Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 127 BY BRYAN DRISKELL Head coach Jeff Monken has been tasked with once again making Army West Point (the new name is part of an athletics-wide rebrand- ing) competitive on the football field, much like the Navy program that has won at least eight games in 12 of the last 13 seasons. Monken enters his third season after leading Georgia Southern to three straight trips to the Football Championship Subdivision semifi- nals. In his final season, Monken led the Eagles to a 26-20 road victory over Florida. The hope was his triple-option offense would bring simi- lar success to West Point, N.Y. The Black Knights have gone just 6-18 in his two seasons, but that record overshadows the improvements made under Monken. Last fall, Army lost six games by less than seven points, with two of those defeats coming on the game's final play. Those around the program feel the 2016 season could be their breakthrough. "Their expectations are they feel like they can get to the postseason," Times Herald-Re- cord writer Sal Interdonato said. "They were so close, a play here and a play there and who knows, they might have been closer to .500 and knocking on the door of a bowl game." Monken has made the Black Knights com- petitive, but getting over the hump requires changing the culture of a program that has one winning season in the last 19 years. "That losing is kind of engrained in the play- ers; you have to pull out some of those games," Interdonato said. "In year three, there are really no excuses, you have the players you recruited and you have the system in place; now you have to go out there and win games." Army will rely heavily on a defense that ranked 47th nationally in total yards allowed per game (375.6) last season. "The defense kept them in games and was able to overachieve a little bit," Interdonato said. "They're going to have to do that again this year." In the spring, Monken took steps to im- prove the offense, focusing on limiting the 38 fumbles it had last fall and getting more production from the fullback. Army moved two linebackers to fullback despite the return of senior starter Aaron Kemper. "The fullback dive gets everything else go- ing, and last year they couldn't get it going," Interdonato explained. "Monken decided he wants to play smash-mouth football, so he needs bigger backs. Andy Davidson moves piles, Cole Macek moves piles." If Army can get more production from an offense that ranked 109th nationally with just 22.1 points per game, a push for a postseason berth is in sight. ✦ 2016 SCHEDULE Date Opponent 2015 Result Sept. 2 at Temple — Sept. 10 Rice L, 38-31 Sept. 17 at UTEP — Sept. 24 at Buffalo — Oct. 8 at Duke L, 44-3 Oct. 15 Lafayette — Oct. 22 North Texas — Oct. 29 at Wake Forest L, 17-14 Nov. 5 Air Force L, 20-3 Nov. 12 vs. Notre Dame* — Nov. 19 Morgan State — Dec. 10 vs. Navy^ L, 21-17 * at San Antonio; ^ at Baltimore QUICK FACTS All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads 38-8-4 Last Meeting: Notre Dame 27, Army 3 (Nov. 20, 2010; New York City) Head Coach: Jeff Monken, 6-18 (3rd year) and 44-34 overall (7th year) 2015 Results: 2-10 overall Returning Starters: 14 (6 offense, 8 defense) 2016 Preseason Rankings: No. 97 by ESPN's Football Performance Index, No. 111 by Athlon, No. 119 by CollegeFootballNews.com and No. 120 by Lindy's Did You Know?: The inaugural game of the Shamrock Series was also held in San Antonio, when the Irish defeated Washington State 40-14 at the Alamodome in 2009 … Notre Dame has won 14 straight games in the series, outscoring Army 494-82 during that stretch. Prediction: Notre Dame 55, Army 6 STRENGTH: Inside Linebackers Army put together a quality defensive performance in 2015, ranking 47th nationally in total yards allowed per game and eighth in first downs surrendered (216). It was the defense that kept the Black Knights in games, holding six of its opponents to 22 or fewer points, including Penn State to just 20 points, Navy to 21 points, Air Force to 20 points and Wake Forest to 17 points. The unit was fueled by a pair of experienced and productive inside linebackers that are poised to once again carry the defense. Seniors Andrew King and Jer - emy Timpf tied for the team lead with 92 tackles apiece. Timpf led the Black Knights in tackles in 2014, racking up 117 stops and 14.5 tackles for loss. He finished that season ranked seventh nationally with 6.6 solo tackles per game. King emerged as the primary playmaker on the 2015 defense, leading the team with 55 solo tackles and ranking 21st nationally with 16.5 tackles for loss. Army used King to attack the backfield, and his disruptive play — along with Timpf's production — helped the Black Knights hold all but two of its opponents to less than 5.0 yards per rush attempt, with five of those opponents averaging less than 4.2 yards per attempt. WEAKNESS: Fullback Like any good triple-option offense, the quarterback and fullback run game are the two main ingredients. Whether it's returning starter Ahmad Bradshaw or soph- omore Chris Carter — who started the final two games of last season — the Black Knights appear to be in good shape next year under center. Less certainty exists at fullback, where Army was not satisfied with the play of leading rusher Aaron Kemper. The senior rushed for 544 yards a season ago, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt, but that average was inflated by a handful of big runs. At just 5-6 and 210 pounds, Kemper does not fit the prototype grinder the triple option needs between the tackles. According to Army beat writer Sal Interdonato, 44 percent of Army's fullback runs last season went for two yards or less. Without a legitimate threat at fullback, defenses are able to key more on the quarterback and slot backs, limiting the offense's effectiveness on the perimeter. In order to address the issue, head coach Jeff Monken moved two former linebackers over in the spring. In - terdonato noted that by the end of spring Kemper was often running as the third fullback. Sophomores Andy Davidson (6-2, 220) and Cole Macek (5-11, 220) made the transition to fullback this spring after spending their freshmen campaigns at line - backer and on special teams. Davidson appears to have the inside track on the starting spot. ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS NOV. 12 • ALAMODOME • SAN ANTONIO RETURNING LEADERS Rushing: RB Aaron Kemper (544 yards, 3 TD) Passing: QB Ahmad Bradshaw (429 yards, 5 TD) Receiving: WR Edgar Poe (441 yards, 6 TD) Tackles: LB Andrew King (92) and LB Jeremy Timpf (92) Sacks: LB Andrew King (4.5) Interceptions: CB Brandon Jackson (3) X-FACTOR: Senior linebacker Andrew King tied for the team lead with 92 tackles last year, and paced the defense with 16.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. PHOTO COURTESY ARMY WEST POINT ATHLETICS