ND FOOTBALL: Football lore wrestles with playoff contention talk when Irish face Army

Nov. 20—SOUTH BEND — A matchup that goes back nearly as far as the game itself, Notre Dame and Army will add a new-age feel Saturday to a historic rivalry that once dominated the sport.

The No. 6 Irish (9-1) will pay the No. 19 Black Knights (9-0) a visit when the two schools meet at Yankee Stadium to register the latest matchup between two football programs. This time, the talk of College Football Playoff contention — for both teams — is getting in the way of what was originally scheduled as the 100th anniversary of the 1924 matchup that gave birth to the “Four Horsemen” tagline.

Sportswriter Grantland Rice donned the Irish backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Elmer Layden as the Horseman and Notre Dame beat Army 13-7 at the old Polo Grounds in 1924.

Nowadays, the modern game has swept through and both the Irish, and Black Knights, are chasing playoff seeding. The run game, however, still lives strong in both program’s soles. Army leads the nation with an average of 334.9 yards per game and Notre Dame is 11th with a total of 216.7 yards per game.

It’s come to be expected from the Jeff Monken-led Knights, who utilize the triple option like other military institutions, but Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made his analysis clear.

“I met with the defensive staff, and the first thing we said is the biggest mistake we can make is think this is Navy 2.0. It’s not,” Freeman said. “It’s a different offense. They do some different things. They’ve got a different identity and present a different challenge.

“Yes, it’s still a version of the triple option, which you see with some of the military schools, but they run it with different personnel. They’re led by their O-line. They come off the ball, they’re physical, they’re big — bigger than what you usually see when you play academy…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-football-football-lore-wrestles-031700225.html

Author : Goshen News, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-11-21 03:17:00

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