AcademyWars.com

Definitely agree the AF and N games will be telling. Regarding AF, you can't be dismissive of the quality of Army's opponents and then hold the AF offense up as an example of success without considering who they've played. Yes, their offense is moving the ball effectively...but against:

1-4 San Jose State
1-3 Utah State
0-3 Sam Houston
2-2 Robert Morris (FCS team)

I think it's too early to say AF has figured this out and Army has not.

Fair enough point. I can agree with that. In my general assessment though it's important to note I'm including last year's success for them too. It's not all apples and oranges. Syracuse is good for sure. And the 4 teams AF has played are not. As for yesterday I didn't see how scheme gave us any real advantage. I might go as far to say that it didn't help us much against UTSA either. Time will tell but each week that we go out and don't play a complete game is on Monken and his decisions. And look I love the guy I just think he's made a bad mistake here that will be costly to overcome. Could still be wrong. Look we could go 6-6 this year and wind up winning 10 or 11 and a CIC and Bowl Game next year. I guess I just continue to be underwhelmed with how this is so different and helping overcome the so called cut block rule

Not much for me to add but a few random observations:

Passing game seems to consist of QB locking in on one primary receiver, resulting in a lot of low percentage throws to receivers who created no separation from Syracuse DBs.

OC seemed to press the panic button early by abandoning the run with all passing calls while game was still within reach. Going for it on 4th and 8 was a concession that the game was over.

I would've liked to have seen Coleman in the game in 4Q to get real game experience. As much as I love Daily's willingness to take on LB's, I have concerns about his ability to take that kind of punishment over an entire season without having a backup ready.

Pass rush was effective early on, but looked gassed out by end of 3Q - too many 3 and outs from the offense. DBs had to give some very soft cushions to try to prevent big yardage plays. Difficult to be aggressive when you know the QB has all day to throw.

Disappointing finish, but should be a good measuring stick of where the team stands right now. Looking forward to seeing what an extra week of preparation will do for playing BC at home.

I hated what I saw against ULM, beyond just the BS Q4 collapse. But, I thought maybe the coaching staff was being very cautious and limited the playbook for the first game. Then we saw a more aggressive and expanded playbook with dominating offensive results, but against an opponent we shouldn’t have even scheduled, and a solid opponent who beat us by 3 points (41-38) in OT last year with their top QB, who didn’t play this year. This week we dominate an outstanding team for 30 minutes building on what we did against the lesser opponents. At that point I don’t know how anyone could categorically say “this offense won’t work”. So what changed in the second half? Did Syracuse take the playbook away from us? Hell no, we just didn’t even try to run the plays we ran in the 1st half. I’m thinking at this point, the problem is more Monken and Thatcher than the offensive scheme. I’ve been critical of Monken in the past, but I do like him as a coach, and think he’s a great fit for the academy. He’s a bit of an enigma: my view of him is that he ping-pongs between decisive and indecisive actions so quickly it often seems simultaneous. Example: Keeping Davis around way too long after seeing a continuous degradation of offensive play calling and results. Note that downfield cut blocks were legal for the entirety of the Davis era. Perhaps Monken finally was honest with himself that Davis was ineffective enough to overcome their shared history and relationship. Or perhaps, Monken already knew he was going to Thatcher’s offense, and Davis had to go for that reason. All I know is that for an inexplicable reason we dropped plays that had outstanding 1st half results like a hot potato at the 2nd half kickoff. I’d like to see what the new offense can evolve into at this point. Regardless, Monken needs to be decisive AND consistent. We need an Identity: pick one.