It was only a couple of years ago that the Notre Dame schedule was lambasted for the presence of the service academies. Forget for a moment that these programs are on the schedule in place of FCS schools or low-ranking members of non-BCS conferences. And forget for a moment that Navy and Air Force have been bowl teams more often than not in recent years. The term “service academy” was synonymous with weak football.
Is it time to rewrite that tired script? Navy, Army and Air Force put on a great display of disciplined football this past Saturday and came away with two impressive wins and a narrow loss to a highly-ranked foe. Navy bumped their won-loss record to 4-2 with a 63-14 rout of Rice in Houston. Dazzling QB Ricky Dobbs, who first made a name for himself in the team’s near win over Ohio State to open the season, rushed for 104y and 4 TDs. Army evened their mark to 3-3 with a 16-13 OT upset of Vanderbilt, a program from the big, bad SEC who went bowling last year. The Cadets chewed up 222y on the ground to stay even with the Commodores until a huge forced FUM by the D in the first extra session was followed by the winning 42y FG (pictured) by K Alex Carlton. Air Force is also 3-3 after a narrow 20-17 loss to unbeaten TCU. The Falcons stayed close in the Mountain West battle thanks to a 3-0 win in the TO department.
The more complicated the schemes become for college football on both offense and defense, the better it is for the academies. While their opposition struggles to learn a playbook the size of a phone book or the myriad differences between a host of new-fangled formations, the players from Army, Navy and Air Force can run their plays in their sleep they repeat them so often. And the kids they see on the opposing side of the ball have not been prepared adequately to face them. Teams are now built around both passing the ball on O and defending the pass on D. Playing the option? Not in the discussion. Plus we have been hearing for years that the academies are not supposed to compete against programs that have physical advantages, more NFL-type players. Well TCU DE Jerry Hughes is a both an All America candidate and a pro prospect. Against Air Force he managed 1 assist. And ask the Ohio State Buckeyes if they would want to face Navy again anytime soon.
In addition to the academies and their squads and their coaches, let’s give some kudos to CBSCS network for their dedication to the presentation of Army, Navy and Air Force sports. With ESPN not caring too much about their games, these programs have joined forces with CBSCS. And the network, who has gone through as many name changes as Jennifer Lopez over the years, built up this past Saturday as a chance to watch all three teams in action on Armed Forces Appreciation Day. With a week’s worth of build-up—we loved watching some Navy highlights of teams from the ‘50s and ‘60s—the network then got a deserved break with some exciting action on Saturday. Well with two of the games anyway as the Navy rout was not much fun to watch. Then Army won that crazy game with Vanderbilt in which both kickers knocked FGs in off the upright at game’s end. And Air Force rallied from a 14-0 deficit, when the Horned Frogs looked to out-talent them out of Falcon Stadium, with spirited play.
It was fun to watch, which was a bonus for fans of these players who will one day very soon have more to worry about than where Jerry Hughes is on every play.
Is it time to rewrite that tired script? Navy, Army and Air Force put on a great display of disciplined football this past Saturday and came away with two impressive wins and a narrow loss to a highly-ranked foe. Navy bumped their won-loss record to 4-2 with a 63-14 rout of Rice in Houston. Dazzling QB Ricky Dobbs, who first made a name for himself in the team’s near win over Ohio State to open the season, rushed for 104y and 4 TDs. Army evened their mark to 3-3 with a 16-13 OT upset of Vanderbilt, a program from the big, bad SEC who went bowling last year. The Cadets chewed up 222y on the ground to stay even with the Commodores until a huge forced FUM by the D in the first extra session was followed by the winning 42y FG (pictured) by K Alex Carlton. Air Force is also 3-3 after a narrow 20-17 loss to unbeaten TCU. The Falcons stayed close in the Mountain West battle thanks to a 3-0 win in the TO department.
The more complicated the schemes become for college football on both offense and defense, the better it is for the academies. While their opposition struggles to learn a playbook the size of a phone book or the myriad differences between a host of new-fangled formations, the players from Army, Navy and Air Force can run their plays in their sleep they repeat them so often. And the kids they see on the opposing side of the ball have not been prepared adequately to face them. Teams are now built around both passing the ball on O and defending the pass on D. Playing the option? Not in the discussion. Plus we have been hearing for years that the academies are not supposed to compete against programs that have physical advantages, more NFL-type players. Well TCU DE Jerry Hughes is a both an All America candidate and a pro prospect. Against Air Force he managed 1 assist. And ask the Ohio State Buckeyes if they would want to face Navy again anytime soon.
In addition to the academies and their squads and their coaches, let’s give some kudos to CBSCS network for their dedication to the presentation of Army, Navy and Air Force sports. With ESPN not caring too much about their games, these programs have joined forces with CBSCS. And the network, who has gone through as many name changes as Jennifer Lopez over the years, built up this past Saturday as a chance to watch all three teams in action on Armed Forces Appreciation Day. With a week’s worth of build-up—we loved watching some Navy highlights of teams from the ‘50s and ‘60s—the network then got a deserved break with some exciting action on Saturday. Well with two of the games anyway as the Navy rout was not much fun to watch. Then Army won that crazy game with Vanderbilt in which both kickers knocked FGs in off the upright at game’s end. And Air Force rallied from a 14-0 deficit, when the Horned Frogs looked to out-talent them out of Falcon Stadium, with spirited play.
It was fun to watch, which was a bonus for fans of these players who will one day very soon have more to worry about than where Jerry Hughes is on every play.
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