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Jeff Monken was asked what the major difference is between his Army football players and those who play for Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame has 22 Parade All-Americans,’’ the coach said of the coveted postseason awards, “and we have 22 players who have marched in a parade.’’
There is a major talent difference between the four- and five-star college recruits who sign with Power Four conferences and those who sign with the service academies. Even in their best years of late, Army has succeeded with the collective talents of rugged individuals, playing a unique scheme, and not on the singular talents of a handful of players. As for schools like Notre Dame, the assets of their recruits are abundantly clear: they are faster, bigger and stronger.
Monken unabashedly had to admit as such following Notre Dame’s dominant 49-14 win over his cadets at Yankee Stadium.
“What a great football team we played tonight,’’ Monken said. “They were really athletic and extremely well-coached. I mean, every phase they outclassed us.’’
Army headed into the contest with the nation’s second-stingiest scoring defense, and the top rushing attack in the country by far – and Notre Dame made a mockery of both.
The Black Knights were held without an opening-drive score for the first time this season, and were forced into four series of three plays-and-out in the first half alone. The Fighting Irish beat the blocks of an experienced offensive line, short-changing runs from scrimmage and putting Army’s vaunted option offense behind schedule far too often – the Black Knights had 24 rushing plays that gained 2 yards-or-less. And when quarterback Bryson Daily tried to get the ball to the outside with his slot backs, the Irish were quick to cover and make exceptional solo stops. Simply put, speed kills.
“They gave us a lot of different looks,’’ Daily said of the Notre Dame defense. “They had a really good plan to stop the outside stuff. We were able to have a few plays where we were able to get on the outside but those (were) few and far between.’’
Army football: Defense struggles
On defense, Army had not allowed a touchdown over its past two wins, but Notre Dame is clearly not Air Force or North Texas. On the 100th anniversary of the Notre Dame 13-7 win over Army that brought the legend of the Four Horsemen to light, the Fighting Irish utilized four runners to gallop for 273 yards (9.4 yards per carry), many on bursts up the middle through exceptional blocks. An Army defense that halved its surrender of 53 10-plus-yard runs a year ago (through nine games) down to 23, was torched for seven in the first half alone, and then scoring runs of 68 and 58 yards in the second half.
Jeremiyah Love had seven carries for 130 yards, scoring on runs of 14 and 68 yards. Jadarian Price had 10 carries for 53 yards, scoring on runs of 2 and 10 yards. Aneyas Williams scored on the 58-yard run early in the fourth quarter for a 49-7 lead.
“Props to the (Notre Dame) offensive line,’’ said Army defender Andon Thomas.
“We couldn’t block them and keep them blocked, and we couldn’t get off of their blocks,’’ Monken said. “That’s fundamentals of football and they did that much better than us.’’
In his preparation, Monken was convinced his team would be able to compete with the Fighting Irish, as long as Army played a near-perfect game.
“I guess maybe I was just surprised at how much better they were tonight,’’ Monken said. “I thought we would be competitive in the game. I thought we could play with them. I thought we could block them and sustain blocks enough that we could get the run game going. I thought our guys, just the way we play with effort on defense, might be able to rally and make some plays.’’
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Notre Dame dominates Army at Yankee Stadium