The Black Knights march down the field on late drive to earn the trophy for the third time in four years.
In sports, victory can come in many different ways. Case in point – the 2020 Army football team (9-2), which scored a narrow, 10-7 win over Air Force (3-3) Saturday at West Point’s Michie Stadium. The victory – coupled with last week’s 15-0 shutout over Navy – gives the cadets the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy for the third time in four years.
Last week, in the 121st renewal of “America’s Game,” the main story was the Army defense, which held the midshipmen to just four first downs and 117 total offensive yards. But those were just numbers. Years from now, what will be remembered is The Stand – the Black Knights’ epic defensive effort that prevented Navy from scoring a go-ahead touchdown despite launching four consecutive running plays from inside the Army 2-yard line.
Saturday’s 55th meeting with Air Force was a titanic struggle pitting the third-ranked defense in the nation (Army) against the Falcons’ eighth-ranked defense. Yet, the difference was The Drive – a relentless, slow, methodical, physical, running attack that took 16 plays to advance 80 yards while chewing 7:11 of the clock and giving Army a late lead. It was classic West Point football executed to perfection. Army controlled the ball (73 plays giving possession for 37:26 compared to 40 covering 22:34 for the Falcons), and finished with 290 offensive yards (all on the ground) to the 261 (154 rushing, 107 passing) of Air Force.
“When we needed a drive right there at the end, the offense came through,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken. “Up to then, we kept stalling out, (because) we weren’t sustaining blocks to get the ball into scoring position. When we needed it, our guys just gutted it out – they were just determined. (It was also) a great job by the defense; they were really fast and shut them (the Falcons) down (in the gaps).”
Two crucial Army players in the march to the end zone weren’t even expected to be on the field Saturday.
“That’s been the story of this team,” Monken said. “This spirit and this brotherhood here. These guys love each other and that showed in how hard they fought for each other. One guy goes down and another guy steps up. That’s what we’ve been doing all year. There’s almost 50 guys on our team that weren’t able to dress out (in football uniforms to play) today. That tells you they just believed they were going to win and they found a way.”
Army started the game with sophomore Tyhier Tyler at quarterback and senior Sandon McCoy at fullback. Through durability and productivity, both had established themselves as the primary options for the two positions.
Early in the second quarter, McCoy delivered a key block that opened a hole for Tyler, who gained seven yards to give Army a first down on the Air Force 14. However, an Air Force player fell awkwardly onto McCoy’s right leg. McCoy left the field struggling to walk on his injured limb and did not return and was replaced by sophomore Jakobi Buchanan. Four plays later, Army opened the scoring with a field goal.
Just over four minutes later, Tyler handed off to Buchanan, the 260-pound fullback who looks more like a small lineman, who blasted ahead for 16 yards. On that play, Air Force junior linebacker Brandon Gooding plowed into Tyler who struggled to regain consciousness for several minutes. Army medical staff helped Tyler walk off the field, but he had difficulty closing his jaw and maintaining eye contact. As a result, Tyler spent the final 37 minutes on the sidelines as junior Christian Anderson came off the bench to be the Army field leader.
Anderson is Army’s top passing quarterback (40 attempts, 15 completions for 158 yards and a touchdown), but cold temperatures – 27 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff dropping throughout the game to 19 at the end – meant that he would focus on the run and the handoff/pitch aspects of the triple option offense. It took awhile to come together. On their first series together, Anderson and Buchanan helped the Black Knights move 34 yards on eight plays before turning over possession on downs.
With Army clinging to its 3-0 lead, Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun tried to shake things up 10 minutes into the third quarter. Quarterback Haaziq Daniels put together a balanced drive with passes and runs, including a
39-yard completion to Kyle Patterson that left Air Force with a first-and-goal from the Army 9-yard-line.
Four plays later, Daniels threaded the needle between Army’s senior linebacker Jon Rhattigan (who led the Black Knights with seven tackles) and junior defensive back Malkelm Morrison, firing a 10-yard bullet to Patterson for the touchdown. It was the first score Army had allowed in two hours and four minutes of game action dating to late in the third quarter against Georgia Southern on Nov. 21.
With the Falcons once again moving the ball, Daniels (6-for-14 passing for 107 yards, 1 TD, but 3 interceptions) then went for the big play – throwing down the middle into the end zone for Daniel Morris. But Army sophomore defensive back Jabari Moore was with him stride for stride and came down with the ball, giving Army a touchback and a final chance with just 8:24 left in the game.
“They were getting success with the play-action passes,” Moore said. “And we knew they were going to go back to that. So when they lined up unbalanced, we knew what was coming and set up for that. We had practiced that all week. It was a long, tough road to win the CIC trophy with these back-to-back wins – it was an unbelievable experience, just amazing.”
Monken stuck to the running attack. Anderson, who finished with 85 rushing yards on 18 carries, steadily drove the Black Knights down the field. Buchanan finished the drive with a bulldozer push into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from inside the Air Force 1.
“As soon as Jabari (Moore) got that pick [interception], we knew that it was our time,” said Buchanan, who led all runners with 86 yards on 21 carries and tops Army with 474 yards this year. “It was going to be an old-fashioned Army football drive. We wanted to take it down by down, yard by yard. We just never lost faith. When we can get four or five yards a play, it just demoralizes the (opposing) defense. They can’t stop it.
“For us, fourth down is another opportunity. We just always knew that we were going to get that touchdown. Once we got to fourth down on the one (yard line), honestly, that was one of the calmest moments I’ve ever had on the football field. I just knew that we were all on the same page. We were ready to go and that’s exactly what we did. Our offensive line just blew them off the ball and that cleared the way (for me).”
The victory earns the Black Knights possession of the CIC Trophy, the ninth time Army has earned the award since its inception in 1972. Army will face West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., at 4 p.m. ET Dec. 31 on ESPN. The Black Knights had originally been scheduled to compete in the Independence Bowl, but that game was canceled due to opt-outs by other schools. Army replaces Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl after the Volunteers had to drop out of the game due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests.
The Black Knights and their coaches are expected to visit the White House in early 2021 to officially receive the CIC Trophy from the president.
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