Sadness at West Point

I had intended to write a post celebrating the fantastic start enjoyed by the Cadets of West Point, who are 2-0 for the first time in 20 years. Instead I write with the news that sophomore starting cornerback Brandon Jackson, an up-and-coming player for Army from queens, NY, died yesterday in a single-car accident. He was 20 years old. "Words cannot describe the grief that our team is feeling over the loss of our brother and friend, Brandon" said head coach Jeff Monken. "He was a beloved teammate and our hearts are with his family at this time of tragedy."

Reclamation Bowl

SMU and Army are in a bowl game. That is a stunning statement, or would have been just a couple of years ago. These two programs had been left for dead after years and years of losing. But new coaches--and these two teams are proof about the power of the head man--June Jones at SMU and Rich Ellerson at Army have done a terrific job of straightening out these former doormats.

Neither team has a shot at the top 25 this year, of course. But the turnaround has begun. Each team is looking at today's Armed Forces Bowl as a way to continue the good vibes from the season. SMU is aiming for the Conference USA title next year while Army has Navy and Air Force to beat in 2011. While both programs will lose senior leaders next year, they return underclassmen at the skill positions including QBs Trent Steelman of the Cadets and Kyle Padron of the Mustangs. It is great that both programs have some hope.

Of course I hate the fact that SMU is playing at home. Still Army is gutsy and will come there to represent the armed forces well. The contrast in styles--there I said it--should be fun to watch.

and kudos to Jones for having his ponies play in black to honor servicemen everywhere. They will be watching from around the world and will be glad for the respect shown.

Service Academy Glory

Do you remember the heat Notre Dame took a few years ago because they had all three service academies, Air Force, Army and Navy, on its schedule? Would any BCS power line up today for something similar? No. 1 ranked Oregon, who scheduled Tennessee but also Portland State and New Mexico? Auburn, who did play Clemson out-of-conference, but also Arkansas State, Louisiana Monroe and Chattanooga?

No way. As Ohio State, who edged Navy last year, and Oklahoma, who struggled with Air Force this year, learned, there is no benefit to playing these teams and much too much to lose. What the powers do get is the ability to teach their five and four star recruits some humility after film sessions that show them struggling with the likes of QB Ricky Dobbs of Navy (listed in Phil Steele's preseason guide as the 142nd QB of his high school class) or QB Trent Steelman of Army (no. 245 in his class) or QB Tim Jefferson of Air Force (no. 390 in his class! And that is just at QB.) The service academies are back and looking forward to bowl season.

How did it get this way? Well for one thing serving your country in the military is not looked down upon anymore as it was, in some parts of the country, back during Vietnam when the academies started to slip athletically. Second, there is a lot more support monetarily as no one looked at woeful records by programs representing our military as a positive example of our fighting spirit. Thirdly, coaching has saved the day as Air Force coach Troy Calhoun learned under Fisher DeBerry in the late 1980s and both Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo and Army coach Rich Ellerson fell from the Paul Johnson tree of coaching. And the fourth, and main, reason for the success of these teams is the option attack that they use which is difficult to execute--but a bit easier for students used to the regimen of their daily lives--and difficult to defend. All three academies now run some form of wishbone or option attack and dare defenses to stop them. A huge advantage is that no BCS team is going to spend enough time preparing for them at risk of losing to a bigger named opponent the following week who throws the ball all over the field. Oklahoma defenders were recruited to stop Colt McCoy and Garrett Gilbert of Texas, Taylor Potts of Texas Tech and Zac Robinson and Brandon Weeden of Oklahoma State, not Tim Jefferson of Air Force. I am sure many of his teammates agreed with Sooners LB Travis Lewis when he said this of trying to cope with the Falcon attack that had just scorched OU for 458y: "I never want to see this kid of offense again."

And you know what? They probably won't. Until more teams go back to running some form of option, the bigger teams will shy away from scheduling the academies. What was once considered an easy win is a lock no more. But, of course, there will always be bowl games where despite having multiple weeks to prepare, Missouri and Houston were routed by Navy and Air Force last year. Good luck to those teams chosen to face the three academies this postseason.

View From Bennett Avenue

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.