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Black Knights of yesteryear lament program's downturn
By The Associated Press
Joe Steffy still goes to Michie Stadium to root for the home team. A fixture
for more than a half-century at Army football games, sometimes he wonders
why he bothers anymore.
"There's enthusiasm in the crowd, but no one feels anymore that we're going
to win," Steffy said. "How can you be enthused?"
The glory days of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis - "Mr. Inside" and "Mr.
Outside" - and the national championships they led Army to in 1944 and 1945
are just memories now. These are gray days for the Long Gray Line.
After Saturday's 24-9 defeat at UAB, Army has lost 11 straight, the longest
losing streak in the nation. The Black Knights have one win in the last 20
games, and a school-record 12 straight losses at home.
Coach Todd Berry was fired earlier this month, yet the team hasn't fared any
better under interim coach John Mumford.
"It hurts," said Steffy, 77, an All-American guard, team captain and winner
of the 1947 Outland Trophy as the nation's outstanding lineman.
"We were national champs back in the '40s. We were No. 3 in 1958, when Pete
Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy," Steffy said. "Now, it looks like we're a
third-world team, if we're even that good. It hurts to see how far we've
dropped."
Army football has plummeted since athletic director Rick Greenspan fired
coach Bob Sutton on a Philadelphia sidewalk two days after a 19-9 loss to
Navy in 1999 - three years after Sutton was named coach of the year for
leading the Black Knights to a school-record 10 wins and a bowl berth.
� Berry, hired by Greenspan after the two worked together to turn the
football program at Illinois State into a winner, fielded two of the three
worst teams in academy history: 1-10 in 2000 and 1-11 last year, including
an embarrassing 58-12 loss to Navy.
� Army, once regularly in the top five in the nation in rushing, is last
this year at 59.6 yards per game, the only team in Division I-A averaging
under 2 yards per carry.
� Army leads the nation with 31 turnovers and 19 interceptions.
� South Florida shut out Army 28-0 at Michie Stadium last month, the first
time the Black Knights had been blanked at home since 1981. It was Army's
second straight shutout, the first time that's happened since 1979.
"The fact they're not competitive and have had a tough time has been
difficult to accept," said Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winner.
Part of the slide can be blamed on Army's 1998 decision to give up
independent status and join Conference USA, envisioning more money from
television and perhaps a bowl game now and then.
Many thought that was a mistake.
"I didn't see what Army had in common," said Troy Lingley, a standout
linebacker who graduated from West Point in 1989. "We joined for a chance to
get to a bowl game and make some extra money. But if you can't win games, it
doesn't make a difference."
Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. William Lennox Jr. decided in July to pull
Army out of the conference after next season.
Others say Army was doomed when Berry jettisoned the ground-gobbling
wishbone in favor of a passing attack that never clicked.
"It's smash-mouth football," former tailback Mike Mayweather said of the
wishbone. He thrived in the offense, graduating from West Point in 1990 as
the all-time leading rusher in service academy history with 4,299 yards.
"It's attacking, tough-nosed, and that's the strength of Academy football
players," Mayweather said.
Former coach Jim Young (51-39-1 at Army) installed the wishbone in 1984 and
won with it, including bowl victories over Michigan State and Illinois.
Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry still uses the offense with great success.
The Falcons (6-2) have beaten Army 13 times in the last 14 seasons and are
second in the nation in rushing at 294.8 yards per game.
Navy (5-3) also runs the option and leads the nation in rushing with 303.6
yards per game.
The service academies also don't attract high-impact, NFL-bound players -
especially wideouts and cornerbacks - because of the military commitment
required after graduation. That was reason enough to stick with the ground
game Army built its reputation on, Lingley said.
"When Berry changed more to a pro-style offense, I wasn't confident he could
recruit those types of athletes," Lingley said. "The thing that's
disappointing to me is the way they're losing. Even with the option offense,
we didn't turn the ball over. It looks like an undisciplined team when you
look at the statistics."
Most disturbing for these former Black Knights has been the fate of
upperclassmen. Only three seniors start this season at a school where
they're looked to for leadership.
"Berry tried to disassociate himself from the upperclassmen," Lingley said.
"If anyone knows anything about the Academy's structure, you don't do that."
Mumford said his biggest challenge will be "getting the kids on track
mentally."
Nobody is arguing.
"They're very dedicated athletes and they're not winning," said Mike Breslin,
West Point Class of 1961. "At some point, if they're not careful, the
failure to win can be corrosive."
02.23.07 10:48 AM
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