Army-Lehigh Post-Game Analysis with GBK's Joe Iacono (8/30/24)

[Music] welcome Army fans this is Joe iano with goblack knights.com with our postgame analysis from the Army Lehigh Game season opener for the Black Knights uh Army 42 Lehigh 7 was the final score um pretty much what most of us expected I think was a little close early and then Army just dominated and pulled away which I think a lot of people expected um I had 51 to 10 uh Army wasn't going to score 51 points in that game just because there weren't enough big plays uh but Army did score a touchdown on all six of their possessions and you can't really do better than that um the offensive line dominated yeah I understand it's Lehi I get it but um about as good of an opener as you could expect from this team no turnovers One pre- Snap penalty offensive line was absolutely dominant just pushed Lehi all over their all over the field had their way with them uh completely dominant offensive line performance um you know the new offense new old offense quote unquote under Cody whle um I like it it's uh you know I think we're going to see a lot more wrinkles as the season goes along but um a lot of power running obviously with Bryson Daly and Kanye Udo and Hayden Reed Hayden played some slotback as well as some BB back um Jake randina kind of some traditional Flex bone looks a little bit of gun um a lot of option plays to the perimeter to Noah short Samari Howard um so Army really spread the ball around a lot uh I'm going to go through stats before we wrap up but just look at the touchdowns Bryson had two touchdowns Kanye Udo had two touchdowns including a really special run uh on his first one where um he reached the ball over the pylon on a really good run where he made a number of guys miss broke some tackles Noah short had a big time TD on Fourth and three along with a big time run to get them down in scoring position there uh and then Jake G andena had the one TD with the second team offense uh with less than one minute left so that was nice that was impressive um really really impressed with Army's offensive line and the stable running backs they have um Kanye Udo is special he is fast he's powerful he's Shifty um one of the best all-around backs I've seen at Army in quite some time uh really really strong Runner going to do some great things throughout the season in the AAC Bryson looks a lot more confident than he did this time last year um great power Runner just tough as Nails great ball security other than that one pitch where he kind of tried to make something happen that he probably shouldn't have um but just did a really good job commanding the offense looks like the captain back there looks like a guy who knows what he's doing and as Cody whle said and they highlighted on the CBS broadcast tonight playing with a chip on his shoulder him and the entire offense um Hayden Reed looked really good and really versatile he didn't get any scores but he had a lot of big runs early especially and he's probably the best Blocker of all the backs go back and watch him if you uh recorded the game um and watch Hayden block when the other backs are running it's really impressive he does a really nice job um fake punt to start the game with anden Thomas there on a first drive coach monin said he didn't want the first drive of the season with a new offensive coordinator to end in a punt so they called the fake with anden Thomas andon runs it down the sideline uh second longest run of the game did a really good job andon Thomas is very athletic and going to do some great things on special teams and on the defense uh great call by coach Monk and Coach Sato there to make that happen coach monin the postgame presser said it was uh a play they had called that if um and then saw something in the defense he could make that call and he did so uh really good job there um really not a lot to complain about any the offensive side no really huge plays um Bryson Dy was good in his passing missed the one uh wideopen uh go pattern to Noah short that would have been a touchdown for sure um got hit one time when he went to throw the ball but other than that not bad um five for eight and pretty accurate overall I mean Bryson's never going to be confused for Tom Brady or Payton Manning but I think he's doing a really nice job throwing the ball and as long as he avoids turnovers in that part of the game I think he's going to be great along with his running skills and and everything he does there um defensively uh a lot of mixed opinions right you're playing Lehi they probably shouldn't get that much yardage we didn't do an amazing job stopping the run or the pass they had a lot of guys wide open um I get all that but let's bring it back to reality uh we had nine guys on defense start their first gam the defense is very young as we discussed in the preseason preview article where we predicted Army season on gbk the offense is really going to have to carry the defense the first half of the Season at least Army's best defense this year will be their offense their ability to possess the ball put together long grinding drives like the ones you saw tonight and keep the defense off the field and their offense executed that to Perfection and if they can do that against Florida Atlantic they definitely have a chance to go down there and get a w um if they're relying on their defense to win the game it's probably not going to happen um that being said Nate Woody I have be I have come more and more to appreciate what he brings as a defensive coordinator he really understands what he's trying to accomplish with the talent that He has that's really important um you know this Army defense is what it is they're young they're inexperienced they've got some talented guys Donovan Platt made a heck of an interception in the end zone Jaden Mays had the big interception earlier in the game at the end of the second quarter um so they've got some talented guys no doubt about it I really like Cody Harris Miller on the defensive line I think he's going to be tough I like Fortner I like andon Thomas um you know chance Keith just really getting his first couple reps Ford mzi a lot of those guys are young out there um you know Max D Dominico doing a good job but left his feet one time on a on a pump fake um and kind of got burnt a little bit but overall you know Nate Woody knows what has with that defense he understands his talent level and how to win with him and as my dad used to say when he was a high school defensive coordinator you don't get any points for first downs so I kind of agree with that philosophy and I think coach Woody does as well I don't really care if a team moves the ball up and down the field on us they don't get it in the end zone it doesn't really matter and we've seen this trend when Army plays good defense the last couple years especially down the stretch of the Season we've seen them have one of the best red zones defenses uh in the land and that's how coach Woody coaches he brings a lot more aggression when the other team gets in the Red Zone the field tightens up their speed and size advantages disappear a little bit and we're able to hang in there and play defense and I really like coach Woody strategy I think it's really good I mean even coach monin tonight said that was the game plan Ben but don't break and he said you know they b a little too much and he hopefully as the season goes on they'll Bend less I completely understand that I'm sure coach Woody will have the same feedback but I think the guy is one of the best defensive coordinators in the land and really understand what he's doing and it's just hey let's not give up the big play let's not give up explosives and if we do that we can hang with anybody and really like that philosophy and it seemed to work really well tonight kicking game was good obviously we didn't see any punts which coach monin will tell you is a good thing um but uh the kick the place kickers um Anders shout out to Anderson Brittain uh Todd Britton's son my buddy uh Anderson had uh some really nice kickoffs all of them went into the end zone I think if I'm not mistaken so really good job from Anderson Brittain in his first game kicking off and then uh Place kicking uh Trey granady U perfect on extra points and they all look good they all left his feet with power and some accuracy so not a lot of testing for the kicking game but pretty happy with how things went like I said it was it was a dominant performance but the score was just kind of grinding and didn't seem dominant but it was I mean 42 to7 I don't care who you're playing that's about as good of an opener as you could expect and after Army lost the coastal two years ago and after they lost at Louisiana Monroe last year uh this was the offense and the opener that that coach monin and everybody was hoping they would have um let's get into some statistics uh both team and personal um if we look at the rushing yardage first of all so Army ended up with 432 total yards 57 passing 375 rushing they averag 6.7 yards per Rush which is just going to be great um you know like I said this is their offense uh it's a little more multiple and variable certainly than the old Brent Davis offense I think it's a lot more more creative and a lot more risk-taking I really like Cody Worley's uh inventiveness and creativity um but it's way less vanilla than the Drew Thatcher offense from last year which it's too similar to lot what a lot of other teams are doing this still takes advantage of army strengths and I think Cody Worley called a great game even with some well time passes that I think we're going to see on Down the Line there as well um looking at individual stats uh like I said Bryson um went three for six passing so we were five for eight total for 57 yards uh Dwayne Coleman came in Off the Bench went two for two threw a couple nice passes um please Army fans do me a favor don't start calling for Dwayne Coleman to replace Brayson daily at this point that's just silly um but I know some of you uh so anyway Noah short uh led the team in rushing eight carries for 83 yards 10.4 average one touchdown like I said uh Bryson daily was the second leading rusher 17 rushes for 78 yards Kanye 15 rushes for 75 yards five yards per carry average that dude just beats up defenses and I can't wait to see what he does in the American Athletic Conference the rest of the way uh Hayden Reed five rushes for 32 yards Samari Howard got in the action two rushes for 26 yards Jake randin five for 23 David Clark who I didn't even know anything about Frid tonight two rushes for 18 yards so this team is super deep to the running back position and guess what we haven't even seen yet Terrell Robinson was in civilian clothes so um just Jersey and sweatpants so he when he comes back which will happen I don't know when but sometime this season that just adds one more weapon to the Arsenal this is the most exciting Back Field I've seen at army uh in a really long time um you know leading receiver was uh Casey Reynolds was one catch for 22 yards cam Sher had two catches for 22 yards um just all around good opener solid right I get it it's Lehi like but you can't complain I mean the team played solid Lehi was pretty fundamentally sound they didn't have a lot of self-inflicted wounds except for the two picks and a couple penalties um so you can't really beat them up this is a lot different than like the Delaware State game last year uh but now it gets real right so now Army starts conf from play next week at Florida Atlantic 12:00 noon in Boer Ron Florida it's going to be hot they better stay hydrated I think one of the advantages is all the different running backs Army can insert in the game to keep fresh legs they also rotate out a lot of offensive linemen and defensive linemen to keep fresh legs so I think all that's going to help when they go down to Florida Atlantic next week it's certainly going to be a challenge um in the preseason article I think I picked Army to win uh which goes against little commentators are saying I'm not sure it's really a 50-50 game it could go either way but uh we're going to know a lot more about this Army team after that game but I think the season starts off about as well as any of us could have hoped for and also no injuries tonight for Army that was big time so Army wins 42 to7 shout out to the offensive line just a really good game by them uh as well as Bry and Deli for commanding the offense so great work by the Army team 42 to7 this has been Joe iono with goblack knights.com uh get ready we will continue to bring you great coverage and content throughout the season player and Coach interviews podcasts with former players um as well as some of the coaches might even throw a celebrity at you once in a while um and uh some great Monday Morning Quarterback articles by my partner in crime Gordon lson and of course the ongoing recruiting coverage from am Allen and Charles Grievous so uh keep it right here at goblack knights.com for all your army football news uh and this has been Joe iono saying Go Army and beat Florida Atlantic [Music]