Scout.com: 2008 Army Knights Season

2008 Army Knights Season

By Staff

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Feb 8, 2009

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2008 Army Knights Season, Game Recaps, Scores and Reviews

2008 Army Black Knights

- 2008 Army Preview
- 2007 Army Season

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 1-11
2008 Record: 3-9

Aug. 29 Temple L 35-7
Sept. 6 New Hampshire L 28-10
Sept. 13 OPEN DATE
Sept. 20 Akron L 22-3
Sept. 27 at Texas A&M L 21-17
Oct. 4 at Tulane W 44-13
Oct. 11 Eastern Mich W 17-13
Oct. 18 at Buffalo L 27-24 OT
Oct. 25 Louisiana Tech W 14-7
Nov. 1 Air Force L 16-7
Nov. 8 at Rice L 38-31
Nov. 15 OPEN DATE
Nov. 22 at Rutgers L 30-3
Nov. 29 OPEN DATE
Dec. 6 Navy (in Phil.) L 34-0

2007 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 2-10
2007 Record: 3-8

Sept. 1 at Akron L 22-14
Sept. 8 R. Island W 14-7 OT
Sept. 15 at Wake Forest L 21-10
Sept. 22 at Boston Coll L 37-17
Sept. 29 Temple W 37-21
Oct. 6 Tulane W 20-17 OT
Oct. 13 at Central Mich L 47-23
Oct. 20 at Ga Tech L 34-10
Nov. 3 at Air Force L 30-10
Nov. 9 Rutgers L 41-6
Nov. 17 Tulsa L 49-39
Dec. 1 at Navy L 38-3

Dec. 6
Navy 34 … Army 0
Navy ran for 368 yards with Shun White tearing off a 65-yard scoring run on the offense’s first drive of the game and Eric Kettani adding a five-yard scoring dash in the third. White took a pass 18 yards for a score in the second, and the defense ended things in the final minute with a 68-yard interception return for a touchdown from Ram Vela. Army managed just 154 yards of total offense and seven first downs. Frank Scappaticci made 15 tackles for Army.
Player of the game: Navy RB Shun White ran 13 times for 148 yards and a touchdown, and he caught a pass for 18 yards and a score.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 9-16, 52 yds
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 17-54. Receiving: Jamison Maehler, 3-20
Navy - Passing: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, 3-10, 62 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Shun White, 13-148, 1 TD. Receiving: Tyree Barnes, 1-34
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... The Knights are trying to be Navy, but the running game isn’t there yet and the passing game wasn’t even close. The precision isn’t anywhere near the Navy level, Chip Bowden and the passing game aren’t enough to carry the O, and the defense was a half-step slower than Navy’s O all game long. Even with another clunker loss to the arch-rival, and even with the rough end to the year, things are looking up for Army. This year was a positive step forward.

Nov. 22
Rutgers 30 … Army 3
Army fumbled twice with Rutgers’ Joe Lefeged taking the first one 58 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive. The Scarlet Knights would coast from there with three field goals from San San Te and a 26-yard touchdown catch from Shamar Graves for a 23-0 first half lead, and Tim Brown made it a blowout with a 19-yard touchdown run. Army finally got on the ball with a 24-yard field goal late in the third. Army finished with just two yards passing.
Player of the game: Rutgers QB Mike Teel completed 23-of-33 passes for 359 yards and a touchdown
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 2-4, 2 yds
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 20-112. Receiving: Damion Hunter, 2-2
Rutgers - Passing: Mike Teel, 23-33, 359 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Joe Martinek, 9-53. Receiving: Kenny Britt, 10-197
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... There will be some days against some teams that the thing just won’t work. The rushing attack had a few decent moments against Rutgers, but there wasn’t even an attempt at a passing game with just two passing yards on four attempts, and the running game couldn’t do anything consistently against the athletic Scarlet Knight defense. The defense did a decent job of holding up early on, forcing field goals instead of touchdowns, but there just wasn’t enough help form the offense. The Knights will get two weeks off before facing Navy.

Nov. 8
Rice 38 … Army 31
Chase Clement set the Conference USA record for most touchdowns accounted for as Rice rolled up a 31-7 halftime lead highlighted by Jarett Dillard touchdown catches from 80 and 10 yards out, but Army roared back. The defense stiffened in the second half while Collin Mooney and the running game got rolling. Mooney ran for a 61-yard touchdown and Wesley McMahand ran for a 43-yard score in the fourth quarter to pull within seven, but that would be as close as Army could get. The defense held on a fourth down stop to give Mooney and the O one more shot, but nothing happened. Army finished with 461 rushing yards while Rice amassed 517 total yards.
Player of the game: Rice QB Chase Clement completed 21-of-28 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran nine times for 87 yards and a score.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 5-11, 26 yds
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 26-207, 2 TD. Receiving: Damion Hunter, 2-12
Rice - Passing: Chase Clement, 21-28, 384 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Chase Clement, 9-87, 1 TD. Receiving: Jarett Dillard, 4-144, 2 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... The running game is really starting to roll, and while this might be a lost season record-wise, the foundation has been set for Army to become another Navy. Collin Mooney is blowing up in the new attack with big run after big run, Rice wasn’t close to stopping him in the second half, while several other players are getting involved. Three players had 80 yards or more against the Owls. With a week over before Rutgers, Army could pull off the huge upset with just a bit more from the defense and more ball control from the offense. Part of the key is time of possession, and the Knights aren’t dominating there.

Nov. 1
Air Force 16 … Army 7
Army for a 47-yard touchdown pass play from Chip Bowden to Damion Hunter in the first few minutes, and then Air Force took over as Ryan Harrison hit field goals from 20, 29 and 48 yards and kept the Knights pinned deep the rest of the way. Tim Jefferson added a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The Falcons gained just 174 yards, but the defense forced three turnovers.
Player of the game: Air Force P/K Ryan Harrison hit all three of hit field goal attempts and averaged 41 yards on eight punts with two put inside the 20.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 3-11, 64 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 22-92. Receiving: Damion Hunter, 2-58, 1 TD
Air Force - Passing: Tim Jefferson, 3-8, 32 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Todd Newell, 8-42. Receiving: Ty Paffett, 1-21
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... The defense did its job against Air Force, and Collin Mooney ran well, but there wasn’t enough production from the passing game to loosen things up, and the three turnovers turned out to be a killer. Army didn’t have the field position to do much and had to go on too many long drives. That’s not Army football right now. The offense will need to gear it up big-time next week against the high-octane Rice offense.

Oct. 25
Army 14 … Louisiana Tech 7
Army came up with five sacks and got two short Ian Smith touchdowns, one In the first and one on a catch in the fourth for the team’s third win in four games. Louisiana Tech only gained 152 yards of offense with the points coming on a two-yard R.P Stuart run in the third quarter. The Knights turned it over four times, but the defense was able to pick up the slack.
Player of the game: Army LB Stephen Anderson made 10 tackles
Stat Leaders: Louisiana Tech - Passing: Ross Jenkins, 8-19, 84 yds
Rushing: Daniel Porter, 20-73. Receiving: Phillip Livas, 2-27
Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 3-9, 32 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 17-57. Receiving: Ian Smith, 2-14, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Who is this team and what happened to the Army team that couldn’t do anything right just a few weeks ago? The running game continues to be effective, rolling up 203 yards against Louisiana Tech, while the defense was able to zip around the Bulldog offensive linemen and into the backfield. There’s still no semblance of a passing game, but as long as the ground attack can continue to be effective, it doesn’t matter. Now it has to take things up another notch with Air Force and Rice in the next two weeks.

Oct. 18
Buffalo 27 … Army 24 OT
Buffalo got two Drew Willy touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to force overtime. In the OT, A.J. Principe hit a 34-yard field goal for the Bulls, Army’s Matthew Campbell missed a 51-yard try, and UB pulled off the win. Army got a big day from RB Collin Mooney, who rumbled for 172 yards with touchdown runs from three and 81 yards out in the third quarter. The Knights only completed 4-of-6 passes, but they ran for 320 yards.
Player of the game: Buffalo S Davonte Shannon made 20 tackles with two tackles for loss
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 4-6, 52 yds
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 16-172, 2 TD. Receiving: Damion Hunter, 2-21
Buffalo - Passing: Drew Willy, 25-35, 279 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Brandon Thermilus 17-59, 1 TD. Receiving: Ernest Jackson, 9-134, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Army might have lost in crushing overtime fashion against Buffalo, but it was a positive loss. The running game keeps getting better and better with Collin Mooney continuing to tear of yards in chunks, but the attack fell flat in the fourth quarter when it needed to put the game away. However, Chip Bowden is looking like a good option quarterback to build around.

Oct. 11
Army 17 … Eastern Michigan 13
Army’s running game rolled for 341 yards with Wesley McMahand running for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Chip Bowden getting the game-winner in the fourth quarter from nine yards out. EMU got all its points in the second quarter, highlighted by a five-yard Terence Blevins run, but couldn’t put any points on the board in the second half.
Player of the game: Army RB Collin Mooney ran 29 times for 229 yards
Stat Leaders: Eastern Michigan - Passing: Andy Schmitt, 12-29, 138
Rushing: Dwayne Priest, 17-118. Receiving: Jacory Stone, 4-17
Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 0-3
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 29-229. Receiving: None
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Army failed to complete a pass against Eastern Michigan, with Chip Bowden missing on all three of his passes, but the ground game rolled for 341 yards. It might not always be pretty, but the offense worked to control the game. The defense had one of its best games of the season holding EMU to 255 yards and allowing just 1-of-12 third down conversion chances.

Oct. 4
Army 44 … Tulane 13
Army got the running game working as fullback Collin Mooney scored from four, two, 35 and 10 yards out and Frank Scappaticci, who picked off two passes, took a pass 35 yards for a score. Tulane couldn’t stop making mistakes, turning it over four tines and committing ten penalties, but the big problem was the run defense. The Green Wave was down 23-0 in the first half before getting a one-yard touchdown run from Andre Anderson and a 49-yard scoring grab from Jeremy Williams. And then Mooney and the running game took over as the Black Knights scored 21 fourth quarter points.
Player of the game: Army RB Collin Mooney ran 19 times for 187 yards and four touchdowns, and he caught three passes for 19 yards
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 3-4, 39 yds
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 19-187, 4 TD. Receiving: Collin Mooney 3-19
Tulane - Passing: Kevin Moore, 22-35, 273 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Andre Anderson, 21-107, 1 TD. Receiving: Andre Anderson, 6-59
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Maybe the offense really is coming around. After looking miserable over the first part of the season, Army appears to have figured out what works and who needs to be in the right spots to get the ground game going. It helped that Tulane kept screwing up, but give credit to an Army defense that forced mistakes and held up relatively well on long drives. The offense figured it out. If you’re going to run this kind of attack, then you have to take advantage of the openings in the passing game, Chip Bowden did that. If Army can beat Tulane this week, it can beat Eastern Michigan next week.

Sept. 27
Texas A&M 21 ... Army 17
Texas A&M held tough on a late fourth down to finally stop an Army offense that cranked out 280 rushing yards with touchdown runs from Tony Dace from nine yards out and Patrick Mealy from four yards away. The Aggies lost QB Stephen McGee to a shoulder injury, but Jerrod Johnson came through with an 11-yard Jamie McCoy touchdown catch and the defense got a 58-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown from Paul Freeney. Army held on to the ball for 36:46 running 70 plays to A&M's 48.
Player of the game: Texas A&M DB Trent Hunter made 17 tackles and a tackle for loss
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Chip Bowden, 1-4, 4 yds
Rushing: Chip Bowden, 34-128. Receiving: Jameson Carter, 1-4
Texas A&M - Passing: Stephen McGee, 7-9, 104 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Cyrus Gray, 6-61. Receiving: Jamie McCoy, 5-60, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... Yeah, it was a loss to Texas A&M, but the wins will start coming if the running game keeps playing like it did in College Station. Chip Bowden might have only completed one pass for four yards, but he ran the offense extremely well, even though he was the one who did most of the work. For the option attack to be like Navy's, or at least be consistent, everyone has to get involved. Bowden had 34 of the teams 65 rushing attempts and only completed one of four pass attempts.

Sept. 20
Akron 22 … Army 3
Army turned the ball over five times and only came up with 223 rushing yards and a field goal, but Akron struggled to put the game away settling for three Igor Iveljic field goals while not putting the game away until a one-yard Dennis Kennedy touchdown run in the fourth. Andre Jones caught a 25-yard touchdown pass for the Zips in the second quarter.
Player of the game: Akron QB Chris Jaccuemain completed 14-of-25 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Akron - Passing: Chris Jacquemain, 14-25, 204 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Dennis Kennedy, 19-73, 1 TD. Receiving: Andre Jones, 5-100, 1 TD
Army - Passing: Carson Williams, 6-12, 52 yds, 1 INTD
Rushing: Chip Bowden, 21-65. Receiving: Carlos Sandiego, 3-25
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... It’s not working. The offense is trying hard and several players are getting involved, but the production isn’t there. The Knights tried three different quarterbacks against Akron but only managed 150 rushing yards and 63 through the air. The big problem was the inability to get the chains moving converting just 2-of-11 chances. That and the five turnovers. Against Texas A&M, the team has to play perfectly. When the offense is struggling this much, there can’t be so many mistakes.

Sept. 6
New Hampshire 28 ... Army 10
Army lost four fumbles and New Hampshire took advantage with Hugo Souza returning one 22 yards for a third quarter touchdown. The UNH offense got a five-yard touchdown run from Mike Boyle to help pull away, and the special teams got in the act with a 87-yard kickoff return for a score from John Clements. The Army rushing offense was outgained 184 yards to 169. The lone Black Knight touchdown came on a two-yard Mike Evans catch.
Player of the game: New Hampshire LB Hugo Souza had 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a 22-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: New Hampshire - Passing: R.J. Toman, 12-17, 138 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Sean Jellison, 10-84. Receiving: Mike Boyle, 4-57
Army - Passing: Carson Williams, 7-7, 95 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 16-57. Receiving: Jameson Carter, 2-69
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... It's not working. At least not yet. From the four fumbles to the mere 169 yards of rushing offense, Army struggled against New Hampshire and now will have to fight and claw to avoid a winless season. The defense was fine, but the offense isn't finding its groove. Oddly enough Carson Williams completed all seven of his passes; the coaching staff will have to adjust and start throwing a bit more.

Aug. 29
Temple 35 ... Army 7
Temple took advantage of two turnovers and a long kickoff return to jump out to a 28-0 lead midway through the third quarter before Army finally got on the board with a one-yard Tony Dace run. The Owls got two short touchdown passes from Adam DiMichele, a 17-yard Morkeith Brown fumble return for a touchdown and on the opening kickoff of the second half, a 98-yard kickoff return for a score from Jamal Schulters.
Player of the game: Temple QB Adam DiMichele complete 15 of 22 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
Stat Leaders: Temple - Passing: Adam DiMichele, 15-22, 159 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Demaryius Thomas, 16-54, 1 TD. Receiving: Bruce Francis, 5-45, 1 TD
Army - Passing: Carson Williams, 6-14, 74 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Collin Mooney, 26-81. Receiving: Jameson Carter, 3-32
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean, Basil? ... The defense did a decent job against the Temple offense, but the turnovers and the special teams turned into a problem. Of course, all-eyes were on the new offense and the running game, and Carson Williams ran the option relatively well at times, but he only finished with 16 yard on ten carries. Collin Mooney will be the focal point of the offense. Going into next week, Williams has to be more efficient through the air and needs to take advantage of his chances after completing just six of 14 passes.

Recap: It’s not as if much was expected from Army this season, but when Navy and Air Force grab bowl bids in the same season, it shines a flood light on the Black Knights’ ineptitude. The academy dropped its final six games after climbing to 3-3, none more embarrassing than a sixth consecutive loss to the Middies that added an exclamation point to the growing divide between the two rivals. Although Army’s problems were boundless, an abundance of turnovers and a dreadful run defense were the primary culprits in an 11^th losing season in-a-row.

Offensive Player of the Year: WR Jeremy Trimble

Defensive Player of the Year: S Caleb Campbell

Biggest Surprise: Coming back to beat Tulane, 20-17, in overtime on Oct. 6. Seemingly headed to a defeat, the Knights went 80 yards in the final 29 seconds of regulation, getting a game-tying, 36-yard touchdown pass from a third-string quarterback as time expired. It evened Army’s record at 3-3, representing a high point in the season for the program.

Biggest Disappointment: Failing to make Navy even break a sweat in its 38-3 loss on Dec. 1. Yeah, bowing to the Middies is becoming a habit around West Point, but managing a measly field goal against a bad defense, and losing by double-digits for the sixth straight year is fast becoming unacceptable.

Looking Ahead: First-year head coach Stan Brock is open to any and all changes that he can adopt with the constraints of working at a service academy. The Black Knights might want to consider more use of the triple-option, which has helped Army and Navy bridge the wedge between themselves and deeper opponents.