Monken and 4th Down

[gabn92]

We all know Monken hates to punt...and Army has a culture of going for it on 4th down, which often is the right call. Is it just me or did anyone else start to feel like Monken is getting a bit too agressive/risky on 4th downs this season?

A couple of instances come to mind when I think about the season. During the Navy game, 2nd half...Monken decided to go for it on 4th and 6 from midfield. Think the score was 21-13, maybe 21-10. The play didn't work, but we got bailed out by a Navy roughing the passer penalty. So, on the one hand it all worked out OK. On the other, it was due to poor play by Navy rather than good execution by Army.

Another example...forget which game, but maybe UTSA...end of 2nd quarter with Army driving and inside the 10 yard line. 4th and 3 and we go for it and fail. Missed an opportunity to get 3 points by just taking the FG.

I generally love Monken's aggressiveness and it's usually the absolutely right call in those 4th and 1 or 2 to trust the offense to get those couple of yards. But a couple of times this season it has just felt that he got too aggressive.

Thoughts?

[kfan12]

We all know Monken hates to punt...and Army has a culture of going for it on 4th down, which often is the right call. Is it just me or did anyone else start to feel like Monken is getting a bit too agressive/risky on 4th downs this season?

A couple of instances come to mind when I think about the season. During the Navy game, 2nd half...Monken decided to go for it on 4th and 6 from midfield. Think the score was 21-13, maybe 21-10. The play didn't work, but we got bailed out by a Navy roughing the passer penalty. So, on the one hand it all worked out OK. On the other, it was due to poor play by Navy rather than good execution by Army.

Another example...forget which game, but maybe UTSA...end of 2nd quarter with Army driving and inside the 10 yard line. 4th and 3 and we go for it and fail. Missed an opportunity to get 3 points by just taking the FG.

I generally love Monken's aggressiveness and it's usually the absolutely right call in those 4th and 1 or 2 to trust the offense to get those couple of yards. But a couple of times this season it has just felt that he got too aggressive.

Thoughts?

His success rate is pretty high, it will never be 100%. Army had a lot of games this year where they scored on most every drive, in part because they used the 4th down to keep drives alive.

[USMA94]

The 4th and 6 against Navy did seem pretty aggressive. However, it wasn’t just roughing the passer. It was also pass interference and, if not fouled, the receiver had a chance for the 1st down.