– Last Updated on June 8, 2018 7:50 am
2017 Football Preview – Independent – Black Knights
Looking for 2017 Army Black Knights predictions? The Black Knights had a strong season last season. I always find myself rooting for the service academies and Army is definitely enjoying a bit of a renaissance. The schedule might be a little tougher this season though.
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- 2017-18 College Football Preview – Army Black Knights
- Head Coach: Jeff Monken
- 2015 Record: 8-5
- Army Black Knights Odds to win the 2017 FBS Championship: +150000
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Army had a great season last year. Another one and they just might want to leave the ranks of the independents and join Navy in the AAC.
2017 Army Black Knights Predictions: Team Strengths
Continuity on Offense: Last year the offense was humming. They had the second best running game in the nation averaging 339 yards per game.
Expecting the same level of success is reasonable thanks to the return of starters at QB, FB and four offensive linemen.
FB Andy Davidson and QB Ahmad Bradshaw were the top two rushers a year ago. Each averaged better than 4 yards per carry.
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On the line they have all those starters, all of whom are upperclassmen. The lone new starter is a senior too so the running game should be humming from day one.
Can the Defense Do it Again: Kind of out if nowhere the Black Knights were a Top 20 defense last year.
They only allowed 20ppg and were 18th against the rush and 6the against the pass. It all came together and they have a lot of players returning.
Army has multiple starters returning at all levels of the defense. They are not the biggest or the fastest but they always give max effort and are schematically sound.
2017 Army Black Knights Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Probablity/Refression?: Even though they are easy to root for it is hard to see Army developing into a power. Even in last year’s season there were some down moments.
If I were coach Monken I would be worried about the defense regressing to normal levels. Especially the pass defense because the athletes they have in the secondary are certainly not elite.
They were 6th in the nation and gave up only 170 yards through the air. That seems very difficult to repeat.
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Army wants to play a fundamentally strong game so changes on special teams could matter more for this team. They just might be using freshmen at kicker
Ahmad Bradshaw will be starting for the second year in a row and knows how to run the team but I would be worried about QB depth. He is not exactly a beast back there.
Navy learned the hard way that if you are not ready with a replacement in the option offense things can turn pretty quickly. Army has to be prepared.
Army Black Knights Prediction: 4-8
Last year was a charmed season and I don’t see it happening again.
First they have a fairly tough schedule, I am not sure they are going to win any of their road games.
At home they get a couple of easy ones to start the season but the rest are more 50/50 kind of games – Duke, Eastern Michigan, Temple. They should have a shot in each but might not be favoured.
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Overall the team might not be dramatically worse but sometimes a season comes together like it did a year ago and sometimes it is tougher going.
2017 Army Black Knights Football Schedule
- 9/1/17 6:00 PM ET FOR
- 9/9/17 12:00 PM ET BUFF
- 9/16/17 4:30 PM ET @OSU
- 9/23/17 TBD @TULN
- 9/30/17 3:30 PM ET UTEP
- 10/7/17 6:30 PM ET @RICE
- 10/14/17 12:00 PM ET EMU
- 10/21/17 12:00 PM ET TEM
- 11/4/17 3:30 PM ET @AFA
- 11/11/17 1:00 PM ET DUKE
- 11/18/17 TBD @UNT
- 12/9/17 4:00 PM ET @NAVY
What do you think about our 2017 Army Black Knights predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2017!
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