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Sunday, September 10, 2017

Quick Thoughts: Army vs. Buffalo

For a good part of the afternoon yesterday, I thought the rumors of Army Football’s long-term turnaround looked a bit premature.  But it’s also true that good teams find a way to win, even when they don’t necessarily have their best stuff.  Army certainly didn’t have its best stuff yesterday, but they still found a way to pull out a convincing win.  At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.  

 There is no substitute for victory.
We left the house yesterday a little after eight.  Our friends Colin and Elizabeth accompanied us, piling into my wife’s Honda Pilot alongside two folding tables, two coolers, four folding chairs, and my new travel/tailgate propane grill.  We made it to West Point in a bit less than ninety minutes and had everything set up on Thayer Roof by a quarter to ten.  No problem.


 We fired the grill, adding brats, chicken sausages, and rolled beef brioche alongside corn and aluminum trays of onions and peppers.  Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to have room for all of that on the grill, but the grill itself actually has two levels, one for direct heat and one for indirect.  I cooked the corn for ten minutes on direct heat and then moved it to the upper level, alongside the other vegetables.  That left the lower level for meat.  Colin and Elizabeth pulled beer from the cooler, and I chose Two Roads’ Coffee Stout as a personal accompaniment, figuring that to be the most breakfast-like of beers.  Your mileage may vary, but it proved a good choice for me despite the early hour.
Tailgating!
Grrr...  The Grill Geek is fierce!
Brunch came off very nicely.  It’s a long walk from Thayer roof to Michie Stadium, but there is plenty of room for tailgating atop Thayer, and you get a great view as you eat.  That counts for quite a bit.  Which was good because brunch was a bit of a challenge.  It’s a bit harder to control the heat on the travel grill than it is on my Weber back home, and I fear I overcooked the first round of sausages.  I’ve used the travel grill twice now, however, and by the time I put the second round of brats on yesterday, I felt as though I’d finally started to get a feel for the way the grill cooks.
Anyway, I didn’t poison us.  That counts for something, no?
Our tailgate was a lot of fun.  We lingered afterwards and then started towards the stadium at maybe 11:20 yesterday morning.  Even then we made poor time.  It was branch week at West Point, so the Apron was covered with helicopters and various fighting vehicles.  All those helicopters started taking off as we walked past, a thing that everyone in our party but me found absolutely fascinating.  However, we made it up the hill without issue, arriving in Black Knights Alley just as the Parachute Team was jumping in the game ball.  
We made it to our seats maybe a minute before kickoff.  That was perfect!
I don’t know who won the coin toss, but Buffalo got the ball to start.  This week’s kickoffs were nowhere near as good as last week’s, with all but one high but short and distinctly returnable.  Army’s coverage team did a nice job limiting the damage, though.  In fact, Buffalo’s starting field position was never better than the 25-yard-line.  Regardless, Buffalo got the ball, and QB Tyree Jackson immediately hit a long passing play that put the Bulls on the Army 8-yard-line.  The Black Knights managed to force a field goal, but seeing the Bulls exploit a busted coverage early like that was something of an ominous sign.
Army got the ball back, drove the length of the field on the back of a long run by QB Ahmad Bradshaw to the outside, and then put seven points on the board to take the lead.  
Army 7, Buffalo 3.  So far, so good.
Out for the second half.
Sally with Blackjack.
An Abrahms Main Battle Tank secures Quarters 100 during Branch Week.
But then things started to come apart.  Buffalo’s rushing attack was anemic last week against Minnesota, but it looked much better in the first half against Army.  Meanwhile, Army’s offense struggled to get any push in the middle against the Bulls’ big D-Line.  RB Emmanuel Reed carried twice for seven yards on the Bulls’ next possession, but then Jackson took the ball on a read-option and broke loose, running seventy-five yards for another touchdown.  Suddenly Army was down four in its own building to a team that it was favored to beat by more than two touchdowns.  I doubt that I was the only one having flashbacks to last year’s game.  Those flashbacks got worse when Jackson hit another long pass on Buffalo’s next possession.  Just like that, Army was down 17-7.
SB Kell Walker took the ensuing kickoff forty-five yards, but Army’s offense again couldn’t get anything going.  They just weren’t getting any push in the middle, and Bradshaw’s passing attempts weren’t good enough to force a change in coverage.  Bradshaw wound up 2/8 on the day for 17 total yards.  That’s miserable.  However, he was at least leading his receivers, putting the ball out where either his guy could go and make a play, or the pass would fall incomplete.  SB Jordan Asberry had a nice catch in the flat, and Army ran a screen pass complete to Calen Holt that actually lost a yard, but neither WR Kjetil Cline nor Jermain Adams could get to balls that would have led them into the end zone.  Army attempted a field goal following Walker’s long kickoff return, but the kick was low enough that the Bulls got a hand on it.
Things did not look good.
The Bulls again started driving, with Jackson doing the bulk of the work.  He handed off just enough to keep the Army defense honest, but mostly Buffalo was living on their quarterback’s arm and his physical size while their O-Line gave its man enough time and space to work.  Buffalo got to their own 39 before Jackson missed his man with :32 left.  A read-option went nowhere, and Army limped into halftime down 17-7.
I walked over to talk to some of my classmates, but no one could muster the courage to take a group picture down 17-7 to a bad team at home.  Besides, we’d just taken one last week, and we had basically the same folks as we’d had the week prior.
Spirit fail!
Halftime parachute competition.
Not quite on target.
Another jumper tries to stick the landing.
Army got the ball to start the second half but got stuffed after a nice run by SB Kell Walker.  Buffalo took the ensuing punt and drove all the way to the Army 16 with another mix of running back carries and QB-keepers on the read-option.  Army’s defense looked listless.  They just didn’t have an answer for Jackson’s run/pass option plays.  
Jackson took a two-yard loss on a quarterback keeper to the Army 18, and in the stands, we could feel the game in the balance.  The crowd started screaming, and Army’s defense surged, getting good pressure for once.  S Jaylon McClinton came through on a safety-blitz and hit Jackson just as he was coming back to throw.  The ball popped free, bouncing out of LB Kenneth Brinson’s hands but wound up with DE Andrew McLean.
Suddenly, there was life on the Army sideline.
Army’s next drive was decisive.  Bradshaw drove his team 79 yards in 16 plays, taking 8:12 off the clock.  Walker broke outside for 9.  FB Calen Holt carried twice, for 5 then 2.  Walker again broke outside for 17, and that--at last--put the Bulls back on their heels.  With Walker gaining chunks on the outside, Buffalo had to spread out to defend the full width of the field, and pretty soon FB Darnell Wolfolk was eating big chunks of yards.  He and Bradshaw alternated pounding the inside, mixing in just enough of Walker outside to keep the Bulls honest.  The third quarter ended with Army on Buffalo’s 1-yard-line.  Wolfolk pounded it in on the first play of the fourth quarter, and suddenly we had a whole new ball game.
The Army defense got consistent pressure in the fourth quarter, forcing repeated 3-and-outs.  At the same time, Army’s long third quarter drive gassed the Bulls defense, and with its offense suddenly struggling to hold the ball, they never recovered.  Army’s next drive was another long one, 13 plays, 66 yards, 7:21 off the clock.  Bradshaw and Wolfolk again did most of the work, with Walker taking one critical carry for five yards in the red zone, down to the Bulls’s 1-yard-line.  Wolfolk scored again on 4th-and-1, and that looked to be the ball game.
Driving in for the go-ahead score. 
FB Dive.
Touchdown!  Army 21, Buffalo 17.
The fake punt caught everyone by surprise, perhaps even Coach Monken.  It was, apparently, a run/punt option--and probably the right call given the field position.  Certainly, I think Army’s defense could have held for one more stop with 2:30 left.  As it was, though, P Nick Schrage saw daylight and ran to it, and that won the game.
An electrifying finish overall, especially against a team that seems to match up so well against Army.  Buffalo’s defense isn’t the most athletic in Division 1 football, but they have a lot of size on their D-Line, and they have some very good linebackers, and that was enough to give Army’s offense problems for 30+ minutes of football.  Army’s anemic passing game didn’t help, and it’s worrisome that so much of yesterday’s offense rested on just three players--Bradshaw, Wolfolk, and Walker.
But a win is a win, especially when you start slow and struggle.  In the end, Army’s playmakers made plays, the team made more first downs and controlled the clock, and that was enough.  Sometimes it has to happen that way.
Next week is a whole ‘nother challenge.
Go Army!  Beat Ohio State!!!
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