OldJacketFan
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The CPJ Bowl
- Thread starter Coloradojacket
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DvilleJacket
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Was glad to see Army win again today but sad the regular season has come and gone. Kinda feel empty inside that Tech will be at home this bowl season.
Skeptic
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I did like the Johnson-like call late to set up the Navy win. After two triple option teams playing for almost 55 minutes with what appeared to be about two being called, both times kept by the QB, Army pitched it on 3rd down to put the ball at the half yard line. Great call and well done.
Incidentally, I don't know how and when the selection is made but if Jeff Monken is not the Bobby Dodd COY winner then it is rigged. Those awards typically go to coaches of teams that were expected to be great. Nobody expected Army to win nine.
Incidentally, I don't know how and when the selection is made but if Jeff Monken is not the Bobby Dodd COY winner then it is rigged. Those awards typically go to coaches of teams that were expected to be great. Nobody expected Army to win nine.
Eli
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As long as a team runs shotgun the offensive performance was good enough
Dottie1145
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I wouldn’t mind if we went after Monken after CPJ calls it quits.
Techster
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As an aside. Offensive FEI this year:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/feioff
Army: 5
GT: 23
Navy: 27
Army did really well this year. GT and Navy in the same performance band.
Techster
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Monken has done a heck of a job since he got to Army. Army was a really bad HC job, but Monken is starting to turn them into the same type of program CPJ started at Navy. Love seeing the service academies do well.
Monken is just a good coach. He did a heck of a job at Southern as well. CPJ had some really good coaches under him.
Techster
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Offensive S&P Ratings for 2017:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaaoff
Army: 26
GT: 61
Navy: 32
Skeptic
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Yes. I think I said it before, but I thought Tech began to slide when Monken left for Statesboro. For some reason I really want to see him win that award. His comments following the game yesterday were almost Dodd-like in praising Navy.
Techster
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Super classy of him to remember to give a shout out to Ivin Jasper's son (Navy's OC) who's going through some medical issues right now. That field was chaos, and that was as emotional win as there was in that series, and he still took time and did that. Army and Navy have two class coaches.
I was disappointed that Monken took the Army job at first because I didn't want to see Coach N and Monken have to battle it out every year. But our service academies and the young men that play for them deserve the best they can get. All 3 academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) have good coaches, and even better men leading their programs. Good to see.
MikeJackets1967
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Big win for Army and Coach Monken
DvilleJacket
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Totally agree with this!
first&ten
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Please, no more TO, and no PJ off springs to replace him.
Supersizethatorder-mutt
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SMDH
takethepoints
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The one thing I saw in this game that we might see next year, depending on development at QB, is the use of the New Mexico direct snap version of the O. That's the one where there's a direct snap to the QB about 3 yards behind the line with the three backs around him in a reverse triangle. You can run most of our plays from this and it gives the QB a better chance to throw since a two step drop is all you need. Problem = the mesh is lost and the operation of the option is further behind the LOS. Most of the BB plays in this formation are either straight dives or double options off the DE, just like in a spread. No midline; there wouldn't be any point.
Still, it would be a great way to upset opposing Ds next year, if we have a QB who is a real throwing threat. But, overall, the advantage might not be enough to be worth the candle. We'll see.
Still, it would be a great way to upset opposing Ds next year, if we have a QB who is a real throwing threat. But, overall, the advantage might not be enough to be worth the candle. We'll see.
RamblinWreck92
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Yeah we would not have played well in the snow/rain/wind/touch of bad weather. Our offense is so finely-tuned and requires so much intelligence and finesse that any sort of change to the environment is just a huge disadvantage for us.
RamblinWreck92
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Meh, every single time I saw that play run, it was just a QB Keeper. The last thing our offense needs is more QB Keepers - we had more than enough of that crap this year.
JacketFromUGA
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Offsprings? Man CPJ got around early on in life.
Supersizethatorder-mutt
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From the Wall Street Journal, of all places ---
Army Football’s Run of Success
The Black Knights are so prolific running the triple-option offense that they hardly need to throw, completing only 18 passes this season
Dave Caldwell
Dec. 8, 2017 9:49 a.m. ET
The Army football team was in the middle of its 46th game under Jeff Monken last month when Boo Corrigan, the athletic director who hired Monken, saw the Black Knights run an offensive play from a formation Corrigan swears he’d never seen.
“Your assumption is, all they’re doing is running off tackle, or all they’re doing is giving it to the fullback,” Corrigan said as he watched a recent Army practice. “There’s a lot of nuance involved, because if all you’re doing is just one thing, the other team is going to figure it out.”
Army amassed 392 rushing yards—not even bothering to throw a pass—to beat Air Force that day for its seventh victory in Monken’s fourth season as coach. Army is so prolific running its triple-option offense that it hardly passes. It has all of 18 completions this year.
The Black Knights, now 8-3, take the nation’s No. 1 rushing attack into Saturday’s game against rival Navy (6-5). A year ago in Baltimore, Army beat Navy, 21-17, to end a record 14-game losing streak against the Midshipmen, who still lead the all-time series 60-50, with seven ties.
With all of 335 passing yards, Army ranks dead last among 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. But the Black Knights are already bound for the Armed Forces Bowl and have a chance to finish with 10 victories for the first time since 1996, when Army was 10-2.
Should Army beat Navy on Saturday, it would win the Commander in Chief’s Trophy—given to the winner of the competition among Army, Navy and Air Force—for the first time since 1996.
Compared with most of its opponents, Army is hardly gargantuan, with only three of the 11 interior offensive linemen on its depth chart weighing 300 pounds. Admission standards are high, and a place in the Corps of Cadets carries a five-year service commitment.
“It’s still a challenge,” Monken said of recruiting, “and it will always be a challenge. But there’s a commitment that goes along with the commitment. It’s one thing to say, ‘I’m going to come to this great institution to play football,’ but there’s an obligation to serve when you’re done. A lot of young people see that as a burden. The young people who come here realize this is an opportunity that they get to do that and are excited for that opportunity.”
Army has taken its lumps along the way, winning only six of its first 18 games under Monken. But he has stayed with his tactical approach, which puts a heavy emphasis on impeccable precision, finesse fundamentals and a commitment to teamwork.
“It comes down to ownership—holding everyone around you accountable,” said Brett Toth, a senior right tackle from Charleston, S.C. “None of us wants to be the one who lets down the others.”
Opponents think they know what is coming, but they can’t stop it, anyway. Army has not completed a pass in four of 11 games—and has won three of them.
“Just understanding the offense is the biggest thing—knowing how to maneuver everybody, get everybody on the right guys,” said Ahmad Bradshaw, a senior quarterback from Chicago who set a single-season school record with 1,472 rushing (not passing) yards. “It’s all about timing, angles, when to block a guy at a certain time. It’s not like you block a guy whenever you want.”
Bradshaw smiled when he said of the offense, “It’s just a bunch of details we didn’t understand—and we didn’t understand as younger players, either. Plays will look exactly the same, but they’ll be completely different. But if you run it right, it would work anywhere.
In essence, Army continues to confound its opponents. In the victory over Air Force, another service team that runs a similar offense, the Black Knights hammered out 392 yards on 59 rushing attempts. It lost a 52-49 shootout to North Texas despite rushing for 534 yards.
As Darnell Woolfork, a junior fullback from Endwell, N.Y., put it, “I think we can run our whole playbook out of any formation.”
Woolfork explained: “Timing is very, very important in our offense. Even if the snap is a little late, it kind of throws the play off. It comes down to details. Coach always harps on details, on and off the field. If we can’t hang up our clothes right, how can we do more complicated stuff on the field?”
Army running back Jordan Blackman runs the ball against Duke on Nov. 11. Photo: Associated Press
Sheer repetition, Monken said, has also helped. He was an assistant coach at Navy, who then became a head coach at Georgia Southern, which used the option (and not completing a pass) to stun Florida in the 2013 season finale.
“Every coach, no matter what offense or defense is run, is going for being precise in the assignment, in the fundamentals,” Monken said. “It’s just that we’ve got our schemes and other people have theirs. After doing it year after year, we haven’t changed our offense and defense. The guys who have grown up in the program are now doing it long enough that they’ve gotten better at it.”
Practices are upbeat and usually conclude with a “Fourth Quarter” competition among all 180 players in the program, such as a relay race, throwing a football or shoving a blocking sled. After practice, they get a treat on their way off the field—and make sure to take along the wrappers.
The Army defense, also undersized, has also been relatively stout, ranking 40th among FBS teams, but the offense has helped by holding on to the ball for eight minutes per game longer than opponents. The Black Knights are also No. 1 in the nation in third-down conversion.
“The thing I like about this team is that they’re the most unselfish guys I’ve ever played with,” Bradshaw said. “It’s easy to say, if I’m a receiver, ‘I’m going to this school where I can get a million catches,’ but our guys are unselfish. They know we’re not going to throw the ball 30 times a game, and we’ll stick with it.”
Bradshaw said, “It’s like playing with seven offensive linemen out there.”
Army Football’s Run of Success
The Black Knights are so prolific running the triple-option offense that they hardly need to throw, completing only 18 passes this season
Dave Caldwell
Dec. 8, 2017 9:49 a.m. ET
The Army football team was in the middle of its 46th game under Jeff Monken last month when Boo Corrigan, the athletic director who hired Monken, saw the Black Knights run an offensive play from a formation Corrigan swears he’d never seen.
“Your assumption is, all they’re doing is running off tackle, or all they’re doing is giving it to the fullback,” Corrigan said as he watched a recent Army practice. “There’s a lot of nuance involved, because if all you’re doing is just one thing, the other team is going to figure it out.”
Army amassed 392 rushing yards—not even bothering to throw a pass—to beat Air Force that day for its seventh victory in Monken’s fourth season as coach. Army is so prolific running its triple-option offense that it hardly passes. It has all of 18 completions this year.
The Black Knights, now 8-3, take the nation’s No. 1 rushing attack into Saturday’s game against rival Navy (6-5). A year ago in Baltimore, Army beat Navy, 21-17, to end a record 14-game losing streak against the Midshipmen, who still lead the all-time series 60-50, with seven ties.
With all of 335 passing yards, Army ranks dead last among 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. But the Black Knights are already bound for the Armed Forces Bowl and have a chance to finish with 10 victories for the first time since 1996, when Army was 10-2.
Should Army beat Navy on Saturday, it would win the Commander in Chief’s Trophy—given to the winner of the competition among Army, Navy and Air Force—for the first time since 1996.
Compared with most of its opponents, Army is hardly gargantuan, with only three of the 11 interior offensive linemen on its depth chart weighing 300 pounds. Admission standards are high, and a place in the Corps of Cadets carries a five-year service commitment.
“It’s still a challenge,” Monken said of recruiting, “and it will always be a challenge. But there’s a commitment that goes along with the commitment. It’s one thing to say, ‘I’m going to come to this great institution to play football,’ but there’s an obligation to serve when you’re done. A lot of young people see that as a burden. The young people who come here realize this is an opportunity that they get to do that and are excited for that opportunity.”
Army has taken its lumps along the way, winning only six of its first 18 games under Monken. But he has stayed with his tactical approach, which puts a heavy emphasis on impeccable precision, finesse fundamentals and a commitment to teamwork.
“It comes down to ownership—holding everyone around you accountable,” said Brett Toth, a senior right tackle from Charleston, S.C. “None of us wants to be the one who lets down the others.”
Opponents think they know what is coming, but they can’t stop it, anyway. Army has not completed a pass in four of 11 games—and has won three of them.
“Just understanding the offense is the biggest thing—knowing how to maneuver everybody, get everybody on the right guys,” said Ahmad Bradshaw, a senior quarterback from Chicago who set a single-season school record with 1,472 rushing (not passing) yards. “It’s all about timing, angles, when to block a guy at a certain time. It’s not like you block a guy whenever you want.”
Bradshaw smiled when he said of the offense, “It’s just a bunch of details we didn’t understand—and we didn’t understand as younger players, either. Plays will look exactly the same, but they’ll be completely different. But if you run it right, it would work anywhere.
In essence, Army continues to confound its opponents. In the victory over Air Force, another service team that runs a similar offense, the Black Knights hammered out 392 yards on 59 rushing attempts. It lost a 52-49 shootout to North Texas despite rushing for 534 yards.
As Darnell Woolfork, a junior fullback from Endwell, N.Y., put it, “I think we can run our whole playbook out of any formation.”
Woolfork explained: “Timing is very, very important in our offense. Even if the snap is a little late, it kind of throws the play off. It comes down to details. Coach always harps on details, on and off the field. If we can’t hang up our clothes right, how can we do more complicated stuff on the field?”
Army running back Jordan Blackman runs the ball against Duke on Nov. 11. Photo: Associated Press
Sheer repetition, Monken said, has also helped. He was an assistant coach at Navy, who then became a head coach at Georgia Southern, which used the option (and not completing a pass) to stun Florida in the 2013 season finale.
“Every coach, no matter what offense or defense is run, is going for being precise in the assignment, in the fundamentals,” Monken said. “It’s just that we’ve got our schemes and other people have theirs. After doing it year after year, we haven’t changed our offense and defense. The guys who have grown up in the program are now doing it long enough that they’ve gotten better at it.”
Practices are upbeat and usually conclude with a “Fourth Quarter” competition among all 180 players in the program, such as a relay race, throwing a football or shoving a blocking sled. After practice, they get a treat on their way off the field—and make sure to take along the wrappers.
The Army defense, also undersized, has also been relatively stout, ranking 40th among FBS teams, but the offense has helped by holding on to the ball for eight minutes per game longer than opponents. The Black Knights are also No. 1 in the nation in third-down conversion.
“The thing I like about this team is that they’re the most unselfish guys I’ve ever played with,” Bradshaw said. “It’s easy to say, if I’m a receiver, ‘I’m going to this school where I can get a million catches,’ but our guys are unselfish. They know we’re not going to throw the ball 30 times a game, and we’ll stick with it.”
Bradshaw said, “It’s like playing with seven offensive linemen out there.”