Army punting on its first offensive drive of the 2024 season?
Not exactly the way Army coach Jeff Monken wanted to start offensively. Monken and the Black Knights special teams had a surprise for Lehigh.
Andon Thomas, positioned in the middle of the punting shield, called a fake punt and took the snap 35 yards for a first down. Thomas’ run was the game’s tone setter. Army’s offense scored touchdowns on six of its seven possessions (the only one without a TD was started with 23 seconds left in the first half after red-zone interception).
“I didn’t want to start the season our first offensive drive with a punt,” Monken said. “We have a new offensive coordinator. The system we are running is a little bit different. I want our guys to have some confidence.”
When asked if the call was “gutsy” to make, Monken said, “If you think it’s going to work, how much guts does it take? I was confident it was going to work. It’s a pretty easy call. If it wasn’t there, he (Thomas) could have called it off and we punt.”
Army punter James Wagenseller, who sell the fake beautifully, will have to wait for his first college kick.
Speaking of Army’s new offensive coordinator, Cody Worley gets an ‘A’ for his official debut. Worley’s play-calling and scheme weren’t as predictable as the past. Running backs were kept fresh with a deep rotation that had six players with two or more carries.
There was a concerted effort to get the ball on the perimeter or edge in the run game. Haven’t said that in a while. Slotbacks Noah Short and sophomores Samari Howard and David Clerk, seeing their first game action, combined for 12 carries. Short ran outside on Army’s second play of the game and had two more outside runs on the opening drive. Hayden Reed, who played in the slot as well as the backfield, added five carries.
In all, Army totaled 432 yards of offense, 375 on the ground. There was more there if a couple of passes were hit. The Black Knights were balanced as three rushers had 75 or more yards – Short (83, career high), quarterback Bryson Daily (78) and Kanye Udoh (75). And, the Black Knights still will be adding game-breaking running back Tyrell Robinson at some point.
Something Donavon Platt said in the postgame press conference rang true for Army’s season-opening win over Lehigh and possibly the 2024 campaign.
Three words. “Strength in numbers.”
“Next-guy-up mentality,” said Platt, who made a sweet interception in the end zone. “Whenever somebody can’t go out there and compete, then we always have depth and we know that the standard doesn’t change no matter what position you are on the depth chart, you go out there and you’re expected to do what you need to do to be successful.”
Army shuffled in players from its two-deep early and often and received significant plays and contributions up and down the roster. Will this be something that continues at Florida Atlantic in the team’s American Athletic Conference debut Saturday? Or was it just a case of playing an FCS opponent in Lehigh.
To be determined. Coming into the season, this Army team probably had fewer returning starts amongst its veteran players than most in the previous five or so years? But, the Black Knights have plenty of players, like Platt, that have gotten a taste of game snaps and want more.
Thought Army’s defense would be more a bend-don’t-break unit with many graduation losses. The defense was a little too much “bend” than Monken would have liked. Lehigh averaged 5.2 yards a carries, simply can’t have that. There were times when Army defenders were out of position, take the wrong pursuit angle or simply missed a tackle. Has to be cleaned up.
And, Monken mentioned Lehigh’s 22-yard completion on 1st-and-25 multiple times during his press conference. Can’t have it.
Finish this with a topic that many were talking about after the game. Army’s final touchdown scored with 19 seconds made some bettors happy for the cover and others unhappy with the under total.
The drive started with 3:09 left and second-string quarterback Dewayne Coleman entering the game for the first time. Asked Monken after his press conference about Coleman getting game reps.
“It didn’t want to go out there and just park the bus,” Monken said. “I wanted him (Coleman) to put a drive together and play. At some point in the season, he may have to go in and play. I wanted him to have the confidence to go in and move the team down the field. I was really proud him and he did a good job.”
