Army rushing attack daunts West Virginia
Many veteran football coaches and players have come across the option offense at one time or another, in high school and a bit less likely in college.
So coach Neal Brown and his West Virginia staff have to draw on memories, “how to” video clinics and reaching out to coaching friends and colleagues who have faced it in order to devise some means to stop Army and its No. 4 rushing attack in the nation in the Autozone Liberty Bowl in Memphis on Thursday (3 p.m., ESPN).
“Tape up your ankles,'' joked West Virginia defensive line coach Jordan Lesley.
Brown summed up Army's offense quite succinctly.
“They are tough to defend,'' he said. “(They use) a lot of motions, formation varieties, do a really good job of mixing up those looks and finding plays each week that are effective.''
Lesley said the triple option is unlike any traditional offense.
“I don't know that you can simulate it (in practice),'' Lesley said. “It's a totally different offense in every aspect – how they block, the blocking schemes, the motions, the shifts, the trades – than what you ever see in normally 12 ball games. So can you simulate that in 10 days (since the announcement of the Liberty Bowl)?
Probably not.''
The Black Knights (9-2) have utilized 22 different ball carriers, including six quarterbacks. The leading rushers are quarterback Tyhier Tyler (502 yards), fullback Jakobi Buchanan (474), slot back Tyrell Robinson (424) and quarterback Christian Anderson. Fullbacks Anthony Adkins and Cade Barnard were unavailable for the Air Force game. Standout Sandon Mccoy was nicked up in the win over the Falcons, and leads Army with 10 rushing touchdowns – his status is unclear.
Tyler was injured in the win over Air Force but is likely to return to starter. Anderson won the Air Force game in relief. Jordan said the best method is to prepare for the motion that Army utilizes. “Once that's defined, it's just like any other offense you have moving pieces,'' he said.
Putting it simply, Lesley said all 11 of his defenders have a job to do, and if one doesn't do it on a certain play that is where Army can burn the Mountaineers (5-4). Army averages 281.3 rushing yards per game and has accounted for 33 rushing TDS, again No. 4 in the nation. The Black Knights' top team rushing efforts came against Abilene Christian (441 yards, 6 TD), Louisiana Monroe (439 yards, 5 TD) and Middle Tennessee (340 yards, 5 TD) but those all occurred in the season's first four weeks and the Black Knights have only topped 300 rushing yards once since then.