The United States Military Academy

[AZJAZ]

Army Football History (http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/army/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/fbhistory.pdf)

The history of Army football is long and decorated with familiar names such as Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard along with infamous coach Red Blaik, but the recent history of Army football has left something to be desired. Having finished in the AP top 25 just once since 1958, the Army tradition has been all but forgotten.

When Army hired Bobby Ross in December of 2003 they had visions of a rebith of Army football. Visions of All-Americans and Heisman Trophy winners danced in the heads of Army officers all over the world, but even the most zealous supporters realize how difficult it would be for Army to ever become a national power once again, but Bobby rekindled some of those images by going 2-9 in his first campaign. It may not seem like much but at least it was a place to start.

That is why when Bobby retired due to family issues before the 2005 season the Army faithful were again sullen and downtrodden, all their hopes and desires dashed for now ......

[Jayhawk_Football]

Nice pick, i wonder how much freedom you have in scheduling since you are an independent?

Would be cool if they could implement some kind of height/weight/academic restrictions on the academies but that would probably be tough to do. In my game all the academies run vertical passing offenses with 6'5+ receivers..

[AZJAZ]

Ken Sparks (http://www.afca.com/lev3.cfm/702)

Some of you might be asking, who is Ken Sparks? He has been the head coach at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee. They play Division II football and he has compiled a career mark of 243-57-2. They were also NAIA champions five times from 1983-1989, and they have only missed the NCAA playoffs twice since 1993. Ken might be best known as one of the only remaining coaching to still run the split back veer offense made famous by Bill Yeoman at Houston in the 1970's. With the hiring of Sparks, Army football has put itself on the path of competition once again. Although the splitback veer differs from the offenses run at Navy and Air Force it will give Army a chance to compete against superior competition. Army supporters once again have something to hope for as Army may be put on the map once again.

[AZJAZ]

Any good option offense has to have a quarterback who can execute the offense. The only problem with the current Army squad is that they dont have a QB to run the offense. So the first few years might be filled with some growing pains to try to get the personnel to fit the offense, and on that note Army will be starting senior QB Gary Thompson who has a grand total of ZERO playing time prior to the season.

[AZJAZ]

I was allowed to schedule four games which is just fine with me. I tried to schedule some regional games with teams that the current Black Knights could compete with. I submitted home-away offers to Buffalo, Duke, Ohio and Indiana. Indiana was the only team to decline the offer. In week two I offered a home-away with Rutgers and they accepted.

The schedule is as follows

1 - Air Force
2 - UCONN
3 - @ Buffalo
4 - OPEN
5 - @ TCU
6 - @ Rutgers
7 - Notre Dame
8 - OPEN
9 - @ Temple
10 - Duke
11 - @ Texas A&M
12 - @ San Diego State
13 - @ Ohio
14 - OPEN
15 - Navy

[AZJAZ]

Nothing like starting off the career with a rivalry game. A win over Air Force would be the first step to winning the Commander in Chief's trophy.

The strength of Air Force lies in their QB Tony Skanski. He is a senior with decent speed, nice touch and plenty of game experience. His go to man is 6'4'' 191 lb. senior Larry Burke. He has great size and hands, and hopefully my corners can handle him.

[AZJAZ]

*Disclaimer*

The storyline already took a hit when I realized that you cant run option froma splitback set in the game :( So I will have to run a little flexbone and a little wishbone to get it done.

[AZJAZ]

Air Force came into the game as 9 point favorites but as the game began it looked as if the Falcons were going to be in a struggle.On the 3rd play of the game Air Force QB Tony Skanski hit the All-American candidate at flanker, Larry Burke. After Burke shook off a tackler he took a solid hit and coughed up the ball. Army FS DeWayne Nash toted the ball 54 yards the other direction to give Army a 7-0 lead. Air Force answered quickly needing just 5 plays to cover just 52 yards to knot the score at 7.

The two teams traded punts and turnovers for the remainder of the first quarter until Air Force kicked a 21 yard fieldgoal to take a 10-7 lead. Air Force took the lead 13-10 at the half when a frustrated Sparks led his team to the lockerroom. "We were just playing too sloppy. We couldnt run the ball, we couldnt hold on it to, we were missing too many blocks and we dropped 3 passes in the first half. It was just a horrible half of football." He was right about the offense but the defense was employing a bend but dont break philosophy while netting two first half turnovers.

The 3rd quarter saw much of the same, both teams traded field goals and turnovers as Air Force took a 16-13 lead to the 4th.

As the game winded down Army saw itself both be very fortunate and unfortunate at the same time. They were fortunate by forcing two turnovers in their own territory but they saw the offense sputter three times in Air Force territory, but that all turned. With just 1:31 to go Army took over on its own 14 needing at least 56 yards to get into field goal range. With 58 seconds left Army QB Gary Thompson found RB Mike Bell on a 23 yard pass to give Army a 1st down at their own 37. After calling timeout and throwing an incompletion, Army was able to move into Air Force territory on a 16 yard run by Mike Bell on a pitch from Thompson. With 36 seconds to go the Black Knights stood on the Air Force 47 with one timeout remaining. Thompson dropped back, moved left and found receiver Dave Sharper on a post for a 47 yard score to give Army a 20-16 lead with 30 seconds to go.

Free safety Al Fullwood ended the last Air Force scoring attempt with an interception, giving him two on the game, and netting him player of the game honors with 8 tackles a sack and 2 interceptions.

Army 20
Air Force 16

Coaches thoughts -
Offense - The only time we really got anything going was on the option keepers. None of the pitches went for much at all, and the offense was stopped in its tracks most of the afternoon. What made it more frustrating was the dropped passes. My QB is in the game because he can run, not because he can pass. He was 10-22 with 233 yards but he could have had a much better day if we could have caught the ball. There were 7 missed blocks from the o-line, which led to some of the troubles of the offense.

Defense - We did what we needed to to win. We forced 5 turnovers and forced Air Force to settle for field goals 3 times. The defense played a great game.

Special Teams - There were too many penalties by our guys, especially on the kickoffs.

[AZJAZ]

UCONN is 1-0 coming off of a 31-24 win over Troy. They threw for 288 yards but also gave up over 400 total yards. They are going to live and die by the pass I believe. I am a little nicked up in the secondary as well. Hopefulle I can control the ball enough to come up with the W.

[AZJAZ]

The game started much the same way the last one ended for Army. The defense came up and made a few big plays early. The Army defense forced UCONN 3 and out to start the game, and the offense utilized the short field and came away with a field goal to make it 3-0. On the next series FS Al Fullwood came up with another big play and forced a turnoever. Army took over on the UCONN 31 and took the ball down to the 2 before a costly turnover. For the rest of the half the offense sputtered. The defense played its usual bend but dont break style and held UCONN to just two field goals. It could have been much worse however as UCONN also missed two field goals, making the halftime score 6-3 UCONN.

Army started the 2nd half with a field goal to make it 6-6. It turned into a field position battle for the remainder of the 3rd quarter and the score was tied at 6 going to the 4th.

UCONN scored quickly to start the 4th with another field goal to make it 9-6. After a 3 and out, UCONN took the ball down the field again to make it 16-6. After a nice kickoff return Army was able to take it down to the UCONN 3 before settling for a field goal to make it 16-9. The Army defense held strong and forced UCONN to go 3 and out, to give the offense a shot to tie the game. The offense took over at their own 47 with just under 2 minutes left. After a few nice gains Army was faced with a 2nd and 8 at the UCONN 38. QB Gary Thompson was flushed out of the pocket and threw the ball deep on the run to Dave Sharper. Sharper was double covered and the pass was interecepted to preserve a 16-9 win for UCONN. UCONN moves to 2-0 on the season and Army is now 1-1.

[AZJAZ]

Army is favored by 4. Its nice to be favored for a change. Buffalo lost to Central Florida 26-10 in week 1. The Bulls threw for just 89 yards and were picked off 4 times in their only appearance thus far. Hopefully I wont have any trouble with them.

[AZJAZ]

Too frustrated to give analysis on this one, so I will just give you the final. 37-10 Buffalo. Army falls to 1-2.

[AZJAZ]

Thompson is out as starter and junior Charlie Royster is in. Royster is not as good at running the football but he is a little better passer, and hopefully the defense wont be able to load up 8-9 guys in the box to shut down the run. I just couldnt handle the anemic offense anymore.

[AZJAZ]

The Horned Frogs are 10 point favorites. TCU is pretty good at throwing the football but they are putred on defense as well, so maybe, just maybe the Army offense can move the ball a little bit.

[AZJAZ]

Although Royster wasnt much better at QB going just 10-25 for 137 yards 2 TD's and 1 INT. Army did show some signs of life on offense, but fell short against a better TCU team 31-24. Army falls to 1-3.

[taijeronv]

I work at the Academy, are you a grad?

Just curious. In my Army season I started out 3-0 but lost the last two games (TCU and S. Bend). I did bea USAFA so I'm half way to the CiC Cup.

[AZJAZ]

No I am not, I just appreciate the quality people that attend our military academies.

[taijeronv]

Cool, just thought I'd ask. I'm not a grad either, I retired as a SFC.

I've ony been to one game since I've been here. Hope Coach Ross can attract some quality players. My niece is at the prep school and she said there were four players there were quitting. Guess the Army life isn't for everyone.

[AZJAZ]

No it isnt, I knew a guy that I coached a few years back that went there, great kid hard worker, and he quit after a year.

[AZJAZ]

Next up on the dockett is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. They are 1-2 on the season with a pair of 3 point losses to #2 Auburn and #21 Wisconsin. They are giving up 314 yards per game which means I might get 200 !!

[AZJAZ]

3-0 Rutgers at the end of 1, I have 9 total yards.

[AZJAZ]

10-3 Rutgers at the half, I am being outgained 232-102

[AZJAZ]

17-10 Rutgers 392-173

[AZJAZ]

17-13 the final, 435-233 yards. I caused 4 turnovers but still couldnt manage to get into the endzone twice :( Its gonna be a long year !!!!

[AZJAZ]

Notre Dame is next. I am 118th in total offense :)

Lets see if I can keep it within 5 scores.

[AZJAZ]

Notre Dame is only 3-3 and they are 29 point favorites.

7-0 ND
10-0
10-7 end of 1
17-7
17-10
20-10
23-10 at the half
23-17? Whats going on?
26-17
29-17 end of the 3rd
29-20
32-20
39-20

Definatley a little closer than I thought

[AZJAZ]

Army is 1-5 and I am going to let the CPU sim the rest of the games for the season. It is much too hard to try to keep playing like this. Maybe I can get some recruits in, especially a few OL's and a QB who can run a little option and see what happens.

[AZJAZ]

Fellas I am going to be ending this dynasty because I wanted to sim to the end of the regular season but the game simmed to the next season, therefore I didnt get to recruit, and the team set got switched back to vertical passing, therefore the CPU recruited for vertical passing. So I will likely reestablish this dynasty again, maybe I will wait until 1.1 is out.