(Photo courtesy of Army Athletic Communications)WEST POINT, NEW YORK (September 26, 2008) For the first time this season, the Army football team will don the white jerseys.
After opening the season with three home games and a bye week, the Black Knights will play at Texas A&M Saturday afternoon at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. The game will be carried live by Versus and the Army Radio Network. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:38 ET.
Army, 0-3, is expected to play in front of a large crowd that could top 80,000 as Texas A&M tries to even its mark at 2-2.
The game will mark a homecoming of sorts for the 22 players on the Black Knights roster who hail from the talent-rich state of Texas.
The Black Knights will look to get on track offensively and post their first win of the season following setbacks to Temple, New Hampshire and Akron.
“They are a very good football team,” said Army head coach Stan Brock of Texas A&M. “I know that they lost to Arkansas State and then they lost last week to Miami, but they are a very big, powerful, pro-style team and they love to run the ball with their big fullback. They had a quarterback who started last week for the first time and is very mobile. We’re not sure which quarterback we will see. Defensively, they are very good. They’re big, strong, and fast with good linebackers, and they have really good cover guys. It’ll be a big challenge for us going down there to Kyle Field, but we are getting on the plane for one reason, and that’s to go down there and win.”
The Aggies, under former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman, opened the season with an 18-14 loss to Arkansas State and then beat New Mexico, 28-22. A loss to Miami, 41-23, dropped their mark to 1-2.
“Our number one objective is to win the game,” said Sherman. “We go in expecting to win the football game and are disappointed that we didn’t. I told them that it’s okay to be upset and mad that we didn’t win the game. I want you to be upset that we didn’t win, but you’ve got to flush it out of your system when we come back to work on Tuesday. That’s important. We should expect to win. There’s so many areas that I think we made an improvement on that aren’t actually visible to you all. And there are areas we still have to get better, a lot of areas, that’s evident.”
A look at the matchups:
QUARTERBACKS
Army has utilized three quarterbacks this season, all who have had some success. Junior Carson Williams (6-3, 212) has started all three games. He has completed 19 of 32 passes for 221 yards with a touchdown and pair of interceptions. Sophomore Chip Bowden (6-0, 218) has connected on one pass but has rushed 35 times for 104 yards. Senior Carlo Sandiego (5-6, 176) is a third option and has carried six times in three games.
Texas A&M has not listed a starting quarterback and both Stephen McGee and Jerrod Johnson are expected to play, if healthy. McGee, a 6-3, 207-pound senior, has played in two games and connected on 22 of 32 passes for 190 yards. He has two interceptions. A junior, Johnson (6-5, 229) has played in all three games and completed 29 of 51 passes for 399 yards and six touchdowns.
IN THE BACKFIELD
Army fullback Collin Mooney (5-10, 247) grew up about 90 minutes from College Station and will return to his home state as the team’s leading rusher with 52 carries for 174 yards. Wesley McMahand (5-5, 177) has 64 rushing yards while Tony Dace (5-6, 187) has 40. Robert McClary (5-11, 247), Bryson Carl (6-0, 256), Patrick Mealy (5-8, 203), Justin Turner (5-8, 197) and Jameson Carter (5-11, 187) may also factor into the running games.
Texas A&M counters with a huge fullback of its own in Jorvrskie Lane, a senior who is listed at 6-0, 270. He has rushed seven times for 19 yards. Junior Mike Goodson (6-0, 196) is the team’s leading rusher with 42 carries for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Freshman Cyrus Gray (5-10, 188) is second on the squad with 19 carries for 56 yards.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Carter, a sophomore, tops the Black Knights receiving charts with six catches for 112 yards. Sandiego has four catches for 53 yards while senior Mike Wright (6-2, 218) has three catches for 32 yards. Five others have at least one reception.
Goodson also leads the Aggies in receiving with 12 grabs for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jeff Fuller (6-4, 209) has 11 catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns while Ryan Tannehill (6-4, 204) has eight caches for 116 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Brock praised the offensive line for its improvements between weeks two and three and will look for even more production out of the veteran group. Senior Trey Miranne (6-0, 273), is surrounded by senior guards Mike Lemming (6-3, 298) and Brandon Cox (6-3, 294) and junior tackles Jason Johnson (6-2, 260) and Ali Villanueva (6-10, 302).
Texas A&M averages more than 300 pounds across its offensive line, led by junior guard Lee Grimes who is listed at 6-6, 339 pounds. Evan Elke (6-4, 303) is the other guard and they are joined by center Kevin Matthews (6-4, 297) and tackles Travis Schneider (6-8, 290) and Michael Shumard (6-5, 301).
DEFENSIVE LINE
Army is allowing just 140 rushing yards per game and only 169 through the air. End Fritz Bentler (6-3, 235) and Victor Ugenyi (6-3, 253) are joined in the 4-3 defense by tackles Ted Bentler (6-2, 280) and Mike Gann (6-2, 270). Gann has 10 tackles, a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss while Ugenyi has been credited with five stops. Marcus Hilton (6-0, 252), Joe Paolini (6-0, 264), Mark Faldowski (6-3, 235) and David Shore (6-5, 253) could also factor in on the defensive line.
The Aggies are allowing 210 rushing yards per contest and 184 passing yards and also play a 4-3 defense. Seniors Michael Bennett (6-4, 261), Amos Gbunblee (6-5, 250) and Cyril Obiozor (6-4 264) comprise the rotation at end with Lucas Patterson (6-4, 297) and Tony Jerrod-Eddie (6-5, 256) at the tackle spots. Bennnet has a team-best 4.5 tackles for loss and has 18 tackles.
LINEBACKERS
Three of Army’s top-four tacklers are linebackers. Josh McNary (6-1, 231) is the team leader with 25 tackles and three tackles for loss. John Plumstead (5-10, 222) is third with 19 tackles while Frank Scappaticci (6-1, 224) has 17.
Two juniors, Matt Featherston (6-2, 235) and Anthony Lewis (6-2, 254) share the middle linebacker duties and Featherston leads the team with 32 tackles. Garrick Williams (6-2, 217), Jonathan Haynes (6-2, 204), Von Miller (6-3, 214) and Derek Dumas (6-0, 221) are the outside linebackers for the Aggies.
“It is different in the sense that the triple option is not something you’re going to see very often, or ever, throughout the course of the season except for when you play that team,” said Sherman. “During preseason camp we spent a little time working a little period on Army, but it’s nothing like game week and preparation for that. It’s a whole lot different than the read option, so all the nuances that go with the triple option are just specific to that offense. They don’t throw the ball a whole heck of a lot. When they do it’s usually an explosive-type play down the field. So you do have to prepare for them differently, no question.”
SECONDARY
Army’s secondary has two interceptions and has limited opponents’ passing yardage to less than 170 per game. Senior Lowell Garthwaite (6-1, 207) is the second leading tackler with 20 and has two pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles. Sophomore Donavan Travis (6-1, 187) is the other safety with Jordan Trimble (5-10, 183) and Mario Hill (6-0, 182) at the corners.
The Aggies have five returning starters back in the secondary. Corners Arkeith Brown (6-0, 174), Danny Gorber (6-0, 173) and Jordan Pugh (5-11, 191) all have starting experience and Brown has one of the team’s three interceptions. Alton Dixon (5-11, 197) and Devin Gregg (6-0, 190) are listed as returning starters at “rover” while Jordan Peterson (5-10, 184) is the safety.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Matthew Campbell (5-9, 195) is averaging 53.7 yards per kickoff for the Black Knights while Andrew Rinehart (6-1, 217) averages 37.5 yards per punt. Carter, Sandiego and Mealy have all returned punts or kicks. Sandiego has five punt returns and six kickoff returns while Mealy and Carter have each returned five kicks.
Justin Brantly (6-3, 241) averages 46 yards punt for Texas A&M while Richie Bean (5-11, 172) averages 69.2 yards on kickoffs. Jordan Pugh (5-11, 191) has returned seven punts for 60 yards and Cyrus Gray (5-10, 188) has 10 kick returns for 167 yards.
Army will continue its two-game road trip next weekend at Tulane.
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