Army's once-dominant offensive line did not have its way with Tarleton's aggressive, sound defenses.
Army is accustomed to being among the top rushing teams in the nation - last season the Black Knights won the NCAA team title at 300.5 yards per game, no doubt the product of their offensive line.
That front unit of seniors Connor Finucane, Bill Katsigiannis and Lucas Scott, plus sophomores Brady Small and Paolo Gennarelli were dominant: opening holes with powerful straight-on blocking, or pulling from one side of the line toward the opposite, combining with fullbacks and creating a wall of humanity to overwhelm defenses. In the end, Army was recognized as the top line in the country and presented with the Joe Moore Award.
The seniors are gone now - with Scott joining the Baltimore Ravens as a practice squad player. Brady and Genarelli both earned multiple preseason honors, but now the pair have to mentor three players who saw notable time in 2024 but were never starters.
The 2025 season debut - Friday's 30-27 double-overtime loss to Tarleton State - shows there is still some work to be done.
Spoiled by the play of the championship 2024 team, it was a bit disconcerting to Army fans to see the struggles of the run game against the Texans. Yes, the Black Knights posted 280 yards of rushing (only 30 shy of last year's average) but there was hardly a consistent flow of attack.
Of the first-down run calls, 17 went for 2 yards-or-less; on second down, there were eight such plays - that often put Army in third down-and-long situations, where typically the team prefers to be four yards-or-less to convert at that point. Ultimately, the Black Knights were just six-for-16 on third down conversions and attempted just two fourth-down tries (converting just one).
"I did not anticipate that,'' a despondent Army coach Jeff Monken said afterward. "I thought we'd do a lot better job blocking them and obviously we didn't.''
Tarleton's defenders proved well-schooled on how to read the Army option and make the necessary pursuits. Numerous times, the Texans met runners at the line of scrimmage for nary a yard and the penetration only got better as the game grew long.
It was a tough slog for starting running back Hayden Reed - he finished with 88 yards but 10 of his first- and second-down carries went for 2 yards-or-fewer. Likewise, quarterback Dewayne Coleman had eight such attempts.
"They were kicking our (butt) up front,'' Monken added. "We weren't blocking them. They were getting off of (our) blocks. We couldn't run our fullback. We couldn't run our quarterback like we have done. ... They were running through us on the counter play - we should be able to get some (linemen) pulled and get around there, but they just outplayed us.''
To Tarleton's credit, the Texans held host Portland State to just 108 rushing yards on 29 carries (a 3.7 average) in a 42-0 win on Aug. 23. Last season, the Texans held opponents to 160 yards per game, and 4.4 per carry.
A year ago, Army ranked fourth in the nation in fourth-down conversion percentage (.775), making good on 31 of 40 tries. On Friday, Army chose to punt on consecutive fourth-and-3 calls (in its own territory) early on - Monken insists he was going with the analytics and not taking a safer or more conservative route. On the two fourth down calls he did make, Coleman spotted Noah Short for a 7-yard pass (when five yards were needed) and Coleman was blown up in the backfield for a 3-yard loss (when two yards were needed).
Army faces a formidable test next Saturday when it plays at No. 17 Kansas State. The Wildcats lost to Iowa State, 24-21, in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 23, and will have two weeks of preparation to face Army's option. Kansas State held Iowa State to just 130 yards rushing, 2.8 yards per carry.
"(Kansas State) is even more talented and a better football team,'' than Tarleton, Monken said. "So if we don't get some of these things corrected, it will be a long night next Saturday.''
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army offensive line struggled against Tarleton State defense
Category: General Sports
