Quick Reaction: Army 14 NT 3

Army continues their streak at the Mean Green's expense

Everyone knew this was going to be a defensive masterclass. Right? Two AAC teams averaging 40+ points per game and over 7+ yards per play. The final result had two teams well under their averages in those areas. Bryson Daily said “they’ve scored on everyone and our defense shut them down and that was awesome.”

Really and truly, the best defense was the offense. The third quarter was a masterclass in ball control:

Army went on a 21-play 94-yard drive that used up 10:54 of time. It was incredible. Their offensive line leaned on North Texas. The ran hard. Daily converted some 3rd and 3s. They converted a crucial 4th down play with something out of the College Football 25 playbook — a jet sweep to their speedy guy who got the first down by about a half-inch.

They scored, and from there the desperation that the sideline reporter noticed in Chandler Morris was evident. He threw an awful interception in the red zone. He was staring down DT Sheffield on a corner route, but the Army corner was dropping back into that zone and caught just about the easiest interception ever.

After a seemingly unforced fumble from Udoh, North Texas had an chance but Morris again stared down DT Sheffield on a high-low route combination and threw to Sheffield, completely missing Landon Sides who was wide open.

Takeaways:

1. Army’s Offense Was Their Best Defense

Again, NT had 3 plays and 1 yard in the third quarter. Eric Morris knew that was going to be the case, and tired his best to jump out early to get a lead. NT led 3-0 early, but those were the only points for Eric Morris all game.

Army picked off two passes, but did it’s best work by Daily converting first downs. 41 minutes of possession for Army. It was classic academy football.

2. The Offense Was Awful When It Needed To Be Great

The Mean Green offense is dangerous and potent and all those other things but all season we’ve called out the tendency to start slow. This offense needs lots of reps to get into gear and click. It is like an old school lawn mower that needs a few pulls on the cord. NT had chances — the 18-play 62 yard drive was a great way to hold the ball and protect the defense early.

After that, it was an exercise in shooting themselves in the foot. Or stepping on a rake. Or slipping on a banana peel. Whatever you want to call it. The turnover on downs on the second drive was after McGill was half-an-inch short of the score. NT tried to run on 4th and short — a questionable decision considering the line is iffy, and the running back room is thin — and came up short. Army went on a long drive after that.

The next drive suffered from some miscommunication. Chandler Morris rolled out and threw a ball to Ward who had started turning up field as you do on a scramble drill. The ball fell to no one.

Army went on a long drive.

In the third, Nelson came up with an interception, and North Texas did nothing good. A poor throw from Morris and a one-yard dump off to Porter set up third and nine. Nick Rempert, stepping in for Damon Ward, dropped a sure first down and NT had to punt. That was the only time North Texas touched the ball in the quarter.

After that Morris threw two awful interceptions on the only possessions remaining. We’ve seen that before, where NT starts slow but picks it up. Compare it to the Memphis game where NT had 15 possessions and scored on seven. Here, the six possessions resulted in only one scoring drive.

NT can be efficient. They can score. But one way to disrupt a rhythm offense is to keep it off the field for long periods. Army did that.

3. An Opportunity Was Missed By Inches

It is hard to be upset about this, as Army has played well to this point. You can see how close North Texas was to taking control of this game, but also how good Army is at making that difficult to achieve. They were happy to grind out drives. They made only two mistakes (interception, fumble) and executed.

North Texas came up one inch short in the first quarter, and that would have made it 10-7, changing the dynamics of the game tremendously. NT had Army a half-inch short on the 21-play drive. They had the ball in the red zone with enough time to get a stop and maybe score again.

It was so much almost. They had a chance to beat a beatable Army squad and didn’t. Instead they sit on a three-game losing streak to the league’s best teams. Bowl eligibility will have to wait another week (at least).

Next Up: UTSA

The Roadrunners are on a bye week, and NT will play them on Friday coming off a grind of a game vs Army. They upset Memphis last week and their offense has improved in recent weeks. They aren’t as good as Army but there are no gimmes, especially with how brittle NT has been these past few weeks.

The defense played a great game, holding Army to just 14 points, but they also couldn’t get a lot of backfield penetration and had some miscues — Caponi shouting “IT’S THIRD AND FIVE” at his cornerback when he sat in soft coverage — that can easily be picked a part.

Still, the next three weeks give the squad more much-needed margin for error.