2017 Underrated Independent Team
The Independent conference shifted their attention away from Notre Dame last year. They went 2-5 against the ACC, lost to rivals Stanford and USC, and had their 5-game matchup streak snapped by Navy. The focus then shifted towards BYU and Army. BYU had a great season after going 8-1 in the last 9 games under Kilane Sitake’s first stint as head coach, and Army found surprising success under coach Jeff Monken’s third year after two bad seasons. If coach Brian Kelly doesn’t make a positive turnaround for the Irish, the blame be on him. The underrated team I picked for this season is Army.
ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS
Last season: 8-5 overall
Believe or not, I believed Army would finally upset Navy after 14 matchup losses. I had a good feeling about them after their 3-0 start. What impressed me was their sudden improvement on defense, even without cornerback Brandon Jackson after he passed away last season. They were fourth in total yards per game, sixth in passing defense, allowed 200+ passing yards only four times, and only two opposing rushers ran for 100+ yards against them (Jeffrey Wilson from North Texas and Jacobi Owens from Air Force).
They return seven starters including DE John Voit, linebacker Alex Aukerman, and safety Rhyan England. Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw and fullback Andy Davidson made Army’s offense rushing attack formidable. Receiver Edgar Allan Poe (no, not the poet) is gone, but his brother Christian takes over. The offensive line returns four players with three being seniors.
Army is poised to repeat this season.
Duplicating eight wins is a challenging task, but their schedule seems manageable. With plenty of experience returning, Army can finally impose their will against Navy’s young offense and Air Force’s new makeover defense for the Commander-in-Chief trophy. The last time they won that trophy was in 1996.
