Army vs. Ball State for 4 Quarters

Ball State/Army game notes have been up for a while.


Ball State blog Over The Pylon breaks down some of the numbers.

Yes, they lost Yale, but they also beat Buffalo. This season makes no sense and frankly, these two teams could have any possible outcome Saturday and it wouldn’t shock me at all.

I'm on board with that. Just try being a Pitt fan as well to magnify that sentiment.

Army has had a couple of these win-able games already with just a 1-3 record to show for it. Sat.'s game represents pretty much the same hurdle for both teams. Ball State is 1-3 and has had a tough time getting wins against some below average opponents

Army hasn't played a complete game all season, that should really be Army's game plan: win each quarter. I don't care about a 23 point 1st quarter if Army loses the next 3 periods by 14 points each. Go out and win a game of football. Ball State is not here to ruin anyone's season - they've never really bothered anybody. Army's got to string together a complete game of football and if given a moment when they can drop the guillotine on Ball State they should do just that- they have got to start the game as winners and finish the game as winners. 


Sal did a Q&A with the Muncie, IN beat writer it's a nice pregame read.


 The Star Ledger has a game preview up some interesting pieces there.

• Depth chart oddity: Army has one starting lineman heavier than 283 pounds: 6-foot-7 tackle Drew Hennessy.  This will probably not matter.

The starting defensive line includes no one taller than 6-foot-2 or heavier than 264 pounds. This could come into play.

 
Can't wait for this one. High noon can't arrive fast enough.



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Army 1-3

We may not score, we may not win... at least we're not from New Haven.
 

Just watching this game you had a feeling that there was doom around the corner. Any sense of security afforded by Jeremy Timpf's pick-6 was false. Even as Grochowski lined up to kick with the game on the line there was a feeling that there was something left for Yale to do.

Nothing about this game is 'simply put', you can look at some overall themes or some isolated instances, but none of them encapsulate losing this game.In the 4th quarter up seven with a make-able field goal, you need to kick that. It might not go in, but you increase your chances of winning immensely just by giving yourself a chance for points. It's a hard lesson to learn, and it's one of those that just about every fan of every team has to see through. It's just a poor call to go for it in that spot.


More glaring was Army's lack of ability to show a meaningful difference physically against the Ivy league's best team. Army should physically beat Yale every time they play. Instead, not only were there gaping holes in the defense, but players were getting trucked and defensive help was being shucked. Army should outsmart and out physical a team like Yale in every quarter, but the Elis fought hard and by the end of the game - it was their day. but to just leave it there, "It was just Yale's day" is to overlook heroic games by Yale's stars.

The Eli's thrashed Army. Ty Varga made Yale look like BYU in comparison to the Cadets. Varga had FIVE touchdowns. FIVE. It was the middle of the 3rd quarter when I thought Army must have brought the sprint team's "D". By the end of the 3rd I was wishing West Point did bring their sprint team defense. Instead there was virtually no defense and Army made The Yale dogs look like a major conference player.

In truth, this loss wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Stony Brook loss. We've now got a reason to renew this rivalry, but I could understand the sentiment from both sides to let this series sit for a while. Just as with Stony Brook, this loss was just not supposed to happen. But it did, and it was more than "just Yale's day" Yale did everything they had to do to win the game. Nothing to do with luck. Yale bested Army in what will likely be the last installment of this rivalry for quite a while.



Here's your Army/Yale story, stats and highlights.