The Army Black Knights have gone just 7-28 the last 3 years, since going 7-6 in 2010, that included a Bowl win over SMU. New HC Jeff Monken steps in with the task of turning around the fortunes of this club, but even with 16 starters back it will not be easy in his first year. Preview & schedule are below.
The Black Knights scored 24.4 ppg last year, but should be able to put more points on the board this year with 9 starters back, including all 3 QB’s that took snaps last year. AJ Schurr looks to have the job, after playing 6 games last year and having a solid spring. He may be the better passer of the three, to go along with being a very mobile QB as well. The running game welcomes back both Terry Baggett and Larry Dixon, who combined for 1818 yards and 12 TDs last year and you can bet that Monken will get at least the same kind of production from these two, especially behind a solid OL that returns 3 starters and has some decent depth. The WR corps is seldom used, but Xavier Moss is back after catching 35 balls for 463 yards and 1 TD last year. The defense has allowed 31.8+ ppg the last 2 years, but with 32 lettermen and 7 starters back on this side of the ball, they should be a much improved group. That is very unusual for a service academy to have that many letterman back on one side of the ball, but Ellerson played many underclassmen last year and that will help them this year. The DL is the strength of this defense, with all 3 starters back and all 3 being seniors, while the LB and secondary will be much improved this year.
Jeff Monken had solid success at Georgia Southern and will be expected to do the same here. He does have coaching experience at a service academy, having been an assistant at Navy, so he should do fine here. He was not happy with the team’s toughness in the spring, but I feel that will be worked out in fall camp. The Knights rank as the 10 th most experienced team in the nation by Phil Steele, with 12 senior starters overall and 13 more in the 2-deep. The Offense is improved and will sport the 9th best set of running backs in the nation, while the defense will improve as well with 32 lettermen returning on that side of the ball. The schedule has a few soft spots on it, but not enough to garner bowl eligibility. They will be improved though. KEY TREND: 1-9 ATS the last 9 meetings at Wake Forest.
2014 Army Football Schedule
Sat, Sep 6th, 2014 Buffalo
Sat, Sep 13th, 2014 at Stanford
Sat, Sep 20th, 2014 at Wake Forest
Sat, Sep 27th, 2014 at Yale
Sat, Oct 4th, 2014 Ball State
Sat, Oct 11th, 2014 Rice
Sat, Oct 18th, 2014 at Kent State
Sat, Nov 1st, 2014 Air Force
Sat, Nov 8th, 2014 Connecticut
Sat, Nov 15th, 2014 at Western Kentucky
Sat, Nov 22nd, 2014 Fordham
Sat, Dec 13th, 2014 Navy
Info gathered From Phil Steele's CFB Preview and Athlon Sports
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