Monday Morning QB - Temple
A Good Gritty Win
The Black Knights returned home to host the Temple Owls in a conference game between two teams with similar records. Temple entered the game with a 5-4 season record and a 3-2 record in conference play, while Army had just pulled even for the season to 4-4 with their victory over rival Air Force and was 2-3 in conference play. Our GBK prognosticator, Joe Iacono predicted a close contest, and you can’t get much closer than the 14-13 final score. Army came out of the game with a winning record for the first time all season, evened its home field record at 3-3, and is now just one game away from becoming bowl eligible.
As has been the case in most games this season, the game was a see saw battle that came down to the final quarter, and it was Army’s ball control offense that preserved the victory.
Scoreless First Quarter
Army won the toss and elected to defer. Temple launched a methodical 10 play opening drive that reached the Army 43 before the Black Knight defense stopped Temple cold on 3d and 6 forcing Temple to punt the ball. It was downed on the Army 1 yard line putting the Black Knights in a deep hole to start their first possession.
The Army offense committed the first of its three penalties in the game on the first play of their opening drive but still managed to eke out a first down to the 11. They were unable to overcome an illegal shift penalty on their second series and had to punt it back to the Owls.
Temple started their second possession at midfield and reached the Army 26, where the defense held, and Carl Hardin came out to attempt a 45 yard field goal. Hardin was 8 of 10 coming into the game but he pushed his attempt right, and Army got the ball back on their own 27 to start their second possession which finished out the first quarter.
Army drew First Blood but Temple Scored Twice to Lead at Halftime
QB Cale Hellums led Army on a classic 11 play, 73 yard ground attack, and Jake Rendina, making his first career start, ran the ball in from 7 yards out to give Army the lead at 7-0 at the 4 minute mark of the second quarter.
Temple answered with a 13 play, 75 yard drive of their own to tie the score at 7-7.
Army launched another ground attack that reached the Temple 44, but on 4th down and 2, one of the Army blockers missed his assignment, and an Owl linebacker broke through to bring down Hellums for a 3 yard loss.
Temple took advantage of the good field position and went to the air with an uptempo offense that reached the Army 6 yard line in 5 quick plays that ran just 25 seconds off the clock. With 1 second remaining, Hardin made good on his second FG attempt to give the Owls a 10-7 lead at the half.
Army Regained the Lead to Start the Second Half
Army received the second half kickoff and launched another classic Army 75 yard touchdown drive that featured the biggest play of the day for the Army offense. Facing a 4th and 1 at the Army 47, everyone in the stadium expected to see Hellums run for the conversion, but OC Cody Worley pulled a surprise and had Hellums fake a handoff to Rendina and drop back to pass. He connected with Parker Polosky for 26 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive, and 7 plays later Hellums ran it in from 3 yards out to regain the lead at 14-10.
Temple Came Back With FG To Close Within 1
Temple came right back with a 68 yard drive that reached the Army 12, but on 3d down and 5, Andon Thomas and Cole Searight combined to stop Temple for a 1 yard loss and the Owls had to settle for a field goal to pull within a point at 14-13 going into the final quarter.
Army Controlled The Final Quarter
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, a holding penalty curtailed a promising Army drive at midfield, and James Wagenseller was called on to punt it back to Temple. Wagenseller got off a well placed punt that Temple fielded on their own 8, and the Army defense rose to the occasion to hold Temple to their only three-and-out of the game.
With 9:53 left on the game clock, Army took possession on their own 42, and I turned to a fellow Army fan and said something to the effect that what we needed was a 10 minute drive to win this game. Little did I know at the time was that Monken must have been thinking along those same lines. Hellums came back on the field to launch what has to be one of the longest 53 yard drives in Army history. It didn’t result in a score, but it kept the Temple offense off the field to preserve the victory.
Hellums converted on two 4th and 1 plays to keep the long drive alive, and then, on 2d and 5 from the Temple 8, Hellums appeared to have a wide open hole to the end zone but slid to the ground just inside the 5 yard line instead. In his post game interview, Monken explained that he gave Hellums the wrong instructions, telling him to ground the ball once he got inside the 5 rather than inside the 3 and Hellums complied, but then had to convert the first down on the next play before going into the victory formation to run out the clock. For anyone betting on the point spread, it was a big break one way or the other, but stopping short of the goal line was the best strategy to keep the Temple offense off the field and preserve the win; and Monken will settle for the 1 point win every time.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Temple and Army are very similar in that they both prefer a fairly conservative ball control offense rather than the uptempo style play that so many other teams have adopted. Each team had the ball for only 6 possessions, which is practically unheard of these days. Another similarity is that they both avoid beating themselves with turnovers and penalties. Temple came into the game with just two turnovers this season, second best in the NCAA, and they rank 41st in penalties. Borrowing a phrase that Monken uses often, Army beat Army a few times earlier in the season, but the Black Knights didn’t beat themselves in this game. That’s usually an indicator that we don’t have any Ugly to report. We saw a fair amount of Good and a little Bad.
The Good
Ball Control: As Jeff Monken noted in his post game interview, many coaches consider Time of Possession to be the most highly overrated statistic in football, but for a couple of teams that play a ball control style of offense, it’s a very significant stat. As Coach Monken mentioned in his post game interview, Temple and Army both like to control the clock, and Army won that battle by a significant margin, 37:38 to 22:22. Arguably, it turned out to be the most significant factor of the game, especially in the fourth quarter.
No Turnovers: While many coaches are not enamored with TOP as a meaningful statistic, they universally speak of the importance of winning the turnover battle. That battle turned out to be a draw, and the fact that the Army offense avoided a turnover was a definite plus. The next best thing to winning the turnover battle is not to lose it.
Scoring Defense: Temple outgained Army with 268 yards of total offense to Army’s 250, but the Army defense made critical stops when they counted most, forcing Temple to settle for two field goals along with just one touchdown in the game. Only 3 FBS teams are averaging less than 13 points per game in scoring defense this season. Of course, Army’s ball control offense was a major factor as well but holding Temple to 13 was an accomplishment.
Special Teams Play: Kicker Dawson Jones wasn’t called upon to attempt a field goal in this game, but he did convert both of his PATs and Wagenseller had another solid game punting the ball. The kickoff coverage team contributed to the effort as well, forcing Temple to start two of their possessions from the 8 and 19 yard lines on two of their 3 kickoff returns.
The Bad
Penalties: Most teams would be thrilled to limit their penalties to 3 for 15 yards, and the 3 penalties in this game were slightly below Army’s 3.2 average which ranks #2 nationally, but 2 of those 3 penalties were drive stopping penalties that Army can ill afford in a close contest. The false start penalty on the first play of the game was a mental error as was the illegal shift penalty on the second series. We didn’t get to see the holding penalty, but it was costly.
The Ugly
No Ugly worth mentioning in this game. The coaching staff is likely to find things needing improvement, but it was a good, gritty win by the Black Knights.
Notable Performances
Offensive MVP
- Joe’s Pick: The MOB – yes I’m giving MVP honors to an entire unit. While there were almost no explosive plays on offense save the pass to Parker Polosky on 4th and 1, the MOB kept moving the line of scrimmage all day and opened holes for the fullbacks and gave Hellums just enough of a push to pick up 4 4th downs.
- A.M.’s Choice: I have to go with QB Cale Hellums who basically was Army’s entire offense against Temple.
- Charles’ Choice: QB Cale Hellums was not effective passing the ball on Saturday, but he made up for it with team leading 118 net yards on the ground with one touchdown. He gets my vote for offensive MVP..
- Gordon’s Pick: Cale Hellumsis the usual logical choice, and I like Joe’s vote for the MOB, but I was really impressed with the contributions from first time starter Jake Rendina, and I’m giving him my vote for his contribution to this game. His 4.7 yards per carry was the best on the team, and he also contributed heavily with his blocking when not carrying the ball.
Defensive MVP:
- A.M.’s Pick: Once again, linebacker Andon Thomas a defense that shutdown the Temple offense.
- Joe’s Pick: The defense wasn’t on the field much especially in the second half so I’ll go with leading tackler Andon Thomas. In addition to his 8 tackles Thomas had a key PBU.
- Charles’ Choice: ILB Andon Thomas made the most plays. He’s my defensive MVP.
- Gordon’s Pick: As usual tough to pick just one, but I’m going along with my colleagues to pick Andon Thomas as MVP once again.
In Case You Missed It – GBK’s Joe Iacono’s Post-Game Analysis with guest, Alex Aukerman
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