Saturday September 17, 2011, 2:30 CST (CBS Sports Network)
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| ballparks.com |
Michie Stadium, West Point, N.Y.
Saturday’s game matches two of the top rushing offenses in the country, but that comes for two different reasons. NU’s offensive line had been manhandling the front seven of its employees, allowing big pushes on runs – even when holes to not form. Army on the other hand runs the triple option, an offense designed to deceive rather than overpower. Both teams’ leading rusher is their quarterback – Kain Colter for Northwestern and Trent Steelman for Army. Meanwhile, questions remain about whether Dan Persa will play and how much. The game is also a sellout (38,000), which is attributed primarily to the large amount of NU fans attending the game.
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| regjans.com |
This is the fifth meeting between the two programs. The last time Army faced a Big Ten opponent was the only prior visit to West Point, which resulted in an Army win. NU had won the three prior matchups, all in Evanston. Interestingly, Army is 2-0 in its two bowl appearances against Big Ten opponents. Army will be wearing patches honoring the 82 Airborne Division on Saturday. Wearing a uniform patch such as this is a tradition for the Army football team. Army is 1-1 all-time wearing the 82 Airborne patch, with both prior games coming against Duke.
Injury Report
For Northwestern, defenders Collin Ellis (broken finger) and Jack DiNardo (leg) remain out. Meanwhile, Adonis Smith is listed as “out” at collegeinjuryreport.com. Mike Trumpy is probable to play after his concussion last week, which should take some pressure of off Jacob Schmidt and Treyvon Green. Dan Persa is listed as questionable and is a “co-starter” with Kain Colter on the depth chart. He shared reps in 11 on 11 drills this week, for the first time this year. EVR is guessing that Dan will see a drive or two just to shake off the cobwebs a bit. Non-starters Tony Jones, Roderick Goodlow, Brian Arnfelt, and Jared Carpenter are all questionable with their respective minor injuries.
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| Jarrett Mackey (#94) willschneekloth.com |
Army quarterback and leading rusher Trent Steelman is probable to play, despite an unspecified injury. Offensive linemen Derek Bisgard, Momo Kime, and Brad Kelly are also all questionable. Finally, and maybe the most significant, is that defensive end Jarrett Mackey is questionable with a knee injury suffered last week. Mackey is the Knights second leading tackler.
Weather Report: Tomorrow will be perfect football weather; high of 68 with a gametime temp around 65. Partly cloudy with only a 10% chance of rain. Check with the Weather Channel for updates on the weather.
Inside the Matchups
NU will march its suddenly resurgent running offense against the Navy “double-eagle” defense. The double eagle is a variation on the famous Chicago Bear defense from the 1985 Super Bowl team. Army has three true defensive linemen, along with a fourth hybrid player, who is more of a linebacker size, but often plays from a down stance. Army will also play a linebacker and a defensive back close to the line of scrimmage on the strong side of the offense. Behind the front 6 are another linebacker and a rover, which is an LB/DB hybrid and finally a single true safety – to go along with the two corners. It will be curious to see how the double eagle will respond to the NU spread formations.
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| Erzinger cstv.com |
Army is lead on defense by senior rover Steven Erzinger, who is the team’s leading tackler and one of the only players on the defensive 11 who is built anywhere close to the size that NU will see in Big Ten defenses. Erzinger is a versatile player who will play both linebacker and in coverage. He leads the team in tackles for loss with four, including one of the team’s only two sacks. He will be a key player for the Knights, as the NU front five should simply overpower the Navy DL.
Army has given up a good amount of rushing yards, thus far, averaging 217 yards per game on six yards per carry. And this was against Northern Illinois and San Diego State – two teams who do not have the size on the offensive line that NU has. The three down linemen for Army are 225 – 260 – 220 across the board and are led by nose guard A.J. Mackey. The defensive set is in part designed to provide speed up front to make up for the lack of size – something that the NU spread should be able to neutralize. The Cats will certainly get their yards on the ground and look to see a lot more Treyvon Green as the Cats look to keep Mike Trumpy healthy and Kain Colter from getting hit as much.
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| relayphotos.com |
NU should pass the ball more than they did against EIU, when the team only attempted 16 throws. When they do, look for Colter to pick on freshman corner Lamar Johnson-Harris, who stands only at 5’9” 175. When NU’s bigger receivers are matched up against him, Harris will struggle. Free safety Tyler Dickson has the only Army interception of the season, so they are not exactly ball hawks. The Knights have given up 183 yards per game through the air.
When Army has the ball they present a challenge that the Cats have only had five days to prepare for – the vaunted triple option. This is the primary weapon for the Knights, who have only attempted 23 passes in two games – for 149 yards. The option set is run by junior quarterback Trent Steelman. Not only is he the team’s leading rusher, but he has almost more than twice the carries as anyone else on the team – quite the feat when you consider that six players have more than 13 carries already for Army. This is indicative of Steelman being a cerebral quarterback, who knows how to read the defense and pitch the ball. The Cat defense will need to be on guard and watch their pursuit angles.
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| Steelman makes a timely pitch nj.com |
Fitz admitted that Army is going to get its rushing yards tomorrow, which is a disconcerting thought given the recent history of the run defense. But the Cats have gotten stingy so far this year. While NU is giving up 4.5 yards per carry, if you remove two long runs, one from each game, the Cats gave up 1.2 per carry to BC and 2.1 to EIU. This will certainly be a different attack for the Cats however. Army’s front five are probably the strength of the team and are the most experienced unit with three seniors and two sophomores. They are a little small for an O-Line, with the biggest being Center Will Wilson at 285. If NU can use their size advantage to blow up the option plays before they develop, it will be a much easier day for the back seven.
When Steelman does not keep the ball, his best pitchman is junior tailback Malcolm Brown, who is averaging a scary 8.9 yards per carry. Brown is backed up by freshman phemon Trenton Turrentine, the team’s third leading rusher. Joining this crew in the backfield is junior back Raymond Maples and junior fullback Jared Hassin. Army also rotates in their backups quite a bit, so expect to hear Jon Crucitti and freshman fullback Larry Dixon get their name called as well.
On the rare occasion when Army does throw the ball, Steelman will look primarily to Jared McFarlin, who has five of the nine Army receptions on the season – and the only receiving touchdown. McFarlin is a large target at 6’5” 195 – so look for Steelman to try to find him matched up against Jaravin Matthews, who had so much trouble with BC’s big receivers two weeks ago. Lining up across from McFarlin is sophomore Anthony Stephens. Unless Army completely changes its gameplan, this game will be a nice reprieve for s secondary that has struggled a big through two games. Look for the NU safeties, instead, to help with run support.
Final Analysis
Northwestern is clearly the more imposing team from a size and speed standpoint, an advantage that will see the most impact early, before Army can adjust, and late, once Army has been worn down. NU will need to get their points here, as this could be a fairly even game otherwise. Army’s sets are just quirky enough to give a better team fits – so the Cats will need to take care of the ball and avoid costly penalties. Like Fitz said, Army is going to get their yards on the ground – NU will just need to hold in the end zone and avoid the big gainer. Look for NU’s hurry up to drown Army’s defense as well.
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| sbnation.com |
NU will get up 10-0 early and the game will exchange scores until the fourth quarter, when NU will take control for good. Army, like NU, is a team that will never give up, but Fitz will instill that into the team and the Cats will stay on the gas, scoring a pair of insurance touchdowns late. In the end the game will never truly be in question as the Cats win 37-17.
Go Cats!
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