Army Knights Preview 2024
Army continues to be the team no one wants to deal with.
Talent-wise, yeah, you want a piece of the Knights. Your Power 4 - or decent Group of Five - team is bigger, stronger, and nastier on the lines. The overall skill level is probably higher, and in theory, all the recruits with stars next to their names should be able to figure it all out.
But it’s still not easy to push past Jeff Monken’s team.
Army was able to beat UTSA, gave Boston College all it could handle, stuffed Air Force, and showed that when this thing works, it’s able to take full control of games.
Now it’s about being even more dominant with the rushing attack and even more consistent overall. The Knights came up with a few nice wins last season, but there were inexcusable losses to ULM and UMass, and they weren’t even close in back-to-back shutouts to Troy and LSU.
But even with the problems, 6-6 - with two straight wins over Navy - has been fine. But Army knows what it’s like to be far better under Monken, and now that the program is part of the American Athletic Conference, it might be.
NOTE: The previews were published early this summer. We tried to catch the changes, but if we missed anything, please let us know at @ColFootballNews and we'll fix it right away.
Army Preview 2024: Offense
- The running game wasn’t quite good enough. More on this in a bit, but it’s Army. The ground attack has to be dominant, and when it was, the team won. When it wasn’t, the team lost. It’s just that simple.
QB Bryson Daily led the team with 901 yards and seven scores. He’s back along with thumping 220-pound back Kanye Udoh, 215-pound Hayden Reed, and the speedy Tyrell Robinson to get moving inside and out. The stars are there, and now …
- It’s Army. The offensive line will be good again. The combination of guard Lucas Scott and center Brady Small has to be a rock with the rest of the line needing some tweaking.
Again, it’s Army - there are blockers waiting to show what they can do, and there’s more bulk potentially in the mix, like 6-4, 325-pound senior Matthew Adoghe.
- The receiving corps lost its top deep threat - Isaiah Alston averaged almost 30 yards per catch on his nine grabs - but Casey Reynolds is back after finishing second on the team with 16 catches, and the versatile Noah Short can run a bit; he led the team with 18 grabs and two scores.
Army Preview 2024: Defense
- It all ties together. When the Army running game is working and controlling the clock, the defense gets a break, stays fresh, and it does enough to hold serve. When the O isn’t rolling - and it wasn’t last year - the D has problems.
That’s partly why the Knights were 5-0 when holding teams to 155 rushing yards or fewer and 1-6 when they didn’t. Overall, they were 106th in the nation against the run, so …
- It would help if the pass rush could come from somewhere. The line is all about the rotation rather than the raw bulk - 280-pound Kyle Lewis has to hold up on the inside with so many replacements across the board.
Inside linebacker Kalib Fortner should be a statistical star. Overall, though, including leading man Leo Lowin, nine of the top 11 tacklers are done, so the pressure early on will be on …
- The secondary - it needs to hold up. The combination of Max DiDomenico and Casey Larkin has to shine at safety, but the big play corners have to emerge - seven of the nine interceptions from last season’s production have to be replaced.
Army Key To The Season
Run the ball better.
When Army is crushing it, it’s running for over 300 yards per game. In 2017 it averaged over 362 rushing yards per game, and even in the years when it wasn’t there, it was close to running for three bills. Last season it ran for 208 per game.
Army was 5-0 when it ran for 205 yards or more, 1-6 when it didn’t, and that one win was against Holy Cross in a nail-biter.
Army Key Player
DT Kyle Lewis
Turnover on the Army defense is nothing new - service academies always build up replacements to be ready to go - but the front seven needs to be far, far stronger against the run.
The linebackers should be okay in time, but the pass rush has to show up and do more. It all centers around the 6-3, 280-pound Lewis, a quick, bulked up end playing mostly on the nose who made 25 tackles with a sack last season. Now he’s the veteran anchor.
Army Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: None
Army doesn’t go after or bring in transfers - not that it can’t, it just doesn’t.
Top Transfer Out: WR Isaiah Alston and LB Tano Letuli
Alston didn’t get a ton of work, but he averaged 21 yards per catch on his 49 career grabs. He’s now at Iowa State, and Letuli is off to San Diego State after coming up with 12 tackles in his freshman season.
Army Key Game
at Florida Atlantic, Sept. 7
As always the Navy game means everything - of course - but as life in the American Athletic Conference starts, stealing a road win in the league opener would mean the world. The conference schedule is as nice as could reasonably be, so win this, and all of a sudden the idea of being in the title chase isn’t crazy.
Army 10 Best Players
1. Bryson Daily, QB Sr.
2. Kalib Fortner, LB Jr.
3. Kanye Udoh, RB Soph.
4. Tyrell Robinson, RB Sr.
5. Kyle Lewis, DT Sr.
6. Hayden Reed, RB Jr.
7. Max DiDomenico, S Sr.
8. Noah Short, WR Jr.
9. Brady Small, C Soph.
10. Jack Latore, DE Jr.
Army 2023 Fun Stats
- Penalties: Opponents 70 for 535 yards, Army 48 for 440 yards
- Time of Possession: Army 32:22, Opponents 27:33
- 4th Quarter Scoring: Opponents 88, Army 54
Army 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Army slipped a bit from the 21 wins over 2017 and 2018, and eight wins or more in five seasons in six from 2016 to 2021 - the two 6-6 seasons over the last two years were disappointing - but …
There’s a shot to do big things right away as a member of the AAC.
Can the Knights avoid the gacks like last year’s losses to ULM and UMass? If they win the games they’re supposed to, there’s a shot to come up with a huge start - the first seven AAC games are against teams that didn’t finish with a winning record.
Theres’s no Tulane, Memphis, or USF to face - Army couldn’t ask for a nicer break.
It’ll come up with enough wins early to build a good base, but it’ll struggle late with a run of Ari Force, at North Texas, Notre Dame, and UTSA before the Navy showdown.
Unlike the last two seasons, Army will get to six wins before facing the Midshipmen as it goes back to a bowl.
Set The Army Win Total At … 6
Likely Wins: Lehigh
50/50 Games: Air Force, East Carolina, at Florida Atlantic, Navy, at North Texas, Rice, at Temple, at Tulsa, UAB, UTSA
Likely Losses: Notre Dame
2024 Army Football Schedule
Aug 30 Lehigh
Sept 7 at Florida Atlantic
Sept 14 OPEN DATE
Sept 21 Rice
Sept 26 at Temple
Oct 5 at Tulsa
Oct 12 UAB
Oct 19 East Carolina
Oct 26 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 Air Force
Nov 9 at North Texas
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 Notre Dame
Nov 30 UTSA
Dec 7 OPEN DATE
Dec 14 vs Navy (in East Rutherford)
Missing: Charlotte, Memphis, Tulane, USF
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