Army Black Knights, Louisiana Tech Predictions, Insider Picks, Analysis

The Army West Point Black Knights will face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Independence Bowl on Saturday.

Dec 14, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Army Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken looks on to the field before the game against the Navy Midshipmen at Commanders Field. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Can the Army West Point Black Knights count to 12? Everyone will find out on Saturday night in the Independence Bowl.

The Black Knights (11-2) will face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-7) at 9:15 p.m. eastern at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, La., The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Army has won 11 games just twice in program history. But the Black Knights have never gotten to 12 wins. By beating the Bulldogs, Army would accomplish another feat in what has become a season to remember at West Point.

The Black Knights have already won their first conference championship, winning the American Athletic Conference title game in their first year in the league. Army went undefeated in league play. Before this season, Army had played just seven years in a conference previously, with the rest of its history as an independent.

Coach Jeff Monken has won several coach of the year titles and quarterback Bryson Daily finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting. Army also finished ranked in the AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff Top 25. There is one more AP poll to go and a win would likely keep them in the Top 25 to finish the postseason.

Louisiana Tech (5-7) is filling in after Marshall bowed out after losing 30 players to the transfer portal. The Bulldogs have lost some key defenders, but they’re going to show up and try to pull of the upset.

The two programs have only met twice in their history, and Army has won both meetings. So there’s some motivation for the Bulldogs.

Here are the staff predictions for the game.

Matthew Postins, Staff Writer

Army West Point 34, Louisiana Tech 23

Louisiana Tech has one of the better run defenses in FBS. But, some of those key pieces have hit the transfer portal. That’s part of the problem for the Bulldogs — they’re not at full strength because they thought their season was done. LA Tech is certainly grateful for the extra football, but this might have more talent on hand had it been bowl-eligible in the first place.

Army is without Kanye Udoh, who transferred to Arizona State. But the rest of the team is in Shreveport, and the offense flows through Daily anyway. He’s a senior and this should be a big night for him.

The differentiator is how Army handles LA Tech’s pass-based offense. If the defense can limit big plays, the Black Knights should roll.