Game Week Army: Quick Thoughts

So..... Army...

Yes... By far UB’s biggest test to date, and there is a good chance they will be missing a couple of very important players when they take on Army

Before this news UB was considered a 6 point favorite, I suspect that will fall back to three. And three points, at home, is Vegas doing this.

Which is pretty much how I feel about the game.

Even in it’s more mediocre seasons Army can make any opponent pay for undisciplined play. This year on top of the usual “defend the triple option” we have to deal with the fact Army is also pretty dang good.

Army took Oklahoma state to the brink, and even though they are 2-2 they have more votes in the Coaches Poll as Buffalo does.

So how do you beat Army?

Most of Army’s plays are runs into the line or speed-option runs to the edge. This eats clock, and it forces your defense to be disciplined on every play... Never cheating, never selling out. Because when you sell out, they will gash you

And if you don’t sell out?

They will still plug away 3-4 yards a play until you manage to stop them.

Eating the clock means you don’t get to waste possessions. When you’re running up and down the field in a high scoring game the occasional miscue can be played off, but if you turn it over on Army you’ve also just given them 4-5 minutes of clock.

So the formula is simple to understand but hard to execute.

• Don’t make mistakes
• Stay true to your assignments
• Be patient

If the Bulls do beat Army they will be 5-0 before entering the heart of conference play.