New York Eve

UConn pays a visit to Yankee Stadium tomorrow and while I want to be pumped for the game it's hard to even think about Army football this week.

Sure, UConn - like Army - comes in with 2-6 record and a first year head coach. Likewise, similar to Army's 2-6 UConn's is a pretty *bad* 2-6.



What is there left? Well, it's time for Army to make a statement. Sure, they haven't done well in new Yankee Stadium - sure they've played themselves out of the CIC trophy and bowl hopes for this year - but there will come a time when Jeff Monken's squad will have to make a statement.

Workers put finishing touches on the Yankee Stadium gridiron today in advance of Saturday's 3:30 p.m. Army-UConn game 

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 5, 2014

Say what you will about the revolving door and injuries at key spots on both sides of Army's football... there will come a time where the Army football team will have to stand up and grow some hair. For me that's this week. Yankee Stadium game - it's a chance for the Black Knights to exorcise the demons of that venue. You get a UConn team - who has been beatable every week this year - with a train trip or bus trip road game however you want to call it, riding the high of knocking off a decent UCF team last week. No secret how they pulled that off- it was by capitalizing on the same turnover bug that has set Army back for as long as I can remember. So forget about the post season or a CIC championship; forget about the seniors - they will have their day. Saturday is about the program making a statement.The first steps for Jeff Monken's Army team are taken on Yankee Stadium turf tomorrow at 3:30.



Army's got some pretty crispy swag for the NYC game:

Black helmets upgraded with camo numbers for the match up vs UConn at Yankee Stadium #swagoftheweek #goARMY 

— Army Football (@Army_Football) November 7, 2014

The Army game notes (.pdf) are up.





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Army 2-6

Rough way to go out against Air Force. Army played a strong first half defensively and it looked like they could keep it close solely on the mojo of the defense. I probably don't stand alone in saying it felt like it was a question of 'not if but when' Army's defense would falter. There have been lapses on defense in every game and while the defense was stout early - the close nature of the game magnified Air Force's big plays.

On the other side of the ball the complete ineffectiveness of Army's offense plowed under any hope to pull the game out in the second half and the blame sits firmly on the offense for not being able to move the football - even a little bit. 1 for 12 on 3rd down simply doesn't cut it. It was like Air Force started with 2 D linemen bracketing Angel Santiago upon every snap. I think it's amazing that Army had a chance to make it a game through the 3rd quarter, but defensively, Army came to play. Offensively, no they did not. 

It was just one of those growing games that you get with a first year coaching staff. 8 games in, I don't think anyone imagined Army would be sitting here with just two wins, and that's a lot of what stings about where the team is at right now. Phil Steele's prediction that Army would flirt with bowl eligibility is now in the ash heap of history - but don't let that bring you down. There are positives to be taken from every game and the young guys who have stepped in this year and filled in for injuries are the seeds planted for this program to grow.

Army is years away from where they need to be, but the way they will come around is with that familiar one game at a time ethos. Stick with them, they will get better, they will beat teams, they will win games, and it all starts this week against Connecticut.


Story stats and highlights



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