Army football coach Jeff Monken said bowl eligibility will come with attention to detail
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Army football is one victory away from qualifying for a postseason bowl game, and the Black Knights (5-4) have two opportunities to reach that six-win milestone: Nov. 22 against Tulsa and Nov. 29 at Texas San Antonio.
Bowl games are important for Army and all Division I football programs, but head coach Jeff Monken says the only way to get there is focus on the game at hand.
Asked during his Tuesday press conference about the importance of achieving bowl status, Monken downplayed it.
“None of those things are goals for us,’’ Monken said. “We don’t put those up as goals. Those are accomplishments we’d like to have but we don’t set those kinds of goals here in this program. It’s just about us trying to play the best we can and maximizing who we can be as a team, each individual player working really hard to be the best he can be at his assignment fundamentals and having the self-discipline to work on that every day.
“All those accomplishments, things that happen when you have a good season, are just a byproduct of that self-discipline and the investment that we put in. So we’re focused on that and trying to become a better football team this week than we were last week. trying to be better football players today than we were the day before, and hopefully that will then give us the results that we hope for.’’
Army is roughly a 10-point favorite against a Tulsa team (3-7) that is winless (0-6) in American Conference action. The final home game of the season for Army is at noon ET Saturday (CBS Sports Network).
Army offensive coordinator Cody Worley appreciates the significance of Senior Day at Michie Stadium but cautions there is still a lot to play for, which includes clinching a bowl spot and the annual clash with Navy in three weeks time.
“I just hope that our kids understand that we haven’t played our best football,’’ he said. “We’ve gotten better, we’ve made progress but we still have yet to see a complete game with all three phases meshing together and playing clean and doing our job at a consistent level.’’
Currently, there are 63 bowl-eligible teams for spots in 41 games – the bowl schedule will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 7. The 25 five-win programs seeking at least one more for eligibility are: Army, Rice, Temple and UTSA from the American; Clemson, Duke, Florida State and North Carolina State from the ACC; Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State from the Big 12; Northwestern and Rutgers from the Big Ten; Delaware, Florida International, Louisiana Tech from Conference USA; Buffalo and Miami (Ohio) from the Mid-American; Southern Utah from the Mountain West; Washington State from the Pac 12; Kentucky and Mississippi State from the SEC; Arkansas State, and, Georgia Southern and Marshall from the Sun Belt.
Army football: A late shift for Reed
Running back Hayden Reed has been shifted from his primary running back spot, lined up behind the quarterback, to a hybrid H-back role, a position he is familiar with in previous seasons. The H-back lines up behind the offensive line and often a few steps back.
Monken said the emergence of younger running backs has allowed the staff to utilize Reed in a different fashion, and Worley said that Reed may still line up in the backfield.
Reed is averaging 4.5 yards per carry, with 335 on 74 rushes – he has three touchdowns, against Tarleton, North Texas and Alabama Birmingham. He had 19 carries in the Tarleton and UNT games, 12 against UAB and 11 against Charlotte. He was not utilized much as a ball carrier of late, with two rushes against Air Force, three against Temple and none in a reserve role against Temple, his first non-start.
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Army offense
QB – No. 3 Cale Hellums, Jr.; No. 10 Dewayne Coleman, Sr.; No. 1 Zach Mundell, Jr.
RB – No. 34 Carson Smith; No. 33 Jake Rendina, Jr.
RB – No. 27 Samari Howard, Jr.; No. 2 Aden Self, Soph.
Slot – No. 15 Noah Short, Sr.; No. 26 David Clerk, Jr.
WR – No. 84 Brady Anderson, Soph.; No. 4 Liam Fortner, Jr.; No. 11 Toby Olawole, Jr.
TE – No. 44 Parker Poloskey, Jr.; No 86 Tex Brannan, Soph.
LT – No. 58 Henry Appleton, Jr.; No. 78 Xavier Archawski, Soph.
LG – No. 59 Will Jeffcoat, Sr.; No. 50 Braden Bartosh, Sr.
C – No. 51 Brady Small, Jr.; No. 75 Kyle Kloska, Jr.
RG – No. 71 Paolo Gennarelli, Jr.; No. 72 Lane Parks, Jr.
RT – No. 74 Teddy Williams, Jr.; No. 56 Tyler Lee, Jr.
Army defense
DL – No. 92 Jack Latore, Sr.; No. 96 Dillon Stowers, Jr.
NT – No. 52 Kody Harris-Miller, Sr.; No. 56 Nick Buchys
DL – No. 99 Jack Bousum, Soph.; No. 98 Deshontez Gray, Sr.
OLB – No. 40 Eric Ford, Sr.; No. 47 Noah Nixon, Jr.
OLB – No. 14 Gavin Shields, Sr.; No. 10 Cole Searight, Soph.
ILB – No. 51 Andon Thomas, Sr.; No. 21 Baylor Newsom, Jr.
ILB – No. 53 Kalib Fortner, Sr.; No. 48 Bryson Banks, Fr.
CB – No. 7 Jaydan Mayes, Jr.; No. 17 Jaxon Hammond, Jr.
SS – No. 20 Casey Larkin, Sr.; No. 3 Stephen Nnadozie, Jr.
FS – No. 30 Collin Matteson, Sr.; No. 13 Caleb Williams, Soph.
CB – No. 6 Jabril Williams, Sr.; No. 5 Justin Weaver, Sr.;
Army special teams
P – No. 46 James Wagenseller, Jr.
K – No. 95 Dawson Jones, Soph.
Kickoff – No. 1 Anderson Britton, Sr.
Holder – No. 38 Cooper Allan, Sr.
Long snapper – No. 55 Owen Walter, Jr.
Kick return – No. 23 Lloyd Benson III, Jr.; No. 7 Jaydan Mayes, Jr.
Punt return – No. 23 Lloyd Benson III, Jr.; No. 7 Jaydan Mayes, Jr.
Tulsa offense
QB – No. 11 Kirk Francis (Soph.); No. 10 Baylor Hayes (Fr.) – or – No. 9 Stephen Kittleman (Sr.)
RB – No. 21 Dominic Richardson (Sr.); No. 1 Braylin Presley (Sr.)
WR – No. 0 Zion Booker (Jr.); No. 6 Jacob Emmers (Soph.)
WR – No. 3 Micah Tease (Soph.); No. 15 Josh Smith (Fr.)
WR – No. 8 Melkhi Miller (Sr.); No. 7 Zion Steptoe (Jr.)
TE – No. 80 Brody Foley (Jr.); No. 23 Landen Lucas (Sr.)
LT – No. 72 JaQuan Adams (Sr.); No. 77 Brody Duffel (Soph.)
LG – No. 65 Sean Hill (Sr.); No. 54 Codie Hornsby (Sr.)
C – No. 62 Simon Wilson (Sr.); No. 66 Will Morris (Soph.)
RG – No. 60 Hunter Erb (Jr.); No. 50 Ender Aguilar (Sr.)
RT – No. 72 Cam East (Jr.); No. 71 Bennett Ringleb (Soph.)
Tulsa defense
DL – No. 54 Byron Turner Jr. (Sr.); No. 11 J’Dan Burnett (Jr.)
DL – No. 99 Tai Newhouse (Jr.); No. 90 Joe Hjelle (Jr.)
DL – No. 88 Nahki Johnson (Sr.); No. 10 Tim Hardman (Sr.)
DL – No. 19 Ty Cooper (Sr.); No. 32 Hudson Ball (Fr.)
LB – No. 33 Will Alexander (Jr.); No. 26 Josh Anglin (Soph.)
LB – No. 0 Ray Coney (Jr.); No. 35 C.J. Turner (Soph.)
Star – No. 16 Devion Robinson (Soph.); No. 24 Buddha Garrett (Soph.)
CB – No. 3 J.D. Drew (Jr.); No. 13 Nunu Campbell (Jr.)
CB – No. 1 Champ Lewis (Jr.); No. 7 Elijah Gree (Soph.)
S – No. 21 Lento Smith Jr. (Sr.); No. 12 Dedaunte Scott (Soph.)
S – No. 18 Zach Williams (Soph.); No. 15 Ashton Williams (Soph.)
Tulsa special teams
Placekicker – No. 11 Seth Morgan (Grad)
Punter – No. 29 Angus Davies (Jr.)
Long snapper – No. 42 Aidan Fedigan (Jr.)
Kick return – No. 1 Braylin Presley (Sr.)
Punt return – No. 0 Zion Booker (Jr.)
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football one win away from bowl eligibility
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