, 7-13, 76 yds, 1
TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 11-41 Receiving: Jeremy Trimble, 3-33
Notre Dame - Passing: Brady Quinn, 22-30, 218 yds, 3 TDs, 1
INT
Rushing: Darius Walker, 24-162, 2 TDs Receiving: Jeff Samardzija,
9-87, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Army is
in big, big trouble. The run defense has been ripped through over the last
several games doing nothing against Notre Dame or Air Force thanks to a
defensive line that's getting shoved around and linebackers who seem to always
be just a bit out of position on speed plays to the outside, and now comes the
date with Navy. On offense, Carson Williams might be the future, but he was
flat-out awful against the Irish completing just one of eight passes for 16
yards with an interception.
Nov. 3
Air Force 43 ... Army 7
Air Force took advantage of six Army turnovers with several
short scoring drives and a 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown
from Adam Zanotti on the way to a 43-0 halftime lead. The Falcons
exploded for 36 second quarter points helped by Ryan Williams
converting a fumble for a one-yard rushing score, a Shawn Carney
six-yard touchdown run and a 36-yard scoring pass to Spencer
Armstrong. The Falcons even made their own breaks with Jacob
Kendrick recovering a fumble for a score and getting a safety off a
muffed Black Knight kickoff return. Army finally got on the board in
garbage time with a 15-yard Corey Anderson touchdown catch with 1:39
to play.
Player of the
game ...
Air Force RB
Chad Hall ran 16 times for 93 yards and a touchdown
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Carson Williams,
8-16, 62 yds, 4 INT
Rushing: Tony Moore, 10-89 Receiving: Jeremy
Trimble, 6-44
Air Force - Passing: Shaun Carney, 2-4, 44 yds,
1 TD
Rushing: Chad Hall, 16-93, 1 TD Receiving:
Spencer Armstrong, 1-36, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Expect Carson Williams' performances to be an issue
throughout the rest of the season. Only a freshman, he's going to have to make
the mistakes he made against Air Force and get used to the live action. The rest
of the offense didn't exactly pick up the slack even though Tony Moore and
Wesley McMahand ran relatively well. The defense wasn't able to come up with a
big stop after all the turnovers and the game was over before it started. At
least the team gets two weeks to rest up before dealing with Notre Dame.
Oct. 28
Tulane 42 ... Army 28
Tulane rolled up 586 yards of total offense and opened up a
tight game in the second half with a four-yard Andre Anderson touchdown
run and a 23-yard Michael Batiste catch. Matt Forte ran for two scores
and Lester Ricard threw three touchdown passes for the Green Wave in its
best offensive explosion of the year. Army hit a few home runs
highlighted by a 71-yard pass to Tim Dunn in the third quarter and a
ten-yard touchdown grab in the fourth, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Player of the game
...
Tulane QB Lester Ricard completed 33 of 43 passes for 409 yards and a
three touchdowns and ran for ten yards on five carries.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Carson Williams,
16-24, 194 yds, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 7-33 Receiving: Jeremy Trimble,
5-31
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 33-43, 409 yds, 3
TDs
Rushing: Matt Forte, 24-124, 2 TDs Receiving: Damarcus
Davis, 7-82
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Army's going to have to live through the
good and the bad of Carson Williams at quarterback over the rest of the
season, but the defense is the real issue after getting bombed on by
Tulane. The Black Knights aren't equipped for a firefight, so the
offense has to do a better job of keeping the chains moving to give the
D as much of a break as possible. Everyone's going to load up against
the run, so Williams has to take advantage of all his opportunities. If
Tim Dunn is as good as he was in the fourth quarter against the Green
Wave, Army has a new weapon to count on.
Oct. 21
TCU 31 ... Army 17
Lonta Hobbs and Marcus Hobbs ran for two short scores and Nick
Sanders picked off an interception for a touchdown as TCU got out to a 31-3
halftime lead, and finished with five takeaways, and then Army switched
quarterbacks and made things interesting. With David Pevoto having problems
leading the offense failing to complete a pass in five attempts, Carson Williams
came in and helped lead the Black Knights to two scores with Corey Anderson
running for a 50-yard touchdown and Tony Moore running for a one-yard touchdown.
TCU was shut out in the second half.
Player of the game ... TCU QB Jeff Ballard completed 13
of 23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown with an interception and ran nine
times for 67 yards.
Stat Leaders: TCU - Passing: Jeff
Ballard, 13-23, 169 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: 20-72, 1 TD Receiving:
Quentil Hamilton, 4-53
Army - Passing: Carson Williams, 12-18,
110 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Corey Anderson, 1-50, 1 TD. Receiving:
Walter Hill, 3-52
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... The
future is now for Army. The horrible first half in the loss to TCU wasn't
anything to be happy about, but it might have been a step back to take a big
leap forward. With David Pevoto coming up with an awful half, it was time to
turn to freshman QB Carson Williams. Now the team has to fight through the
growing pains through the second half of the season to be ready to shine next
year. First, the offense has to stop turning the ball over after giving it away
ten times in the last two weeks.
Oct. 14
Connecticut 21 ... Army 7
Terry Caulley tore off a 98-yard touchdown run early in the
first quarter and Larry Taylor returned a punt for a score to give Connecticut a
big early lead it wouldn't have a problem defending. Army turned it over four
times with David Pevoto throwing three picks, but he got the team close with a
three-yard touchdown pass to Justin Larson early in the fourth. The Huskies put
it away on a 0ne-yard Matt Bonislawski score.
Player of the
game ... Connecticut RB Terry Caulley ran 13 times for 136 yards
and a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David Pevoto,
16-30, 155 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 14-44 Receiving:
Tim Dunn, 6-35
Connecticut - Passing: Matt Bonislawski, 10-21,
139 yds
Rushing: Terry Caulley, 13-136, 1 TD Receiving:
Steve Brouse, 2-41
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Army isn't a good enough team to make
big mistakes and turn it over four times and hope to win. Connecticut came up
with two haymakers early on, but the Black Knights fought back through all the
problems to make it close before not being able to get over the hump in the end.
If David Pevoto is going to struggle throwing the ball, then someone has to pick
up the slack on the ground. Against TCU's ball-hawking defense next week, Pevoto
will have to be sharper.
Oct. 7
Army 62 ... VMI 7
Army got a chance to empty its bench after getting out to a
31-0 first half lead helped by a 25-yard touchdown run form Wesley McMahand and
short scoring runs from Tony Moore and Austin Miller. Jeremy Trimble returned a
punt 76 yards for a touchdown as part of a 21-point third quarter. VMI's only
touchdown came on a 68-yard Sean Miller run in the second quarter.
Player of the game ...
Army RB Wesley
McMahand ran 14 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Stat Leaders: VMI - Passing: Kyle Hughes, 3-10, 21 yds, 1
INT
Rushing: Sean Mizzer, 13-114, 1 TD Receiving: Joey Robinson,
1-10
Army - Passing: David Pevoto, 9-13, 114 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 14-86, 2 TD Receiving: Jeremy Trimble,
3-33, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Nitpicking time in a blowout win over VMI. The running game was unstoppable
averaging 5.3 yards per pop with a nice mix of big plays and chain-moving runs,
but David Pevoto didn't take too many shots down the field. Fine, so Army wasn't
going to rub it in, but it would've been nice to use this easy opportunity to
bomb away a little bit and try to get the vertical passing game working a little
bit. This was a much needed game to get the reserves some real playing time.
Sept. 30
Rice 48 ... Army 14
Playing an inspired game after the passing of teammate Dale
Lloyd this week, Rice cranked out 457 yards of total offense overcoming an early
7-0 deficit on a two-yard David Pevoto touchdown run to reel off 31 straight
points with three Chase Clement touchdown passes and a 72-yard interception
return for a score from Andray Downs. Pevoto connected with Jeremy Trimble for a
32-yard touchdown pass with :33 left in the half, but the Owls owns the second
half with two more Clemens touchdown passes Jarett Dillard.
Player of the game ...
Rice QB Chase
Clement was 29-of-39 for 299 yards and five touchdowns and led the Owls in
rushing with 64 yards on 11 carries.
Stat Leaders: Rice - Passing: Chase Clement, 29-39, 299 yds,
5 TDs
Rushing: Chase Clement, 11-64 Receiving: Jarett Dillard, 11-173,
3 TD
Army - Passing: David Pevoto, 12-22, 140 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 12-90 Receiving: Jeremy Trimble, 6-73, 1
TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Any bowl
dreams are likely shot after getting thumped by Rice. The defense had played so
well all season long, and then it came up with a total clunker with breakdown
after breakdown. It didn't help that the offense kept turning the ball over.
Rice shouldn't be throwing the ball for 329 yards against air. Army moved the
ball a little bit and had early momentum, but the D gave up too many big drives
and QB David Pevoto had a lousy all-around game. Things should quickly change
next week against VMI.
Sept. 23
Army 27 ... Baylor 20 OT
Army scored on its overtime possession thanks to a Tony Moore
run on fourth down to keep the drive alive before running for a four-yard score
for the lead. Baylor's possession went four and out with Shawn Bell misfiring on
a fourth down pass to give Army the win. Baylor sent it into overtime with a
24-yard Ryan Havens field goal after Army scored ten fourth quarter points
highlighted by a 21-yard touchdown pass to Moore. Baylor started off with a 10-0
lead in the first quarter on a Bell seven-yard touchdown pass to Trent Shelton,
but it was only able to come up with one more touchdown on a two-yard Paul
Mosley run late in the third. Army's offense had problems getting going until
Jeremy Trimble returned a punt 59 yards for a score to tie it at ten.
Player of the game ... Army linebackers Barrett Scruggs
and Cason Shrode combined for 20 tackles
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David
Pevoto, 15-22, 138 yds, 1 TD
Rushing:
Wesley McMahand, 22-93
Receiving:
Jeremy Trimble, 7-63
Baylor - Passing: Shawn Bell, 26-35, 241
yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Paul Mosley, 14-38, 1 TD Receiving:
Trent Shelton, 7-79, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
There's absolutely nothing pretty about the Black
Knights, especially in the win over Baylor, but as you might expect, it battles
hard and finds ways to stay in games. It's been stunningly competitive with an
efficient offense that has a strange knack of coming through with points just
when it seems like the game is slipping away. If the team plays like it did over
the last two weeks, it shouldn't have a problem with Rice or VMI, and then all
of a sudden, it's 4-2 and in a great position to be in the hunt for a bowl game.
TO get there, QB David Pevoto has to limit mistakes and the defense has to
continue to be stout. The linebackers are al over the place.
Sept. 16
Texas A&M 28 ... Army 24
Texas A&M needed a late goal line stand stuffing army on the
third and goal from the two as time ran out. Army hung around despite giving
away three interceptions thanks to two Wesley McMahand touchdown runs and a
43-yard Corey Anderson scoring dash. A&M ran for 262 yards and got three
touchdown runs from Jorvorskie Lane, but he was stuffed on fourth and one giving
the ball back to Army on the A&M 31 with 1:42 to play. A pass interference call
got it down to the two where the drive ended up stalling.
Player of the game ... Texas A&M RB Jorvorskie Lane
ran 24 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Devid
Pevoto, 17-32, 136 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 14-68, 2 TD. Receiving:
Walter Hill, 5-48
Texas A&M - Passing: Stephen McGee,
7-11, 102 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Stephen McGee, 11-142. Receiving: Chad
Schroeder, 3-62, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
How did Army possibly stay with Texas A&M? David Pevoto
didn't throw the ball well, and the ground game was average. Even so, the
defense showed great heart despite getting pounded on all game long. But why, oh
why, did Army run the ball on the final play at the goal line? There was still
time for two plays if Pevoto could've fired off one quick pass, but the coaching
staff decided to run a slow developing running play that had no chance to
succeed. There won't be many, if any, chances like that to pull off a huge upset
the rest of the way out.
Sept. 9
Army 17 ... Kent State 14 OT
Kent State forced overtime on a late 15-yard touchdown catch
from Najah Pruden, but Julius Edelman lost a fumble in the first extra
possession which Army converted into a 36-yard Austin Miller field goal for the
win. The Golden Flashes started off the scoring on a 17-yard run by Darren
Rogers, and then Army answered with 14 straight points on two short Tony Moore
touchdown runs.
Player of the game ... Army DE Cameron Craig made ten
tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David
Pevoto, 14-28, 104 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 19-90. Receiving:
Walter Hill, 4-36
Kent State - Passing: Julian Edelman,
9-22, 92 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Julian Edelman, 16-82. Receiving: Najah
Pruden, 4-57, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
Army has to be breathing a big sigh
of relief to get the win over Kent State with road trips to Texas A&M and Baylor
ahead, but there's a lot to worry about. David Pevoto isn't pushing the ball
deep at all with the passing game showing little sign of life, while Wesley
McMahand and the running game didn't show off much of anything against a lousy
Golden Flash run defense. On the plus side, the Black Knights were great at
controlling the time of possession holding on to it for 34:15.
Sept. 2
Arkansas State 14 ... Army 6
Arkansas State outgained Army 319 yards to 164 limiting the
Black Knights to two Austin Miller field goals. The Indians got a 17-yard
touchdown run from Reggie Arnold in the second quarter and a ten-yard scoring
dash from Travis Hewitt in the third. The score would've been ugly had ASU been
able to hang on to the ball getting plagued by three fumbles.
Player of the game ... Arkansas State RB Reggie Arnold
ran 25 times for 140 yards and a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: David
Pevoto, 12-23, 95 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 13-35. Receiving:
Jeremy Trimble, 6-60
Arkansas State - Passing: Travis Hewitt,
7-11, 75 yds
Rushing: Reggie Arnold, 25-140, 1 TD. Receiving:
Chris Miller, 4-21
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ...
It wasn't just that Army lost to Arkansas State, it's
that it wasn't even close. It's not like this was Texas A&M, TCU or Notre Dame,
which all come up later, this was Arkansas State the ran all over the Black
Knight defense. With Kent State coming up next week, Army has to quickly find
something to hang its offensive hat on or be in huge trouble. Even after getting
three ASU fumbles, the offense only put up six points. Every opportunity has to
be taken advantage of.
2006 Army Preview
Army Preview
|
Offense |
Defense |
Depth Chart
| Further Analysis
Just
when it appeared Army was about to fall further into the abyss of an
11-game losing streak, out came a shocking run of four wins to show
that things really might be turning around under head coach Bobby
Ross.
The Black Knights don't run a precision option attack like Navy or
Air Force, and it won't get the top recruits needed to ever be a
superpower, but they showed they can jump up and bite teams in the
butt and, at the very least, be very competitive.
While the 2005 season came to a crashing thud with yet another
loss to Navy, Army is still feeding off the energy of the second
half of last season with hopes of a big start in its second year as
an independent.
Unburdened by the shackles of playing in a conference, Army can
schedule more teams its own size and keep improving and gaining
confidence. There's no question Ross can coach, and there's no
denying the heart and intensity the team plays with, but it's going
to be a constant work in progress to keep filling in the holes and
come up with wins.
This year's team has some
fantastic pieces to build around with the potential for its strongest,
most efficient passing attack in years. All five starters return to the
offensive line and everyone is back in the linebacking corps. The
kicking game is sound, the receiving corps could be the strength of the
team, and safety Caleb Campbell will once again be among the nation's
most productive safeties. And then things get interesting.
Long-time starting quarterback Zac Dahman is gone, but things should be
even better with big bomber David Pevoto looking ready to become a top
passer. The running back situation is shaky at best after losing Carlton
Jones and Scott Wesley, there's no proven pass rush, and the cornerbacks
have little to no experience to rely on.
It's still about baby steps for a program that hasn't come up with a
winning season since 1996. Winning four games was a positive move
forward, and now Ross has to fill in the gaps and come up with a few
more wins. It's possible because of ...
The
Schedule: Ah, the life of an independent. Forget about beating teams
like Texas A&M, TCU or Notre Dame unless all the planets align correctly
and a few minor miracles kick in, but there isn't another game on the
slate that's a sure-thing, mark-it-down loss. Sure, games at Baylor and
Connecticut aren't going to be easy and Navy owns the Black Knights over
the last few years, but there are enough games against teams like
Arkansas State, VMI and Kent State to hope for a six-win season.
Best
Offensive Player: Junior WR Jeremy Trimble. The game-breaking
receiver should flourish with Davis Pevoto throwing to him. He's tough
across the middle and is a proven deep threat. The number one offensive
weapon has to get the ball in his hands at least six times a game.
Best
Defensive Player: Junior SS Caleb Campbell. He showed potential as a
freshman linebacker, and then he blew up when he got his shot in the
defensive backfield leading the team in both tackles and interceptions.
He makes plays all over the field and should be in the hunt for
All-America honors.
Key player
to a successful season: Junior QB David Pevoto. He had better be
good. Really, really good. The 6-5, 229-pound passer looks the part and
can make all the throws. If he isn't a star, the offense will go into
the tank with no reliable backups and even fewer reliable runners to get
the ground game going.
The season
will be a success if ... Army wins six games and beats Navy. It'll take at least a big
upset or two and at least a 4-1 home record to get in range. And then
there's the Navy game. It's obviously the big rivalry game, but the
service academies measure themselves by how good they are against each
other; it's a really big deal. Army tagged Air Force last season, and
now it needs to come up with the win it really wants.
Key game:
December 2nd vs. Navy. Army hasn't just lost four straight to its
hated rival, it has been crushed by a score of 176 to 63. That's an
average score of around 44 to 16. While they all might be brothers in
arms, this could start getting nasty on the field if the trend
continues.
2005 Fun
Stats:
- Punt return average: Opponents 10.6 yards per return - Army 6.8 yards
per return
- Time of possession: Army 31:54 - Opponents 28:06
- Sacks: Opponents 22 for 176 yards - Army 13 for 67 yards
The Last Time Army…
…played in a bowl game…1996 (Independence Bowl vs. Auburn)
…missed a bowl game…2005
…pitched a shutout…2005 (Akron)
…was shutout…2003 (TCU)
…scored 50 points…1999 (Louisville)
…went undefeated…1958
…won a conference title…never
…had a 3,000-yard passer…never
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2005 (Carlton Jones)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…never
…had a first-round draft choice…1947 (RB Glenn Davis and T Tex Coulter)
