Last Week:
To Army’s credit the Black Knights haven’t taken the easy road despite having the flexibility of being an independent. While UConn and Wake Forrest may not strike the fear of God into most teams, that’s still two Power Five schools on the schedule in the early going. Army picked up its first win of the season last week against Eastern Michigan with an offensive explosion and a 58-36 win. Army is now 1-3 on the year with 17-14 loss to Wake Forrest and 22-17 loss to UConn and a season opening defeat to Fordham to the tune of 37-35. As you can see the Black Knights aren’t far from having a much different record. But unfortunately close doesn’t count in the record books.
The Good:
A triple option attack may not be easy to stop but it does mean that Army isn’t fooling anyone with most play calls. With 1,178 yards on the ground and 13 rushing touchdowns to show for it, it’s safe to say the Black Knights aren’t prone to throwing deep down the field. Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw leads the way on the ground with 341 yards on 68 carries. In fact, Army’s top four rushers all average at least five yards a carry with at least 16 carries under their belt.
It may not be exciting or unpredictable, but Army’s triple option attack is getting the job done even at 1-3.
The Bad:
Bradshaw, for all of his abilities on the ground isn’t really tasked with throwing the ball much. While that’s by design, a 11-of-22 mark on the year shows how little the Black Knights rely on the passing game to move the ball. In total Army has amassed 370 yards through the air all season and 71 of those came on a single catch and score.
The unconventional nature of Army’s offense makes it hard to directly knock Bradshaw as a quarterback, he’s doing his job, but Army isn’t fooling anyone. The Knight’s defense has been solid against its best opponents, but giving up 36 points to Eastern Michigan and 35 to Fordham is an eyebrow raiser to say the least.
The Player To Watch:
Clearly when your quarterback leads the team in rushing and passing yards it makes this an easy choice. Army goes as Bradshaw goes. An interesting note though, Army’s top four receivers all have at least two receptions and all of their averages per catch are at least 18 yards. So chances are when Army is throwing the ball it isn’t a screen pass. As such, that unexpected long ball is always lurking.
The Prediction:
Army is good at what it does, but it’s hard to see the triple option truly confusing Bob Shoop and company. Penn State has always been a stout run defense and that isn’t likely to change this weekend. Penn State’s own offense is the question mark in this one. Assuming that Barkley and Lynch aren’t back this week that opens the door for a lot of new faces to carry the load. On a soggy field in wet conditions this could be an ugly one. If the Nittany Lions can get up early by a score or two that might seal the deal. Never count out a service academy team though.
Penn State wins: 32-10
