July 2020 | West Point, New York – Black Knights Football
Dean of Football Operations, Bryno has announced the 2nd signing for the 2020 freshman class. 6’ 3” 244lb Linebacker, Mercury Gambler out of Lake Oswego, Oregon. A choice that if asked, just about every other NCAA school would pass on due to the off-field issues that come with this impact player. Gambler has had issues, albeit petty, throughout his high school days and evegn further back into his youth.

“I was talking to Oklahoma’s DFO, Big Poppa and this is what it simply comes down to….risk!” Those were the words from Bryno following the announcement. “It’s all risk right now with the talent pool that is available in this country!” “Big P describes it as a Dumpster-Fire” and that really sums it up!!”
“We looked at staying conservative with our second signing, and until 3 minutes prior to the deadline, we were going to take DT Greg Blackman.” “But guess what?” “That would be stupid, because we already have a full stock of DT’s.”

Coach Ellis’s sentiments didn’t stray far from the Dean. “I don’t know what it is with this generation!” “ I don’t know if they’re playing too much soccer or video games, but **** it, we need some football players out here!”

Bryno chipped back in, “For the needs we have, Mercury made the most sense.” “We have to hope that the leadership of this operation can help steer that boy in the right direction.” “If we’re successful as leaders in training camp, then guess what?” “We just got us a helluva player!” “Probably not an All-American…..but………”

August 15, 2020 | Norman, OK – Leave it to these two squads to go "extra-innings" in a scrimmage. On the scoreboard, Army prevailed 39-33 but the sentiments were shared by both DOF's (Big Poppa & Bryno) "This is the last thing we need, is extra-time to get injured."

One of the bigger questions being asked around Army-Nation is who will start at QB this year?
New Head Coach, Matt Ellis said after the scrimmage with Oklahoma that "the decision on who will lead this team from the QB position will be decided after the final scrimmage"

"Right now our focus is really trying to get everyone back into playing shape and getting some players some familiarity with their new positions." "We also want to get our first-year freshman some reps to make a calculated assessment on their bearing with this team."

Freshman Watch:
QB Jimmy Miller (Only threw 2 passes vs Oklahoma; 1 for 2 for 5 yards)
LB Tanker Bryant (2 Tackles and 1 Sack)
DE Frank Lambert (4 plays, no stats)
LB Mercury Gambler (2 plays, no stats)

Ellis went on to say, "The first year freshmen will be seeing a little more playing time against Texas."

In the scrimmage with Oklahoma, here were some of the standout figures:
- 501 Pass Yds Carter 18/25 376y 3TD's 0 INT | Bradshaw 6/12 134y 2TD's 1 INT
- 254y Receiving on 7 Catches - Eckert 4TD's
- 46y Rushing on 11 Carries - Houston
- 235 Pass Yds Allowed by Defense - (23/48 by Sooner QB's) Austin Kendall 11/18, 105 2TD
- 4 Sacks by Defense, 4 different players.

Bryno was caught this morning taking the flight to Bozeman. "I had a chat with Big Poppa and we can't get too crazy about our offensive stats." "Clearly there were some mix-ups in their schemes with personnel changes." "So we need to keep tempered with how we feel about our offensive number, but look - that's why we scrimmage!"

Bryno was pressed about the QB situation. "What did Ellis have to say when you asked him?"...that was followed by a serious look, combined with a thousand-yard stare.

End of subject.

The Black Knights welcome the Texas Longhorns to Michie Stadium for Scrimmage #2 on Sunday night. Texas hosted Iowa in their first scrimmage with the Hawkeyes coming out on top in that tilt, 46-32.

STORMIN' NORMAN VERSION - ARMY HYPE
https://youtu.be/mWCAXfbOtxE

KNIGHTS LEAD OFF 2020 CAMPAIGN WITH IMPORTANT ROAD-WIN VS MARSHALL

September 6, 2020 | Huntington, WV – Chris Carter's "final lap" started off with an emphatic blast of his pass-happy arm. Carter threw for over 400 yards and had 4 TD passes that led the Black Knight's to a 35-23 win over Marshall. He chipped in a 5th TD pass at a time when Army could have drained the clock in the 4th quarter.

"We play in a conference that if you take your foot off the pedal, you'll pay for it.", said Carter after the game. "I respect Marshall, their players and their coaches.....and that's why we kept playing." The 5th Year Graduate-Senior QB took home MFN Player of the Week honors for Week 1.

Army, for the record, did have the ball at the Marshall 2 yard line after Marshall turned the ball over on downs for the second time in the last two minutes of the game - and did choose to kill the clock.

Noticeably missing in this game for Army was the presence of a running game, 15 rushes for 1 yard. Coach Ellis addressed this after the game. "We are playing and planning for each opponent, week by week." "We ran the ball just as much as Arthur [Salter] gameplanned for." "Would I like to see more yards than 1?" "Dumb question."

The two teams traded the lead once in the first half and played fairly evenly. Army took the lead into the locker room 21-17. Marshall took their first possession in the second half and stalled in Army territory where Ronald Osborne kicked a 38y field goal to bring the score to 21-20 and that's where it would stay until midway in the 4th quarter.

Chris Carter found Glen Coates for a 24 yard strike to give the Black Knights a little comfort, 28-20. The Herd was not going to go away and it looked like the home-team was going to swing the momentum when Ronald Osborne connected on a 55 yard field goal, making the score 28-23 with 2:45 left in the game.

Marshall attempted an onside kick but Army's Glen Coates covered the ball and Army was on the inside track to opening the season with an important, conference road-win.

"We have a minute to enjoy this.", said Ellis "....but when you're in the Indy Conf - you stay on your toes because just-like-that?" "You're on the road in South Bend."

Army will look to get back on the winning-side against #1 Notre Dame this next week. "Bryson10 has made some changes over there, we do know that much." These were the words of the Dean of Football, Bryno. "Their giving their other QB a little more playing time and it appears that he's probably as good, if not better than the incumbent." "They spanked us pretty good at their house last year." "We're looking to even the table a little here, we've played good there before, we can do that again."

GAME BALL: WR Glen Coates - 6 Catches, 163y 2TD's (Onsides-kick Recovery)

Knights’ Generosity Leads to 18-9 Irish Win in South Bend

September 13, 2020 | South Bend, IN - Sometimes you get fireworks, sometimes you get 5 yards in a cloud of dust. The latter was more the case on Sunday night in South Bend. Carl Lopp hit a 35 yd field goal in the closing seconds of the first half to tie the game at 3 @ halftime.

Scoring was opened up in the second half on a Safety by Notre Dame’s Dalton Hayes, who sacked Chris Carter in the endzone, making the score 5-3.

Army never led in this game as ND pulled away further just minutes later on a Jaques/Jones 10y TD pass. The Irish would add two more FG’s before Army was able to tally another score, which was on a 3yd TD run by Andy Davidson.

It was the Irish secondary that kept Carter at bay all night, as the ball hawking defense of Shaun Crawford, Julian Love and David Adams intercepted a total of 4 passes and LB Shayne Simon forced a fumble on Darnell Woolfolk – for 5 turnovers total.

Carter finished the night 21/45 for 266 y. Andy Davidson carried for 18 times for 119y and a TD.

The Knights defense did play well, getting 2 interceptions (1 from each ND QB) and John Voit and Cole Christianson hassled the Irish signal callers all night, logging 4 and 3 sacks respectively.

The Black Knights (1-1, 1-1) return to West Point for their first home game of the season, where they face the Florida Gators (1-1, 0-0)

GAME BALL: Defensive Unit

Army Holds Off Improved Gators - Wins Home Opener 21-10

September 20, 2020 | West Point, NY - The Black Knights got back home and got back into the win column on Tuesday night.

It was somewhat of a ho-hum performance by QB Chris Carter, with a pedestrian 19/41 232y with 2TD's and 2 INT's. HC Matt Ellis spoke up for his QB right away, "Hey, if you think you're going to sleepwalk through that Gator defense, you might want to set your alarm clock."
"Jcmcmanu" and that coaching staff have that team pointed in the right direction and they are going to cause problems for a lot of teams, sooner ...rather than later."

It was Army's defense and special teams that kept the home faithful fired up all night at Michie Stadium.

Return specialist, John Spann took back the lead for the Knight's with a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown just moments after Florida had taken a 10-7 second quarter lead. "Man that was timely, that's all I can say.", said Carter. "Johnny probably saved our ***! tonight."

Florida had just completed an 11 play, 80 yard drive that culminated with RB William Harris carrying into the enzone on a 1 yard dive.

The defense definitely tightened the screws on the Gators in the 2nd half by harassing Gators QB Thomas McKinley and pummeling the Freshman QB for 10 Sacks. For the second time in 2 games, John Voit and Cole Christiansen combined for 7 of those sacks.

GAME BALL: WR John Spann - KO Return TD, 4 Catches 77y 1TD

DEFENSE CRUMBLES LATE - KNIGHTS HOLD ON - WIN WILD GEORGIA BATTLE 42-35

September 27, 2020 | Athens, GA - Coming into the match-up in Athens, the Black Knights' defense had been turning in decent performances, in contrast to how they'd played in the season prior. In the 4th quarter, the 2019 version showed up.

At the 9:26 mark of the 4th quarter, Ahmad Bradshaw connected with Sean Eckert for a TD for the 3rd time in the game (Eckert 12/233 3TD's) and gave the Black Knights a 35-14 lead. Then? Then came the Georgia Rain. Not that kind, the weather was perfect.

Georgia QB Nick Smitherman put together back to back scoring drives that definitely caught Army's attention. One drive of 6 plays for 75y and another 10 play, 79 yarder and the Bulldogs pulled within one-score, with 3:43 left in the game.

Georgia attempted an onside-kick that was recovered by Army. Bradshaw took advantage of the great field position and hit Francisco Wrenn on a middle-route for a 53y TD, making it 42-28. THE PLAY: https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/watch/1042#197147 Bradshaw finished the game 30/39 513y 5TD 1 INT.

The Bulldogs weren't amused. Following Max Regan personal foul on the ensuing drive, Lynn Fry nailed James Reed to bring it back to a one-score deficit. The momentum ended there as the attempted onside kick was covered by Glen Coates and Army squeaked out of Sanford Stadium with a 42-35 win.

GAME BALL: QB Ahmad Bradshaw & WR Sean Eckert

Next Up: United States Naval Academy (3-1, 0-0) in Annapolis. This is Navy's home-opener and they have won 3 straight, most recent 30-20 @ Florida. Vegas: Midshipmen (-9)

BRADSHAW-COATES CONNECTION TOO MUCH FOR MIDSHIPMEN - KNIGHTS WIN

October 4, 2020 | Annapolis, MD - Winning on the road against Independent Conference foes (for any conference) is a premium and last night the #1 and #2 signees from 4 years ago helped the #12 Army Knights snag one of those big games by beating #4 Navy, 34-27.

It was Glen Coates grabbing 9 throws in all from Red-Shirt Senior Ahmad Bradshaw, amassing 263y and 2 TD's. Marcus Hyatt, the first player to ever don the Black and Gold for Army football, intercepted a Sherwood throw into the endzone that would have given Navy the lead back and instead preserved a tenuous 1pt, 28-27 lead in the 4th quarter.

Army did get points out of the turnover, with Carl Lopp nailing a 48y FG to give Army a 31-28 lead with 8:44 left in the game.

Bradshaw in his second start, threw for 493y with 1 INT (67% comp pct) and puts his yardage total over 1,000 yards. He has thrown for 9 TD's (4 vs Navy) and has a passer rating of 133.75 in those two games.

The Knight's have very little time to cherish the win as another daunting road-game lies in front of them. Army visits Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, KY to take on #13 Kentucky. The Wildcats are coming off of a tough home-loss to last year's runner-up in the National Championship game, Clemson 17-20.

GAME BALL: QB Ahmad Bradshaw & WR Glen Coates

VEGAS: Kentucky (-4)

WILDCATS BUILD BIG LEAD, LATE - TOO MUCH TO OVERCOME FOR ARMY

October 11, 2020 | Lexington, KY - As the plane took off late last night heading for West Point, you could see that the coaches and players were ready for a night or two in familiar confines. The Black Knights have had just one home game out of these first 6 and are definitely feeling the road effects.

The latest "effect" was a lethargic start to last night's game against the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3, 2-0) in which Army fell short, 27-19. Kentucky jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, then later led 24-7 before Ahmad Bradshaw found back-up tight end, Buck Armstrong for a 31 yd TD with 6:41 left in the game. The 2pt PAT failed, but the score brought the Knights to within one score (19-24) of pulling out a big come from behind win.

Following some (Army) clock mismanagement and an ill-advised attempt to "go for it" on 4th down, deep in their own territory, the Black Knights turned it over on downs. Kentucky capitalized and added a FG. Army had one last chance but ran out of time and downs after driving deep into Wildcats territory.

Bradshaw's night was 15/31 288y, 2 TD's and 1 Int but the big news is a neck injury that is likely to keep him out of this week's matchup with Marshall. That means Chris Carter will go against the conference foe for the second time, having played Marshall in the first game of the season and prior to his demotion from the starting position. Army won the first match up 35-23 in Huntington. Carter had a huge night against the Herd 31/44 458y 5TD 1INT.

The Thundering Herd (3-3, 1-2) come in to West Point riding high and fighting their way bag to .500 with a huge win over conference foe, Navy|36-20 @ Annapolis - That win followed a big 20pt win over Oregon the week prior.

GAME BALL: OFFENSIVE LINE 2 Sacks Allowed (KY 3rd in Lg. in sacks|6.3/gm avg)

VEGAS: Army (-5)

MARSHALL GET PAYBACK IN MICHIE STADIUM - KNOCK OFF THE KNIGHTS

October 18, 2020 | West Point, NY - So much can be said and made of the "momentum" theory - and another example is in the making at Marshall University. The Thundering Herd handed the Black Knights their 2nd straight loss, while stretching their win streak to 3. Marshall beat Army on Thursday night, 27-17.



Army had drawn the game to within a field goal of tying it, when Chris Carter hit TE Ricky Vigue for a 4yd TD with 8:39 left in the game.

Then as quickly as Vigue was lined up to the the hero of the game, he became the goat.

A great defensive play by Marshall's freshman DB, Brandon Drayton late in the game sealed the fate of the Black Knights. Drayton knocked the ball loose after another Ricky Vigue catch and with, it Army's momentum.

THE PLAY: https://ncaa-football.myfootballnow.com/watch/1084#205073

Larry Ricketts and company then methodically marched it right down the throats of the Black Knights' tired and worn defense to salt away the victory with his 3rd TD pass of the game.

Momentum. It's fickle.

GAME BALL: Andy Davidson - 15 rushes, 142y, 1 TD

Next up: @ #17 Washington Huskies (3-4, 2-1) Last: L- Notre Dame 10-54

VEGAS: EVEN (MFN GAME OF THE WEEK)

ARMY RANKING: COACHES #12 BCS #6