Army finds success despite playing with tragedy
By some standards, this season has been a great one for Army’s defense.
The unit ranks fifth among Football Bowl Subdivision teams with 288.9 yards allowed per game after finishing 51st in the same stat last year.
On a landscape marked by increased offensive numbers, Army has held more than half its opponents to 14 or fewer points, a development that has helped the program recover after five con- secutive losing seasons.
Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman is a finalist for the Broyles Award, awarded to college football’s top assistant coach.
But painting the 2016 campaign in a positive light for the Army program, its defense, players and coaches would be to ignore a dark cloud that still hangs over the team as it approaches its annual season-ending matchup with Navy and the bowl appearance thereafter.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 11, sophomore cornerback and cadet Brandon Jackson died in a one-car crash about 20 miles south of the Military Academy.
“He’s beloved by his teammates,” coach Jeff Monken said, alternating between past and present tenses. “We all loved the kid. He’s a great kid; happy kid, just full of life, enjoyed being here, being on this team, being around these guys, loved playing football, competed. I mean, he’s just a great guy.”
Jackson, a native of Queens, N.Y., earned a starting spot in Army’s defensive backfield during his freshman season and went on to lead the team in interceptions and rank second in solo tackles. But the loss of Jackson as a play-