Disappointing, Discouraging, and Depressing

Well THAT sucked.

Not too much positive to take from that game. It was a poor effort, but it was a tough situation to step into. I discounted NIU's offense until I looked at Phil Steele's preview where he listed 10 or 11 returning NIU offensive players. The good news is that Army can put this one behind them and look to the next test at Michie. The BAD news is that NIU is about the caliber of team that Army will face for the duration of the year.

It seems clear that it is a year of rebuilding for the Cadets, but before we write off all bowl hopes just keep in mind that the season is young and West point teams are built to adapt to adversity. Yes, there is a good deal of adversity - also, Army doesn't seem to have the pieces to adapt with, but this team will get better for next year and they will get better for this year as well.

If you want to write t off now, then do so - forget about national titles, forget about CIC trophy, wish that the team pushes through a youth movement if you like... it won't change that Army got drubbed in the season opener.
The consolation is that Army isn't the only team that got assfucked today, Duke got it, Oregon got an assfucking too, Oregon State? them too.  New York City's team was also administered an assfucking.

That's the way it goes sometimes. If you were hoping for a 20-13 win in Army's season opener well, forget about that. Unless the Black Knights show the impetus to improve - not just for this year, but for 2012 and beyond, we are all in for a downer of a year. And while that does speak to a youth movement, I don't think playing sophomores and freshman is the answer for this team.

We should keep in mind how lucky the Cadets were last year in terms of turnovers and at the very least we should brace ourselves for more of the same adversity. You can't win these games unless you possess the ball and play the game  mistake-free. Tonight's effort was simply just not good enough.

That has no implications on anything but the road opener, and not much went right tonight. Next week we can expect focus, determination and attitude; whether Army wins or loses next week it's clear that those elements were missing tonight. 

Army 0-1

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