Notre Dame Boss Identifies Army West Point’s Top Strength Entering Showdown

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are taking this aspect of Army West Point’s team most seriously going into Saturday’s contest.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a turnover during a NCAA college football game against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No one needs to explain to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman what his Fighting Irish defense must do against Army West Point on Saturday when the two teams meet Yankee Stadium.

It's all about keeping the Black Knights from running wild.

Army enters the game as the nation's top rushing offense, and while Notre Dame has a Top 50 rushing defense, their emphasis in practice all week has been on ensuring that Army doesn't turn small gains into long drives.

“It’s so important,” Freeman said on Thursday to the local media. “They are, as Coach (Jim) Tressel used to say, ‘Three yards and a cloud of dust.’ That’s what they want. They are a vertical, physical power running team. They’re good with getting three yards, four yards, three yards, four yards. And if you don’t get them behind the chains, they’re going to continue to do it for 11, 12, 15, play drives.”

Army (9-0, 7-0 in American) is the only program in FBS with more than 3,000 total rushing yards. The Black Knights average 334.9 yards per game with 35 rushing touchdowns.

Naturally, Army is among the nation’s leaders in time of possession. The Black Knights are second behind American Athletic Conference rival Tulane. They are the only two programs that average more than 34 minutes per game on offense.

Army does it with their traditional triple-option offense. The coaching staff moved to an RPO-style offense a year ago, which put the quarterback in a shotgun position. The Black Knights still ran the ball. But the team’s record — 6-6 — was a step back.

Regardless of the scheme, the Black Knights only get as far as their talent, and they have a deep backfield this year, led by quarterback Bryson Daily. He’s rushed for 1,062 yards and 21 touchdowns while throwing for 644 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception.

He’s only thrown 51 times. But given how Army’s offense can confuse defenders, those throws can lead to big plays.

When Daily isn’t running the ball, that role falls to running back Kanye Udoh. He has 128 carries for 856 yards and nine touchdowns, all the second-best totals on the team. The sophomore has produced three 100-yard rushing games in his last five contests.

Notre Dame (9-1) is adept at stopping run, as the defense ranks No. 43 and allows 126.2 yards per game. Another advantage the Irish have entering the game is that they played Navy just a few weeks ago. So, slowing down an offense with a similar scheme is fresh in their minds.

Freeman said Tyler Buchner has served as the scout team quarterback all week and studied up on Army’s offensive nuances to prepare.

Now, the Fighting Irish just have to do what is much easier said than done and that’s stop Army’s running attack. It starts with negative plays, he said.

“It’s so important to get some negative yardage plays, one-yard gains,” he said. “We cannot allow them to stay in rhythm as they go down the field. So it’s so important. We know it’s important, but now we have to find ways to do that on Saturday.”