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Army Gears Up for Gird Iron Battle with Rice

By John Chuhran

West Point, NY – The Army football team is riding a six-game winning streak – second longest in the nation behind the seven of Missouri – heading into Saturday’s game against Rice University, but Head Coach Jeff Monken thinks that Saturday’s matchup may be the toughest test yet for the Black Knights

“I got a chance to watch them play 3 games and I’m just really impressed with Rice – their size, how physical they are, and I think they’re a really well coached football team,” Monken said. “We faced (Rice Head Coach) Mike (Bloomgren) back in 2019 and he is such a good football coach and he’s built up a really strong team there. They haven’t gotten the results that they wanted so far, but they went to a Bowl game last year. He moved the needle there and I really respect that. This program is very similar – we took over a program that had struggled historically for many years. To get it going, that’s a lot of toil and a lot of commitment by players and coaches and support staff and administration. So, I give him a lot of credit for what he's done, what he's built there and the respect that he has amongst the coaches in our league.”



This year, the Black Knights have started 2-0 after logging solid victories over Lehigh and Florida Atlantic. So far, Army has found quite bit to be happy about: the Black Knights lead the nation in average rushing yards per game (390), are averaging a strong 6.8 yards per rush, and the stout defense has held opponents to an average of 7.0 points and just 258.5 total offensive yards per game.



While two games is a small sample size for jumping to conclusions, the Army offense has been consistently effective. Quarterback Bryson Dailey has directed new Offensive Coordinator Cody Worley’s attack plan, keeping the ball 35 times while gaining 195 yards (5.6 yards per carry), and sharing the work with veteran Kanye Udoh (29 carries for 145 yards (5.0 ypc). Keeping opposing defenses off balance has been a crucial part of the plan; slotback Noah Short has made multiple big plays on outside runs (19 carries for 245 yards (a nation-leading 12.8 ypc), while Dailey has connected on four of 10 passes for 79 yards. The strong running game has enabled the Black Knights to dominate time of possession (and average of 35:51 per game), limiting the time and number of opportunities that opponents have to try to score.



Army Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody has also constructed a solid unit. Kalib Fortner (team-leading 12 tackles), Max Domenico (10 and 1 interception), Andon Thomas (9), Brett Gerena (8), and Matt Keith (8) lead a balanced squad that has demonstrated impressive tenacity and skill in the final quarter of the most-recent win against Florida Atlanic. Facing a first-and-goal situation on the Army 3-yard line, the Army defense held as Gavin Shields, Jayden Mayes, Thomas and Domenico tackled perfectly and Army stopped the threat and took over on downs.



Rice (1-2) comes into Saturday’s game trying to regroup following a 33-7 loss to Houston. E.J. Warner (son of former NFL Super Bowl MVP Kurt) finished 12-of-21 passing for 50 yards with an interception for the Owls. Running back Dean Connors ran for 32 yards including a 4-yard touchdown run against Houston, but a week earlier he had career-best nine receptions vs. Sam Houston. He leads all FBS running backs with 18 catches through the first three weeks.



Against Houston, the Owls were unable to find a consistent offensive rhythm; they were 2-for-13 on third-down conversions.



The Rice defense leads the nation with 14 sacks from a total of nine players in the first three games. Michael Larbie tops the list with a career-high 2.5. Josh Pearcy picked up the first of the Owls' three sacks vs. Houston to increase his career total to 14.5 to move into sixth on the Rice career list. The Rice defensive line and linebackers are strong and quick; 11 players have delivered 11 tackles for loss.



“We know what a battle it's going to be and what an effort it's going to take on our part,” Monken added. “This (Rice) is a team that, athletically, we don't match up very good against them and that's being very, very frank. They’ve got guys that can run and change direction, they're big – their front seven on defense are really strong players. They're really good in the kick return game. Their kickoff return unit is ranked really high in the country right now, so there's plenty of things that we’ve got to get prepared for.”



Tickets for the game (set for a 12 PM kickoff and broadcast on the CBS Sports Network) are still available.



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