Army's overtime win over Air Force rates highly with coach Jeff Monken

WEST POINT – Jeff Monken isn’t into creating lists of favorite games but Saturday’s Commander’s Classic win over Air Force rates pretty high during his tenure.

“I don't rank them but it was a big win for sure,’’ Monken said during his Monday press conference following a 21-14 overtime victory on Saturday.

“It’s hard to list them,’’ he said. “There’s been some big wins and that was certainly a big one.’’

Still, Monken threw out a pair of memorable wins from his eight-year tenure as head coach of the Black Knights.

-- Army clinched the 2017 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series with a 14-13 win over Navy on December 9. The Black Knights last won the trophy in 1996.

-- In the same season, Army beat San Diego State 42-35 to win the Armed Forces Bowl on December 23. Darnell Woolfolk scored on a 1-yard rush with 18 seconds remaining, and Ahmad Bradshaw pitched to Kell Walker for the 2-point conversion and 36-35 lead.

“There’s been some great wins here and that on Saturday was a great win,’’ Monken said, “to battle that team and both teams fighting as hard as they could for a chance to take home the trophy. When you play a hard-fought game against a good team and one that’s in a rivalry and both teams are really battling hard to take home the spoils of victory, I mean, it was awesome.’’

Working overtime

Army and Air Force met for the 56th time, and the 26th time since the NCAA overtime rules went into effect in 1996. This was the first meeting that needed extra time. It marked the second time the teams were tied after four quarters, the first coming in the inaugural meeting on Oct. 31, 1959, a 13-13 draw at Yankee Stadium.

Army is 10-6 all-time in overtime games. The Black Knights beat Louisville in 2 OT in 1999; beat Kent State and Baylor in 2006; beat Rhode Island and Tulane in 2007; lost to Buffalo in 2008; beat Vanderbilt in 2009; lost to Rutgers in 2010; lost to Yale in 2014; lost to Buffalo and beat North Texas in 2016; beat Temple in 2017; lost to Oklahoma and beat Miami of Ohio in 2 OT in 2018; and, lost to Michigan in 2 OT in 2019.

No letdowns

Army is facing a “trap” game on Saturday as Football Championship Subdivision member Bucknell, of the Patriot League, brings a 1-8 record into Michie Stadium for a noon start. Monken is still mindful of Army escaping a 2015 encounter, 21-14.

Monken said “it’s very difficult’’ to come off such an emotional win, no matter the next foe.

“It is such a physically draining game not only because of the competition and it was a physical football game on both sides,’’ Monken said. “Any time we go through something that's really emotional we feel drained, we feel tired and it is a challenge to get back up and get rolling again. It's our job as coaches to get our guys ready and it's the professionalism of our players individually that they’ve got to get themselves prepared and refocused on trying to get better and improve and that's really our message to them and going to be our focus for our team throughout this week.’’

Monken said there were plenty of fundamental mistakes and missed assignments against Air Force.

“We can’t allow that to happen’’ he said. “We’ve got to work hard to correct those things and hopefully play our best football game of the year this week.’’

By the numbers

Army quarterback Tyhier Tyler rushed for his 10th career touchdown in 13 career games played. … Quarterback Christian Anderson completed a 79-yard touchdown to Tyrell Robinson, who actually took the short throw to the right side at the 34 and ran the remaining 66 yards for the longest TD reception of his career. Five of Anderson’s touchdown passes this season have gone for 39 yards or more. … Cornerback Cam Jones made his second interception of the season, grabbing a tipped ball by teammate Andre Carter. … Safety Marquel Broughton made 10 tackles, his third career double-digit performance. … Outside linebacker Andre Carter posted one sack, raising his season total to 9.5 – he is tied for second with Nevada’s Tristan Nichols and trails only Felix Anudike-Uzomah of Kansas State (11). … Despite the lower rushing totals on Saturday, Air Force still ranks No. 1 (302.4 yards) and Army No. 2 (286.0) in rushing offense. In an ironic twist, the two option offenses top the passing yards per completion, Army at 21.3 and Air Force at 20.63.

Notable

Linebacker Kemonte Yow and wide receiver Cole Caterbone made their first collegiate starts, though both have seen action this season. .. The roof at Globe Life Field was open for pregame ceremonies, highlighted by a flyover of jets. But then the roof was closed and there were complaints of how loud things got with the crowd noise.

Bowling

With one more win, Army qualifies for an ESPN-operated or owned bowl game. In July, College Football News identified four top potential landing spots for Army: the Dec. 17 Cure Bowl; the Dec. 18 Boca Raton Bowl; and, Dec. 21 Frisco Bowl (with a Sun Belt Conference team as a likely foe), plus the Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl.

In 2022, Army would be up for the Independence or Belk bowls.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR