ARMY-NAVY GAME

December 10, 2022

Jeff Monken

Army Black Knights

Press Conference

Army - 20, Navy - 17 (2OT)

JEFF MONKEN: As Eric (indiscernible) used to say, Had 'em the whole way (smiling).

What a win. What a game. First of all, just credit to the Navy team and how hard they fought. That was two football teams that fought just as hard as they possibly could.

I said this to many people when they ask me what's different about this game. The difference is the players. There's places that have great crowds. I mean, I looked around and every seat was full in that place. It was awesome. What a great crowd.

There's stadiums like that every Saturday afternoon around the country. What's different in this game is the players. Every one of these players and every one of those young people that were sitting up in the stands that are their classmates have made a pledge to serve this nation and to perhaps pay the ultimate price for all the rest of us who haven't made that pledge. That's what makes this game different.

It makes the way they play this game different. They are fighting as hard as they can on every snap. That's both sides. Tough kids, tough people that care so much about who they represent.

It feels like every single play, that the game is hanging in the balance. That's the intensity of this game. It was fought that way from start to finish. I still don't know how we won, but our guys just found a way. They just found a way.

But credit to the other team because they fought and battled. They gave themselves a chance to win. We were just fortunate that the ball bounced our way a couple of times when we needed to.

But I'm really proud of our team, proud of our senior class. This wasn't a great season for us. We'd become accustomed to winning a lot of football games, playing in the post-season. We've won some Commander-in-Chief Trophies here, which is a great source of pride for our program and our academy, but this team never stopped fighting. They never stopped believing. It's a credit to the senior class.

Two great captains and a great bunch of seniors, they kept playing. Just somehow, some way we found a way to get it done tonight. I'm incredibly proud of our team. Just respectful of this game and this rivalry and the other team, how hard they fought.

So it was an epic battle. It's one that I'll remember for a long time, probably forever, just how we managed to win this game.

I guess with that I'll let you fire away.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: So we ran the power-play to the left, and the guys blocked that play really, really well. As well as we've probably ever blocked it. Markel, he's not been the regular starter, hasn't played a whole lot this year, but he's just really got a knack from running the football from the gun stuff, the soap plays, the power-plays and the gun. We've given him a chance to do that some this year and he's had great runs.

Really great. Ran through there. Was able to get it into the end zone. Our guys were obviously very excited. It's hard going first in overtime. You want the other team to go first, so you know just exactly what you need to do on that possession. So to score a touchdown in the opening possession was really important and key.

Then Navy, I mean, they came out there and battled. They got themselves in a third-down situation, made a really good run, got a first down, made a couple other good runs, got it inside the five yard line. That play on the goal line, I couldn't see it on the replay. I mean, I couldn't see the ball and how it came out. But just somehow the ball got loose, and we hit that thing like we needed to, somebody was there Johnny-on-the-spot to get it.

I said to the offensive staff on the headset, I said, Let's score a touchdown, let's not put this on the kicker, let's go score a touchdown.

As it was, Navy, who has a really good defense, did a great job defending us tonight, stopped us. I said on second down, if we get in a third-and-long situation, let's get the ball in the middle of the field.

We ran really the same play to the right on second down and we didn't pop it out of there, so we ran the same play going to the left. We sent word into Cade who did a really good job and centered the ball for us. Quinn Maretzki went out there and nailed the field goal. That was a clutch field goal he made in regulation to tie it up. It's a huge field goal. So that's a guy that just a few weeks ago at Troy had a walk-off field goal opportunity and missed it.

He didn't let that affect his kicking tonight. Let me tell you, that's a big kick. You go out there in the Army Navy game, I don't know how many million people watching, nail that field goal to tie it up, then do that in overtime, that's a clutch play.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: They did. We've really I think just been playing solid defense for, I don't know, probably since the month of November, maybe even a little earlier than that, into that stretch there.

We started out, we had a tough start, 1-4. That's a terrible way to start a season. We won a couple in a row there in the middle. Then we lost two really close games. The defense continued to play well. They have improved. We've tackled better. We didn't do that very well. You heard me agonizing about our missed tackles early in the year. We missed some tonight. But they have played better.

We did a really good job of stopping them at times, and other times they made some plays on us. They were running the power read where they jet sweeped that guy across, were handing it off some, getting the edge on us, getting some good yards there. They hit the trap for 77 yards. Didn't spill the trap, they blocked it up and knocked the guy out of there, creased us. That big play could have cost us.

I think our defense has played tough and played well. Nate Woody is an excellent defensive coordinator, so they have improved.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: Well, if you look at the last three seasons, and this one is not going to be a whole lot different, I don't know what the math is, we had 48 rushes for 125 yards. What is that? 2 point something? Been our average now for the last four years, just over two yards a rush against them. They got a really good run defense. A really good defensive coordinator. The kids play really hard.

We felt like we needed to change up things a little bit. We ran a lot of shotgun stuff. So Cade we felt like doing that was going to give us the best chance. He's a good football player. We had a plan to throw the ball some. We tried. We weren't real successful there either.

But when you average over three years, you're looking at it and say we averaged 2.2 yards a carry, going into this game we're like, Let's try something different because that's not working.

Ended up right there with our average, but good thing we got enough points to win.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: You know, Marquel Broughton is a really special kid. He means a lot to this team, to this academy. He means a lot to me.

I don't know that I've ever been around a young man on a football team that's been more dynamic as a leader than him. To go through a senior season like he did, have the disappointment that we had, to be able to sit up there on that wall and see his teammates and classmates celebrating together, to see the scoreboard in our favor in the biggest game of his career, in the fight of our lives, I mean, just to savor that moment is pretty special.

I just jumped up there to kind of savor it with him, just tell him how much I love him, because I do. I love that kid. He is a special, special young man. The soldiers that he serves in the Army, to have that guy lead them, they're going to love that guy.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: Last year in 2021, all FBS football games were won, I should say, when one of those teams won the turnover battle, it wasn't tied, but somebody had one more turnover than their opponent, 78% of those games were won by the team that had at least one more turnover than their opponent.

The turnover battle is the most important statistic in football. Obviously that made a huge difference for us today. The fumble down there on the goal line... But the blocked punt, Sean Saturnio deserves credit for that. He's our special teams coordinator. He comes up with a plan every week to be able to free a guy up.

We've blocked a couple of punts this year. We had two punts this year that we just flat missed. We had guys right in front of it, the ULM game, then the Air Force game. He just does a tremendous job of coaching those teams.

That was a huge play in the game, obviously.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: He was. I tell you what, man, Sal, I give you credit. I don't give you credit all the time, but I give you credit for that.

Jimmy got hurt on defense, and he just couldn't go full speed. So on third down I asked him, Do you need somebody to go for you?

He came out, and sent Noah in. Noah Short is a really fast player. He just timed it up. He had been in there earlier on another block for Jimmy, but he just timed it up perfect, came scot-free.

Jabril Williams from my hometown was able to -- well, we got to work on fumble recovery, but he was so excited. He just managed to stay in. Thank God he stayed in. We don't win the game if he doesn't.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: Thank you, yes, yes. I always want to go to a bowl game. To me, bowl games are a great reward for guys that play football at this level. Bowl games are special. I don't care what bowl game it is, they're special, they're fun.

I'm disappointed that we're not able to go. But we didn't earn it. We didn't earn it. If we won one more football game this year, we would go. We had chances. The other team made enough plays to beat us. We didn't make the plays we needed to.

I'm disappointed, but hopefully maybe that will be motivation for the guys that are on this team to come back and try to earn one next year.

It's hard. It's hard. It's hard to win a football game. It's hard to win a college football game. It's really hard to win one at Army. I can tell you that.

I'm proud of our guys for finishing the way we finished. We started out 1-4, now we're 6-6. Our guys found a way to battle and finish the season. Though it wasn't from a win/loss standpoint or victory standpoint as successful as we wanted it to be. If there's another trophy that is out in Colorado right now, we sure would have liked to have found a way to win that.

Through all that, our guys kept fighting and battling, including tonight.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: I had a knot in my stomach like I was going to throw up down there on the two-yard line. It's agonizing to see that. It's hard for them not to score down there. They're knocking on the door, your back is to the wall, that's a hard stop.

Our guys have done it before, so giving them some confidence. It's just the will. It's just the will that their team and our team just fighting like crazy. You know, their kids fighting to get into the end zone with that ball, and our kids are fighting to keep them out of the end zone.

I'm glad Leo said there was no doubt. I just think we made a play. We made a play when we needed to. That was the bottom line.

I mean, it's that close to being a touchdown for them, and fortunately it went our way.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: It's a great way to finish. It's a great way for our seniors to end their careers. The pride that they'll take with them...

This game lasts a lifetime for the seniors. Our senior class last year lost this game, went to a bowl game and beat Missouri, an SEC team, which is a big win at Army.

This game last year will live with those seniors for the rest of their lives, and not in a good way. There's remorse, they're going to be mad and disappointed. That's what this game is. So for these seniors to be able to celebrate a victory and have that for the rest of their lives, it's awesome. I'm glad for them. I'm glad that they were able to finish their careers 2-2 against Navy.

Obviously it was a tough loss last year, and the comeback this year was big.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: I didn't know that it was the first overtime game until after the game, when it was announced or somebody said it. I guess one of the reporters that was interviewing me after the game on the field said something about it. I didn't know it was the first overtime game, which is hard to believe, in the modern era, since overtime started that, one of them hasn't...

They are always so close. Just look at these games. I've been here nine years. Seven of them have been one score or less. They're just battles.

I guess it was only fitting the way these two teams battled tonight, it went to overtime. Like I said, we were lucky to get that thing to overtime. So I was looking down here, we got 125 yards rushing. We didn't have 100 yards in regulation rushing. And we won the football game. That's hard to believe.

The statistic I said about turnovers, the number two most common statistic, the team that rushes for one more yard than their opponent won 75% of the college football games last year.

We weren't close, but we found a way.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: No. Talk is cheap. Talk doesn't do it. It's execution. I don't think either team had a hundred yards in the first half. I could be wrong about that. One of you guys can back me on that. We didn't have a hundred yards. Wasn't close. I don't think they had a hiccup yards. I'm not sure.

Both defenses were playing pretty good. We the blocked punt, which I said that at halftime to one of the reporters talked to me, CBS grabbed me right there as we were going into the tunnel. I said, If our offense doesn't do something the second half, we're going to have a tough time winning this football game.

As it turns out, we didn't do a whole lot in the second half on offense. Just enough (smiling). But guys made plays. Guys made plays when they needed to. I just can't say enough about the fight in this team and our players. They never wavered. I look and I see their eyes on the sideline, and I can see their body language. They just never stop believing. They kept fighting.

That's what's awesome about this game, what's awesome about this team. For this senior class, every one of those guys, we got one guy graduating this coming Friday, Tyhier Tyler. The rest of the guys are going to graduate in May. They're going to take command of soldiers, have to lead soldiers. They will be in much tougher fights with stakes much higher than they were in tonight.

To be able to have that grit and that toughness and that belief as leaders, soldiers are going to follow them, and they're going to follow that lead. That's what was on display tonight.

It wasn't just on our sideline. The other team was fighting that way, too. That's what's great about this game and about these teams.

We want to win this game. We want to beat their pants off. I want to beat them every time we play 'em. But I respect the fight that the competitors have in this game. Their guys, our guys. It's what makes our military the best fighting force this world has ever known, because of people like that leading soldiers.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF MONKEN: Pretty incredible. So for a guy that doesn't wear the uniform, that's a neat experience for me. For our guys, they wear the uniform. Those are the highest ranking officers in the United States Army, and they're being personally recognized by them. That's an incredible experience for those guys.

I'm grateful that they all come, that they're all here. We had the Secretary of the Army, the Army Chief of Staff, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff all in our locker room. It's pretty powerful.

It's a game like no other. It's great to win. It's really hard to lose. We've been on both sides of it. I'm just so glad that we're on the winning side tonight. I'm incredibly, incredibly proud of our team. I love our team. Just so glad they found a way to win tonight.

Be Navy.