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                         September 6, 2002

Army ready to open season against Holy Cross

Longest regular season in school history to begin Saturday

By Bob Beretta
Asst. Athletic Director, Athletic Media Relations

Army opens its fifth season as a member of Conference USA Saturday, hosting non-league foe Holy Cross at Michie Stadium at 1 p.m. It will mark the 24th overall meeting between the longtime Eastern foes, but the first pairing since 1994.

The Black Knights begin their third season under head coach Todd Berry with hopes of beginning their schedule with a victory for the first time in six years. In fact, Army has not opened its season with a victory since the Independence Bowl season of 1996. The Black Knights will feature a youthful look as Berry’s complete rebuilding project continues with 77 underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) dotting the 119-man roster (65 percent).

One of those young players is heralded sophomore quarterback Reggie Nevels, one of Berry’s first West Point recruits. Nevels attended the USMA Prep School two years ago, before filling a backup role as a plebe last fall. Nevels fought off a battle from freshman Zac Dahman to earn the top job during preseason camp and enters Saturday’s opener poised to make his first career start.

He will guide an Army offense intent on minimizing mistakes following a season that saw the Black Knights haunted by turnovers. Army ranked among the country’s worst clubs (112th among Division I-A) in turnover margin a year ago at -1.45 per game.

Thanks to an odd twist in the calendar — there are 14 Saturdays from Labor Day weekend until Nov. 30 as required by the NCAA — teams are able to play 12 regular-season games in 2002. Schools will also be allowed to schedule a dozen contests in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2014. Holy Cross posted a 4-6 record last fall, and dropped four consecutive contests to close the year. The Crusaders return senior starting quarterback Brian Hall and standout senior inside linebacker David Dugan among 38 lettermen.

Holy Cross finished 4-6 overall last season, closing the year with four consecutive setbacks. The Crusaders posted a 3-4 Patriot League record, holding down fifth place in the conference standings, ahead of Towson, Lafayette and Georgetown. Holy Cross returns 38 lettermen this fall, including 20 on the defensive side of the ball. First team All-Patriot League selection Dugan heads the list from his inside linebacker spot. The Patriot League’s second-leading tackler last season, Dugan registered 100 tackles last fall, including 12 for loss.

The talented Hall heads the Crusader offense after posting a 133.71 efficiency rating a year ago. Hall threw for 1,806 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior and has compiled 3,442 career aerial yards to rank sixth on the school’s career chart. The Crusaders have not squared off against a Division I-A opponent since visiting Army in 1994.

Army struggled to a 3-8 record a year ago, snapping a three-game losing streak with a convincing 26-17 defeat of arch-rival Navy in the season finale. The Black Knights dropped three games by a total of 20 points and finished ranked eighth in Conference USA’s final standings, ahead of Tulane and Houston.

Army suffered a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to Cincinnati in last year’s season opener, falling in the game’s final seconds when the Bearcats scored the game-winning touchdown on a 12- yard pass from Gino Guidugli to Tye Keith with seven seconds remaining. The "see-saw" affair featured six lead changes in the final 16 minutes of play.

While Army has been extremely successful in season openers over the years, the Black Knights have struggled in recent lidlifters. Overall, Army is 91-18-3 (.826) in season openers, 91-13-3 (.864) when those games have taken place at West Point. But after winning seven consecutive season debuts and 11 of 13 since 1984, the Black Knights have dropped five straight season-opening verdicts. Four of those losses have come by a total of 20 points, including last year’s three-point decision versus Cincinnati.

In fact, Army has dropped its last two season openers to the Bearcats, losing those games by a total of nine points. In order, Army has suffered season-opening setbacks to Marshall (35-25) in 1997, Miami (Ohio) (14-13) in 1998, Wake Forest (34-15) in 1999 and Cincinnati in both 2000 (23-17) and 2001 (24-21). Army’s current five-game losing streak in season openers marks the longest in school history.

Senior wide receiver Aris Comeaux and senior defensive end-defensive tackle Clarence Holmes have been selected by their teammates to serve as team captains for the 2002 Black Knight football season. The duo has combined for 22 career starts since arriving at the academy. Holmes, along with then-senior Center Dustin Plumadore, were tabbed as a game and team captains prior to last season’s Army-Navy contest, joining Clint Dodson and Brian Zickefoose, who were selected as co-captains at the outset of the season. Dodson had become the first Army player in more than 100 years to be listed as team captain in consecutive years. The only other two-time captains were Dennis Michie in 1890 and 1891; Edward King in 1894 and 1895; and Walter Smith in 1899 and 1900.