Familiarity breeds contempt, some say. In Commander in Chief trophy games, it also makes it very difficult to gain an edge on your opponent.
While Army coach Jeff Monken says his team is improving, week by week, he is also keenly aware that in order to put a ‘W’ on the ledger this week against rival Air Force, Army’s coaching staff needs to come up with something different and the players need to execute those plays in order to defeat the Falcons.
Besides being the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief trophy series for the Black Knights, knocking off Air Force is absolutely vital if Army hopes to finish the season on a high note and qualify for a postseason bowl game with the mandatory six victories..
The two squads will kick off today at noon EDT at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo. in a nationally-televised game on CBS. Army enters the game at 3-4 after losing a 24-17 heartbreaker at Tulane two weeks ago where the Black Knights had a seven-point lead with less than six minutes to play in the contest. Air Force is just 2-5 on the season, beating Wyoming two weeks ago, 24-21.
“We are both trying to win the game and doing what we do best to try to win the game and typically that means running the football,” Monken said. “All three academies have historically been good rushing teams and run the ball effectively. We are not doing it as effectively as we did a year ago. But we are still a running football team and we have to do it well if we want to give ourselves a chance to win.
“It really is just trying to figure out what we got to do to win. If that means throwing the ball, then we throw the ball. If that means running the ball, we run the ball. It is hard to make a yard in these games because everyone is playing so hard and both teams are fighting like crazy to win.”
If nothing else, recent history is on the side of the Black Knights. Army has won six of the last eight games between the two teams and have a two-game winning streak. Army has also outscored the Falcons, 43-6 in the team’s last two meetings and the Army defense has forced nine turnovers in those games.
But, unlike the recent past, Air Force seems to be the more dominant offensive team this year, scoring more than 36 points a game, compared to about 24 per game for Army. Much like Army, the Falcons rely heavily on their quarterback to generate yardage. If Army is going to win the game, they will have to stop Liam Szarka, the Falcons sophomore quarterback who has completed 55 of 80 passes for 1,058 yards and eight touchdowns. He has also generated 725 yards on 129 rushing carries and scored nine rushing touchdowns.
“(Szarka) is a tough, strong runner and he is fast and gets out into the open field and builds speed,” Monken said. “He has done a great job in the passing game. They have an effective run game which gives them some opportunities to get some one-one battles out on the perimeter and he has thrown good balls and they have good receivers.”
On the other hand, Army seems to be more dominant on defense, allowing 24 points a game compared to 37.3 points per game for the Falcons and giving up about 150 fewer yards per game to the opposition than Air Force.
Monken is well aware that Army will have to dominate the time of possession and limit turnovers if the Black Knights hope to come away with a victory. It will be up to junior quarterback Cale Hellums to keep the offense humming. Hellums has scored 10 rushing touchdowns and is the team’s leading rusher with 605 yards on 148 carries. He has only tried 37 passes, completing 19 for 274 yards and one touchdown.
“It is an incredible challenge to win this game and it has been every year,” added Monken, who has a 6-5 record against Air Force and its longtime coach Troy Calhoun. “There have been some great battles. We just have to do as well as we possibly can just like they have to do what they do as possibly as they can. The team that does it best and likely makes the fewest mistakes will likely find itself in the winner’s circle.”
