Army has a big point to make when the Black Knights take the field against Louisiana Tech next Saturday in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
After a shocking 31-13 loss to arch-rival Navy last Saturday, Army coach Jeff Monken said the bowl game has taken on even more importance to make sure the Black Knights, now 11-2, finish the season on a winning note.
“I think any time you get your butt whipped you want to get back out there and prove that is not who we are,” said Monken in a press conference Thursday. “That was who we were on Saturday but we have one more opportunity to play a game and for our seniors to play. And, to finish out a season and it’s been a good season. We won a lot of games. It was not a great season, beating those guys last Saturday would have made it a great season.
“This would be a great win for us if we get it to finish the season. We will have to earn it against a very athletic team, a very good team that is well coached and playing at home. There are going to be some challenges for us.”
Army comes into the game with some questions about their opponent. First, the Black Knights are facing a team that initially was not selected for a postseason bowl game after finishing the season with a 5-7 record, good for fifth place in Conference USA. Three of the Bulldog’s losses came in overtime.
The Bulldogs took the spot originally slated for Marshall, the Sun Belt Conference champion. But, after the Thundering Herd lost their head coach Charlie Huff to Southern Mississippi and about 35 players entered the transfer portal and declined to participate in the bowl game, Marshall officials decided they would skip the game.
Louisiana Tech’s campus, in Ruston, La., is only about 60 miles east of Shreveport and Monken expects the Bulldogs to bring a large and boisterous group of fans.
“They are good on defense,” Monken said. “They lost some really close games. I am just really impressed with their personnel. There are a lot of question marks. Who is going to play? What offense are they going to run?
“I am told that they have a change in offensive coordinator and the new offensive coordinator may be calling the plays. We don’t know so we are preparing for a lot and it is making it particularly challenging for us.”
Army comes into the game pretty well intact. While Monken said some players were banged up from the last few weeks, including beating Tulane to win the American Athletic Conference on Dec. 6, he expects most to play against Louisiana Tech.
Of course, the one exception is Kanye Udoh, Army’s sophomore running back who rushed for 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns this year but announced after the Army-Navy game that he was entering the transfer portal.
Monken said he will turn to a trio of running backs, including junior Hayden Reed and sophomores Jake Redina and Carson Smith, to join senior quarterback Bryson Daily, senior slotback Tyrell Robinson and junior slotback Noah Short in the backfield.
“We have other guys and we will adjust,” he said. “I am sure we will continue to do the things we do on offense. We don’t intend to change and be different schematically because of a change in a player.”
Monken was named ECAC FBS coach of the year Thursday. Daily, Udoh, center Brady Small and tackle Connor Finucane were selected to the all-ECAC team.
