The Unbalanced Line

Armed Forces Day

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:07:00 +0000

Army Preview: Orlando Sentinel

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:10:00 +0000

Here's the first of the 2013 season previews... The Orlando Sentinel throws out the first lowball ranking placing Army at 117th nationally.

Seeing these early previews is on one hand nice in the pre-summer slow news days, but it is also typical for these countdown rankings to release the lowest ranked teams earliest.... so there is that.

In the past The Sentinel has ranked teams by their projected Win-Loss record and I have no reason to think this preseason's rankings are any different. While this is an insulting placement for any team, the Sentinel's way of ranking has usually been the least accurate of any method of ranking and I don't think it will be difficult for Army to far, far outplay the #117 rank that they have been given here.

Obvious question marks are at the quarterback spot and the defense needing to greatly improve on their NCAA worst numbers:

Outlook: The opportunities for success will be there for Ellerson and the Cadets, but a lot will depend on who takes over at quarterback. Steelman was the heart and soul of the program for the past four seasons and finding someone who can fill that role could be difficult. The triple option offense is tough to stop because few teams actually run it, giving Army an edge. But the Black Knights’ defense must improve in order for the team to be successful this season.

I like these kind of early previews and low rankings as a mark for the team to surpass, but #117 will be pretty easy to surpass and assuming any improvement on defense they should clear that low hurdle in week 2.

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Yearbook: San Fransisco

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:38:00 +0000

Long before the South Florida Bulls appeared on the college football roll books the name "USF" was reserved solely for the Dons of the University of San Fransisco. Univ of San Fransisco's yearbooks are available online and present a great look at student life at USF. The yearbooks are complete from 1910 to 2003 and were named the Ignation (1911-1931), Adios (1941-1950) and the Don (1937, 1939, 1951-2003). These are great yearbooks and the editions I looked at are a fantastic chronicle of USF sport culture.

The Dons basketball acumen is well known with their back-to-back national titles in 1955 and 1956, but San Fransisco football had a stellar season of their own 5 years prior in 1951. The 1951 team went undefeated at 9-0 and by the numbers had the best rushing defense in the country. The team placed ten players into the NFL and produced the school's first All-American Ollie Matson.

Matson was a big part of the season for the Dons. In their 9 games Matson rushed for 1566 which was 114 yards fewer than the standing college record. Matson's number of 1566 yards on the year wasn't bested until O.J. Simpson rushed for 1709 over 11 games in 1968. Ironically Matson made All-America as a defensive player. Here's a look at Matson running wild on offense in that great 1951 season:

The Dons were offered a bid to the Orange Bowl with the condition that they leave behind their two African-American players - Ollie Matson and Burl Toler. The team refused the bowl bid due to that stipulation and sat on their unbeaten, untied and uninvited season.

Here is a short documentary on San Fransisco's 1951season with interviews from some of the players.

Sadly the 1951 season was USF's final year of football as the varsity team gave way to a four team intramural league.

The USF Yearbook does well to chronicle that intramural football league as well as San Fransisco's varsity sports teams. Go to the yearbooks page and check out the USF Don and the USF Ignation yearbooks.

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It is the mission of The Unbalanced Line Online Library to present important and interesting historical texts to college football fans. Items will be added regularly as blog postings and can be easily indexed in the Yearbooks button on the site bar.

Copyrighted material is used expressly under the fair use guidelines of U.S. Code 17 #107 through #118 stating that the criticism, comment, news reporting, educational use or research of copyrighted material is not held in violation of copyright laws.

_______________ © 2013 The Unbalanced Line _______________

Black and Gold game Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:39:00 +0000

Sal's pre-spring game report notes injuries were the reason why the format was to be offense vs defense in situational play.

With the Army moving the game from Ft. Hood back to West Point and then moving again indoors to the Foley Center due to weather, then cutting down to situational scrimmage it kind of seemed like the Black Knights were closing ranks and getting down to work.

Sal Interdonato tweeted from the scrimmage.

Rich Ellerson did a post spring game interview with Ken Kraetzer and talked a little bit about the attrition that went on over the spring and some positional shifts they tried out on defense.

Sal has his spring game report up, the most comprehensive review of the day that I could find.

He also has the early word on the QB spot.

Hit em all, they are all must read/must see.

_

Some Positional Moves in March

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 07:55:00 +0000

Sal Interdonato scratches my itch and lists a working 2 deep on the offensive line.

The first-team offensive line change up: Junior Zach Reichert (tackle) and freshman Matt Hugenberg (guards) formed the left side. Sophomore Todd McDonald (center), sophomore Steve Shumaker (guard) and freshman Justin Gilbert (tackle) remained in their first-team positions. Starting center Ryan Powis is still out with a knee injury. The second-team offensive line was sophomore Nick Bennett (left tackle); junior Andrew Szott (left guard), freshman Corey Hobbs (center); junior Richard Rainey (right guard) and juniors Whitaker and Ryan Kalnins rotated at right tackle.

We're counting on Ryan Powis to be back for September, so no matter what - the line will look different in the fall. With that, I expect that Powis' return will make the line stronger for the season. I'm excited about this group of linemen and I'm excited about their prospects for the 2013 season, but that doesn't mean this group is going to magically turn into a veteran line in one summer.

The one thing that stands out to me in that 2 deep judging by class alone this group is a year away from being a top flight unit. Can Army lead the nation in rushing again? Probably. But as we saw last year, that alone doesn't guarantee a winning season. It's nice to have pieces, but to have a group like this that can play together for two full years is a the asset moving forward toward 2014.

Rich Ellerson did an interview with Ken Kraetzer regarding some of the personnel moves. RE really lights up when the conversation turns to defense.

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A Couple More Practices Done

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:01:00 +0000

Culturally, not many things translate over from my other favorite football team the Pitt Panthers. There is so much that is different between the two schools and athletic programs on down to the athletes and the reasons why they are at each respective school. After following the Panthers for the last 15 years the one thing in every preseason I have become hyper-aware of - even obsessed with - is what the offensive line will look like. I couldn't care less about recruiting; the whole process just doesn't captivate me- but I will think about the prospects of the offensive line and O-line depth until September and I guarantee it will worry me until the 2nd or 3rd game of the season.

The Black Knights were back at practice today and there seem to have been a few decisions made regarding the makeup of their O-line. Nick Bennett (LT), Todd McDonald (C), Stephen Shumaker (RG) and Justin Gilbert (RT) worked on the first team offensive line. Jr. Zach Reichert, Jr. Andrew Szott and Soph. Matt Hugenberg worked in with the top group at guard.

Whereas the QB spot will be fought over for the days to come, it's clear that this group plus Powis will be the makings of this year's line. I'm pretty pleased that the staff has dialed in on a core group and are working in several different guys this early in the season.

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Ryan Powis

Ryan PowiS

sophomore Nick Bennett (left tackle), junior Andrew Szott (left guard), sophomore Todd McDonald (center); sophomore Steve Shumaker (right guard) and freshman Justin Gilbert (right tackle). Junior Zach Reichert rotated in at guard. Ellerson praised Szott, who played two years behind three-year starter Frank Allen, for his improvement. - See more at: http://blogs.hudsonvalley.com/west-point-army-football/#sthash.vqGXltCZ.dpuf

First Practice of the Year 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:28:00 +0000

Army is already at practice proving the Punxutawney groundhog correct by ringing in an early spring.

GoArmySports has a recap of practice #1.

The story of the day is QB competition with Sal Interdonato noting that there is an open 4 way QB tryout.

Schurr and White aren't the only quarterbacks in the mix. Coach Rich Ellerson said the competition is open and includes sophomore Angel Santiago and junior Cody Jackson.
"Those four guys all are going to get some consideration," Ellerson said. "I'm trying to say we don't have a lot of expectations, but clearly A.J. and Angel are the guys who have played on Saturday in the big stadiums. But Cody and Kelvin both do some good stuff. I don't want any of those guys to be out of it and no one has been anointed."

Also, the spring game will be held at Michie, which is provides a small measure of justice for season ticket holders who deserve to see the team in person this spring.

The 2013 season is already starting and not a moment too soon.

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Repositioning Coaches

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:43:00 +0000

Sal's latest installment details some recent changes to the Army coaching staff.

Some of the moves make sense -

Payam Saadat: Saadat, Army’s co-defensive coordinator, will work with the defensive front. He mentored linebackers and safeties last season. Ellerson’s take: Payam’s background is upfront and as you know we play with all those strong safeties, corners and free safeties, we have a back five. That’s where the center of gravity needed to be. We have plenty of guys that can coach the defensive front to include myself… We were a little short handed on the back end from an experienced standpoint. Payam did a nice job with those guys. As good of a job as he did, he is still a better coach upfront than he is on the back end.”

It was pretty clear this past season that Sadaat wasn't a permanent fix for the defensive backs.Here, he goes back to his natural position, which in and of itself shows how that coaching staff loyalty held the team back last year.

There is definitely something to be valued in stability at the top coaching spot. On the other hand, holding a staff together and wedging guys into roles where they can't be the best possible teachers isn't at all what USMA football needs.

In that vein, some of the moves come with question marks -

Andy Guyader: Guyader, the team’s wide receivers coach the last four years, will move to quarterbacks coach and is transitioning into Army’s recruiting coordinator taking Waugh’s place. Ellerson’s take: He’s transitioning into that lead (in recruiting). Andy basically ran the weekend for the first time. This is going to happen over the course of the spring. He and Tuck are kind of right feet, left feet right now with the idea that will transition into Andy’s portfolio if you will.”

Guyader was a QB under Ellerson at Cal Poly, so what was he doing coaching wide receivers? I think it was good form to wait until Trent Steelman left until you change the QB coach - but if Ian Sheilds isn't the best option QB coach on the team why did T.S. develop into the player that he did?

I don't want to chew it apart, because all of this is a wait-and-see thing. I hope I'm wrong about my conjecture, and Guyader is the best option coach in the nation. I guess we will wait and see..

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Yearbook: Texas Tech

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 07:32:00 +0000

Texas Tech's yearbook is online and available for your viewing pleasure. Texas Tech University was founded fairly recently in the scheme of things - 1923; and, to me, the Red Raiders have a new-school feel about them. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer my Tech new-school.

Texas tech's La Ventana is nearly complete with yearbooks available online from 1926- 2009. There are some great photographs and game writeups within these volumes - and some true college football greats (.pdf).

Texas Tech legend Donny Anderson

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It is the mission of The Unbalanced Line Online Library to present important and interesting historical texts to college football fans. Items will be added regularly as blog postings and can be easily indexed in the Yearbooks button on the site bar.

Copyrighted material is used expressly under the fair use guidelines of U.S. Code 17 #107 through #118 stating that the criticism, comment, news reporting, educational use or research of copyrighted material is not held in violation of copyright laws.

_______________ © 2013 The Unbalanced Line _______________

Yearbook: Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 01:17:00 +0000

With Penn State on probation for harboring child molesters in their locker room; plus
three straight years in the BBVA Compass Bowl for Pitt. (To think if Pitt had kept Wannstedt around they could be WINNING these Compass bowls.)

It looks like Temple has finally gained footing on its in-state counterparts.

I'm not going to imply that Temple's fortunes will be greater than that of Pittsburgh's or even that of Penn State's - they lost to both teams this past year.

Temple's Templar yearbook presents a look at student and athletic life at Temple University.
The Templar is available from 1923-2009 and is a nice look at Tample's gridiron history.

I find it interesting that Temple's most memorable seasons are clearly their most forgotten years and the Owl's forgettable gridiron struggles are how most remember Temple football.

Remember that Temple actually played in the inaugural Sugar Bowl way back in 1935 - a 20-14 loss to Tulane. Today that match up would be a bottom of the stack, mid-October, Big East game of the week.

What made great Temple back then?.. None other than the enterprising, unforgetable, Pop Warner. 1934 was Warner's second year in charge of Temple after successful coaching runs at Cornell, Carlisle, Pitt and Stanford. By 1938 Warner's career had run its course (319-106–32) and Pop retired an Owl going 31-18-9 as Temple coach.

Enjoy the Temple yearbooks; the newest addition to my yearbooks list.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is the mission of The Unbalanced Line Online Library to present important and interesting historical texts to college football fans. Items will be added regularly as blog postings and can be easily indexed in the Yearbooks button on the site bar.

Copyrighted material is used expressly under the fair use guidelines of U.S. Code 17 #107 through #118 stating that the criticism, comment, news reporting, educational use or research of copyrighted material is not held in violation of copyright laws.

_______________ © 2013 The Unbalanced Line _______________

Two New Coaches

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:25:00 +0000

Rich Ellerson hired a couple of coaches to fill vacant spots on the coaching staff.

The two coaches hired to fill the big shoes of McKeehan and Tripp are Todd Spencer and Tom Simi. I like Ellerson's choices. Spencer has extensive experience coaching mostly option offensive lines his entire career. Like McKeehan, who coached at Navy, Spencer coached eleven years at Navy before following Paul Johnson to Georgia Tech.

Sounds like a nice get for an O-line coach. Todd Spencer seems like he fits the scheme.

The other new offensive line coach is Tom Simi who has been the head coach of the United States Military Academy Prep team since 2009. Simi is a graduate of Eastern Oregon University. He was an assistant coach from 1997 through 2001 at his Alma mater. Most of that time he served as an assistant under former head coach, current Black Knights offensive coordinator, Ian Shields. Simi has a thorough understanding of the Army offensive system and terminology.

The first thing I thought when I read that was that it seems like they are surrounding Ian Shields with his guys - for quick internal succession in the event of another disastrous season. I still feel like that may be the case and I am relieved at that since I see Shields and his offensive mind as the one indispensable element of this coaching staff.

Don't get me wrong - I like Rich Ellerson as head coach; I just like R.E. a whole lot more with Shields running the offense than bringing anyone else in at the top spot and losing the Off. Coordinator to the regime change.

No matter how you slice it the more the staff thinks like Ian Shields the more I like it.

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Final Blogpoll Ballot 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:06:00 +0000

Here's my final 2012 Blogpoll bracket.

I tried to give higher rankings to bowl winners with nice records and and ranked those top 25 by their relative strength of schedule. Stanford is 5 because I believe the Pac 12 is legitimately strong. I have nowhere to put Ohio State since the Buckeyes didn't play a bowl, but they did finish with the best record in the nation, so # 3 it is.

The only other difficulty I found was ranking the good 2-loss mid-majors. Utah State came out on top of that decision losing only to BYU (by 3pts), Wisconsin (2 pts.) and beating a very strong San Jose State team on the road.

The Unbalanced Line Ballot - Week 15

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Oregon Ducks	--
3	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
4	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
5	Stanford Cardinal	--
6	Georgia Bulldogs	--
7	Clemson Tigers	--
8	Florida St. Seminoles	--
9	Louisville Cardinals	--
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
11	Texas A&M Aggies	--
12	Florida Gators	--
13	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
14	LSU Tigers	--
15	Michigan Wolverines	--
16	Oklahoma Sooners	--
17	Oregon St. Beavers	--
18	Utah State Aggies	--
19	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
20	San Jose St. Spartans	--
21	Northern Illinois Huskies	--
22	Boise St. Broncos	--
23	Northwestern Wildcats	--
24	Tulsa Golden Hurricane	--
25	Kent St. Golden Flashes	--

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Good Turnover in Lieu of Bad Turnovers

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:14:00 +0000

New year, new times - same old champions - but 2013 will mean a whole lot of turnover in Army's coaching staff.

Sal lists the current departures as OL coaches Bill Tripp and Gene McKeehan (both retiring from coaching) and notes the hiring of a new running backs coach, as well as the departure of D-Line coach Clarence Holmes.

Say what you will about continuity regarding the coaching staff, the defense needs a boost, as does recruiting. 2-10 with the #1 rushing attack in the USA? It's clearly time for a change. This is a team that could and should have won 8 games and won with style. New coaching pieces don't always bring winning, nor do they necessarily bring style - but this team already has style and hasn't done any winning in the first place. I look forward to the fresh new members of the coaching staff.

_

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:41:00 +0000

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Army 2-10

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 06:16:00 +0000

One last turnover letdown spoiled what could have been a nice win. Navy overcame poor play of their own, but ultimately Army can only blame themselves for losing this one. Army pushed Navy around for most of the game, and if there's a talent edge in favor of one team or another I'm just not seeing it.

With a win it may have been be easier to look at the brighter aspects of the season but a 2-10 season takes a lot of luster off of any individual or academy accolades. Army finished #1 in the nation in rushing, but left too many footballs on the turf to make anything out of the season.

It was a pretty important game, the streak lives on, seniors move on, and it's back to the drawing board for Army. For football independent Army the C.I.C. is the most important goal of of the season and they were very close this time. 5 years in, I think Rich Ellerson is on track. Ian Shields' offense is a buzz saw and it frankly renders all other football boring. Those guys are safe for another year though there will probably be grumblings among the Army fan base. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of this loss is that I will continue referring to the contest as the Navy/Army game.

Navy/Army story stats and highlights.

Navy/Army Items

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:01:00 +0000

The Navy Army game is fast approaching and that's the only thing keeping us from calling the 2012 regular season over and done.

I can't believe how fast this season went, and looking back at how much I slacked on blogging about Army I wish I could have the whole season back to do-over.

Another Navy/Army game another uniform... this time less camo, more maps. I wish dear old Pitt had maps on their uniforms, maybe they could find their way to a different bowl than the Compass Bowl for once.

Sign this guy up, he looks like he can play.

Speaking of the Pitt connection a pair of Pittsburgh guys; former North Allegheny teammates Wes Henderson and Brian Austin will face off in Saturday's game.

Navy defensive end Wes Henderson is reminded of that every year, when he meets his high school teammate and close friend Brian Austin for a post-game photo on the field. Austin is a running back for Army.
Henderson and Austin began riding their bikes and playing video games together as middle schoolers in Wexford, Pa., about 20 minutes north of Pittsburgh. They were both multi-sport athletes at North Allegheny High School.
"We're just a lot alike," Henderson said.
Henderson's father, Lother, was an Air Force fighter pilot, and his older brother, Nick, played football at Navy. So he pretty much knew where he wanted to go to college all along.
Austin actually credits Nick Henderson for inspiring his interest in the academies, though he says the early speculation had him going to Navy and Wes going to Air Force.

Don't forget about Sal's chat, surely there won't be too many of these before the off season.

The Navy/Army game notes are up. (PDF) Plenty of good stuff in there.

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Moves and Shake-Ups

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:26:00 +0000

So, Maryland will quit the ACC and Rutgers will likewise quit the Big East and both will join the Big Ten sooner or later and for better or worse.

Whether these teams make an impact on actual TV ratings is secondary to the question of whether the perceived value of these media markets (N.J. & Baltimore) can deliver a lucrative payday during the Big Ten's upcoming first tier media rights sale.

The Big Ten's move comes curiously close after Notre Dame signed their athletics contract with the ACC moving basketball to the ACC - at least for now - and playing 5 ACC football teams annually.
Was this move made as some kind of "Fuck You" to Notre Dame?.. Poaching the Terps from the ACC and taking Rutgers to even the Big Ten out at 14 teams? Well it wasn't that big of a fuck you at all. The Big Ten will almost certainly help these two teams whose athletic departments have become nearly insolvent. As it sits today, Rutgers brings a little more than Maryland, but neither school offers a next-level basketball program. Right now it looks to me to be two more mouths to feed. It is no exaggeration to say that Rutgers built its football renaissance on scheduling light and beating up on the weak Big East teams. Am I surprised that RU is playing for the Big East title? Now that WVU is off their schedule I'm not surprised in the least. Rutgers and Maryland are joining at a good time since Penn State's scholarship sanctions mean more MD and NJ kids could look to stay in state, but there will be significant growing pains for football and basketball as well as for each school's olympic sports.

Maryland's athletic program has seen better days and now that the Terps future is looking brighter some news outlets are taking the time to expose the problems that Maryland athletics have gotten themselves into.

Former Army AD Kevin Anderson played a role in the story...

Four months after the firing, Anderson needed a $1.2 million loan from other non-state auxiliary funds because the department could not balance its budget. One key shortfall came because a major gift did not materialize. Once Anderson saw the new data, he realized the department was running a deficit."That was the red light that went off," said Anderson.Documents reveal that the red light may have already been on. The Maryland Athletic Council, the primary advisory body on university intercollegiate athletics, acknowledged an ominous budget outlook as early as August 2010 under interim AD Randy Eaton (Eaton declined to speak to SI.com). The Athletic Council stated that money from the new ACC television contract, due to earn the school $3.9 million more than the old one, would ease any financial burden.In July 2011, Loh set up a commission to take a hard look at the athletic department. A year later, seven sports (men's and women's swimming, women's water polo, men's cross-country, men's indoor track and field, men's tennis and aerobics and tumbling) were cut.That move drew the ire of many, especially after it was revealed in January that the school was financing a $7.2 million reconstruction of Loh's presidential mansion. Controversy also surrounded which teams were targeted for elimination, as those choices ran contrary to the commission's stated criteria of academic excellence. Of the seven sports Maryland cut, six had far better Academic Progress Rates scores than the baseball team, which survived despite having the lowest APR of any team in the ACC.

Do I care about the decay of Maryland athletics? Not any more. The ACC picked up Louisville which is a step down academically from almost any school in the ACC, but hey, I'm not forced to listen to UL history lectures. Louisville brings a decent TV market and just as importantly: a balanced athletic budget.

I have a tough time hyping myself up for frequent tallest-midmajor-midget Louisville, but there is no arguing their profitability as a brand.

Another acceptable answer for the ACC would have been replacing Maryland/DC with Navy. Army isn't ready to jump yet, but Navy wants a seat at the big-boys table, and the ACC would have been a solid but tough league for Navy football. It would be an even trade in regard to the revenue sports.

Tulane now goes to the Big East, which is looking an awful lot less 'East' these days. Do I care? The answer is no. I will continue to enjoy Big East football and I will feel comfortable rooting for USF against any of those other derelict teams.

More than that these moves have given me two more reasons to skip past the Big Ten Network.

At some point I will update the BIG East board with more websites of the actual participants, but for now I'm going to relax and enjoy the last few weeks of the season.

_

Anderson fired Friedgen with one year left on the coach's contract, and Friedgen received a $2 million buyout. Anderson subsequently hired Randy Edsall from the University of Connecticut and signed him to a six-year, $12 million contract.
Four months after the firing, Anderson needed a $1.2 million loan from other non-state auxiliary funds because the department could not balance its budget. One key shortfall came because a major gift did not materialize. Once Anderson saw the new data, he realized the department was running a deficit.
"That was the red light that went off," said Anderson.
Documents reveal that the red light may have already been on. The Maryland Athletic Council, the primary advisory body on university intercollegiate athletics, acknowledged an ominous budget outlook as early as August 2010 under interim AD Randy Eaton (Eaton declined to speak to SI.com). The Athletic Council stated that money from the new ACC television contract, due to earn the school $3.9 million more than the old one, would ease any financial burden.
In July 2011, Loh set up a commission to take a hard look at the athletic department. A year later, seven sports (men's and women's swimming, women's water polo, men's cross-country, men's indoor track and field, men's tennis and aerobics and tumbling) were cut.
That move drew the ire of many, especially after it was revealed in January that the school was financing a $7.2 million reconstruction of Loh's presidential mansion. Controversy also surrounded which teams were targeted for elimination, as those choices ran contrary to the commission's stated criteria of academic excellence. Of the seven sports Maryland cut, six had far better Academic Progress Rates scores than the baseball team, which survived despite having the lowest APR of any team in the ACC.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/the_bonus/11/26/maryland-athletics/index.html#ixzz2DVKh0VZK

Happy Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:15:00 +0000

Army 2-9

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 02:47:00 +0000

One game remains.

One game to prove that this season is different than the last 10 Army seasons.

One game for the seniors to make the memory of a lifetime. One game is left in Army's 2012 season and none of Ellerson's coach speak is necessary to say that the next one is the biggest game of the year.

Next up is Navy and it should be treated as a stand-alone season. Forget about Temple. (Temple/Army story, and stats.) Forget about Air Force; it's a one game season. It probably won't be too hard to buy that it's a one game season considering the game is nearly three weeks away.

There will be some new uniforms for the Navy/Army game.

I could go on about the Temple game, but we forgot about it already, right?

_

Army 2-8

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:14:00 +0000

Here's your Army/Rutgers story, stats and highlights.

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Happy Veterans Day

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 17:36:00 +0000

Knightfall

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Rich Ellerson's presser quotes are up.

Phil Steele looks at the Army/Rutgers matchup.

#24 Rutgers vs Army

RU has now won 7 in a row vs Army. Last year in Yankee Stadium, Army was off a tough loss to Air Force and QB Steelman was out with an injury. RU only led 13-12 when they blocked a P for a td with 6:36 left and then on 3&7 when a FD might have let them run out the clock, they got a 56 yard td run by Jamison. Both teams played Kent St this year and both lost despite outgaining the Golden Flashes. Army now has a shot to win its 1st Commander In Chief’s Trophy since ‘96 after last week’s 41-21 win over AF snapping the Knights 13 game losing streak vs their service academy rivals. Steelman ran and threw for 100 yards and they benefitted from +5 TO’s. RU is fresh off a bye off its loss to Kent while Army plays for a 10th straight week and RU has extra time to prep for the bone with a large D edge (#18-117).
PHIL’S FORECAST: RUTGERS 34 ARMY 13

Here's a Rutgers/Army preview. I don't envision a 35-14 final score.

and another preview.

FACTS & FIGURES: Army has played in Piscataway three times since 1972 and has lost all three. ...The Black Knights have an 11-game losing streak in games played away from West Point, and they have lost 14 straight vs. Big East competition. ...Army hasn't beaten a ranked team since knocking off Air Force in 1972. ...Rutgers leads the Big East and is 10th nationally with 13 interceptions. DBs Brandon Jones and Logan Ryan have four picks apiece. With a win, Rutgers would have its best start since 2006 (9-0). ...The Scarlet Knights are shooting for eight wins for the sixth time in seven seasons.

One thing that stands out in my mind in regard to Rutgers is that Army is due and overdue to beat the Scarlet Knights. In regard to Rutgers I've probably it before and felt pretty confident in an Army win, but that doesn't change the fact that Rutgers is due to lose to Army and due to take a head-scratching mid-season loss as well.

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Army 2-7

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:29:00 +0000

Trent Steelman was money with his 101 yards. That's 3 straight games with 100+ yards for #8.

Steelman was injured and did not play against Air Force last season in a 24-14 road loss. He more than made up for that absence on this day in a contest featuring the top two rushing teams in the nation.

"It's a feeling I had never experienced before," the senior quarterback said after his first career victory over the Falcons. "It's a feeling I wouldn't change for the world. It's a big win for our program, but we have to turn around and go right back to work."

Steelman, who moved past the great Glenn Davis into third place all-time in rushing at West Point with 2,983 yards, passed for 100 yards and guided an attack that netted 314 yards rushing and held the ball for 36 minutes.

Trent wasn't the only guy dialed in on Saturday; Danny Wild certainly was, with a field-level view of the action and some great celebration shots of the team. Stellar stuff again from Danny.

It was difficult for me to even think about college ball until today after Pitt's seemingly annual collapse against Notre Dame. Army still being alive for the CIC trophy takes a little of the sting away but anyway that's why I'm so late getting this write-up out.

Here's the Air Force Army Story and Stats.

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Blogpoll Ballot Week 9

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:32:00 +0000

I don't know.
Something like this:

The Unbalanced Line Ballot - Week 9

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Oregon Ducks	--
3	Kansas St. Wildcats	1
4	Ohio St. Buckeyes	1
5	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1
6	Georgia Bulldogs	3
7	Florida St. Seminoles	--
8	Florida Gators	-5
9	LSU Tigers	2
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	8
11	Clemson Tigers	6
12	Louisville Cardinals	3
13	Oklahoma Sooners	-6
14	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	-1
15	Boise St. Broncos	4
16	Stanford Cardinal	--
17	Texas A&M Aggies	8
18	Oregon St. Beavers	-10
19	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
20	Kent St. Golden Flashes	4
21	Texas Tech Red Raiders	-9
22	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	1
23	Arizona Wildcats	--
24	UCLA Bruins	--
25	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	-11
Dropouts: USC Trojans, Texas Longhorns, Ohio Bobcats, Toledo Rockets

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

I don't know, I feel like I'm all over the place on this one. All I really want to chime in on is the top 2 which, Oregon despite their opponents ability is pretty much playing themselves into #1. Alabama's Defense is still a force though, so it's Bama, Oregon 1-2.

I have Kansas State third. They are a dynamic team, but what bumps them down more than anything else was their buying out of the early season game at Oregon's Autzen Stadium. Frankly, if THEY don't think they can leave Eugene with a win why would I believe they could?

Ohio State is looking more and more like a national championship caliber team. Good to get that out of the way while they are ineligible, because: fuck Ohio State.

Notre Dame has been piecing together a nice season, but they are truly unspectacular on everything except defense. I don't see them playing anyone like the Ducks either, so ND #5.

Some other teams played on Saturday, and you will find some of those teams lower down the top 25 list.

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