Road Warriors

"WHAT A RUSH!" is right.
Army's 274  Rush yards per game and even more stunning 30.6 points per game, are beyond the wildest dreams of anyone who watched the Black knights through 6 games last year.

The Black Knights' rushing attack began Saturday 9th in the NCAA and looks sure to move up with a season high 312 rush yards.

"We are running the ball well and we are being opportunistic," Army coach Rich Ellerson said. "I think that our guys are playing a little bit better in different phases each week. We are doing a great job on the turnover battle. When you do that, you've got a great chance to win. It's hard to overcome something like four to one."

The takeaways are something worth mentioning. They've become something of a trend, and it's not so much how the Black Knights have been forcing turnovers as much as where they have been getting these loose balls. In each game this season Army has forced turnovers and benefited from a short field.
It's not something we can expect every week, and as much as I wanted to add Army's + turnover ratio in the game preview, there is just no way to count on that kind of good fortune. Luck like that is the kind of thing that makes or breaks teams, and Army is either lucky or highly skilled at knocking balls loose or both.

-Eastern Michigan fumbled a 3rd Quarter kickoff on their own 32.
-North Texas gave Army the football in the 2nd Quarter on their own 14
-Hawaii coughed up the ball on their own 27 in the 3rd Quarter.
-Duke started the game with a pick that was run back to the Duke 3 yard lime
-Temple dropped the opening kickoff and subsequently gave up the early lead.

Saturday's Tulane game saw TU cough the ball up at their own 36 leading to Army's 2nd touchdown and on the following kickoff they lost the ball again much to the (hilarious) dismay of the Tulane play by play guys.
Army burns 2+ minutes of clock going nowhere in particular... kicks the field goal to make it 17-7. The following kickoff was also fumbled and recovered by the Black Knights eliciting a noticeable roar from the Army fans in attendance.


You can chalk that kind of stuff up to luck and maybe Army has been due for some good fortune, but when it happens so often and at such fortunate spots on the field and on the game clock... Army has to be doing something right.

I'll hit the local coverage later in the week, but for now- your Army/Tulane story, stats and highlights.