Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"September 27, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
September
27, 2002
The Army Black Knights slate doesn’t get any easier Saturday as Conference USA perennial powerhouse Southern Miss. visits West Point for only the second time and first time since 1998. Kick-off is at 1 p.m.
The game can be heard on the radio at 1050 ESPN Radio and also worldwide on the Soldiers Radio Satellite Network.
Southern Miss (3-1 overall and 1-0 in C-USA) saw their visions of an undefeated season go by the wayside Saturday during an error-filled 20-7 loss to Alabama.
Army comes off a 45-14 loss to two-time defending C-USA champion Louisville here. Another Army quarterback was injured in the game as freshman signal caller Zac Dahman had to leave in the second quarter with a groin pull. Sophomore gunslinger Matt Silva draws the nod for third-year Black Knight head coach Todd Berry this week for the daunting task of facing the Golden Eagles.
About Silva Berry said, "He understands the system a little better because he has been in it for two years. He also has a strong arm and can throw the football down the field."
Silva played most of the second half against Louisville passing for 91 yards on 8-of-18 passes, including a two-yard touchdown strike to senior tight end Warren Stewart.
"We’ll have our hands full with Southern Miss., Berry said at Tuesday’s press luncheon.
"Defensively they are very special. Southern Miss. has had one of the most multiple defenses in the nation for probably the last 10 years. They present a different look on every snap and someone is always blitzing. Their four linebackers are always moving. We know they will pressure us. That is what Louisville did."
Berry said he knows whichever young quarterback he puts behind center will take a beating. He explained that with the relative inexperience at the position his primary concern is protecting his young signal callers.
"There are some fundamental aspects of our offense that we cannot utilize because we want to limit the number of times that the quarterback is exposed," Berry proffered.
From Southern Miss. Coach Jeff Bower’s point of view this Army squad isn’t one to be taken for granted.
"As much as anything else, (Army) has been hurting itself," the 12-year Golden Eagle mentor said at his Monday press conference. "They are a very tenacious football team. They have excellent quickness on defense. It is the quickest Army team that I have seen. They aren’t real big across the front, but they are very quick and play extremely hard. Offensively, they are very similar to us in what we do. They are a zone team. They will bootleg. They will run some reverses and a lot of screens."
Bower saw problems in the kicking game, turnovers and the loss of sophomore starting quarterback Reggie Nevels as being keys to Army’s problems so far this year.
"Anytime you go up there, they will not beat themselves," Bower said.
"If you get overconfident," he added. "It can hurt you."
"They will get ready to play and we better be ready also. Todd does an excellent job. The team does a lot of good things on both sides of the ball. You have to earn everything against them, they are very disciplined.
Bower said his squad has to shore up its leaky run defense, which Alabama leapt through to the tune of 351 yards.
The development of red shirt sophomore quarterback Micky D’Angelo was steady up until the Alabama game, Bower said.
"He took a step back," the former Golden Eagle quarterback offered. "When you have a young quarterback you need the people around him to help out.’
Winning the turnover battle is one thing Bower stressed. He pointed to his squad’s five losses in 2001 as an example. "We won the six games last year that we owned the edge in turnovers. We lost the rest."