Army: You Are Still No Navy

After an embarrassing effort against Navy a few weeks ago, Notre Dame had a chance to redeem itself against Army at Yankee Stadium. Army, like Navy, is a service academy who runs the triple option. Going into the game the Irish had beaten a service academy only once in the last five attempts. To Notre Dame, it was a game about not only about bowl eligibility, but also redemption.  

The game started in a similar way to the Navy game. Notre Dame had a long drive that resulted in a turnover, followed by a long, time killing drive for Army. The Irish faithful became nervous as it appeared that a touchdown was inevitable along with another embarrassing performance against service academy.

Then the defense stepped up and held the Cadets to a field goal.

From that point on, the Irish defense dominated Army. Turnovers and three and outs became the norm. Meanwhile, freshman quarterback Tommy Rees threw the ball deep to Michael Floyd, Tyler Eifert and Robbie Toma. Enabling the Fighting Irish to build a 17-3 halftime lead.

Early in the second half, Darrin Walls intercepted a pass from Army quarterback Trent Steelman and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. The interception pretty much sealed the deal in an otherwise uneventful second half. A team that runs the triple option really isn't built to come back from a large deficit so it was no surprise that Army had little success in its attempt to do so.

Going into the game, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew that Army hadn't had the same success that Navy had in recent years. However, I also knew that they were improving, having attained bowl eligibility this year. Though, a look at Army's victories showed they hadn't beaten anybody of note.

From this Notre Dame fan's perspective, Army is definitely an improved program. However, they are clearly no Navy at this point. But, I think the Army-Navy game will be competitive this year and that makes me want to watch it. After all Notre Dame won't be playing that weekend.