Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 95. Army
Thank You For Your Service, Army Football Team
Thank you for your service, Army football team. Purveyors of the triple option, Army has had some really good years with it, and some really bad years without it. Case in point, if you’re a service academy with strict weight and fitness requirements for your students, you should probably run an offense like the triple option to give yourself an advantage over bigger opponents. Gimmicky offenses aside, Army has a proud football history with a 721-539-51 all time record, 37 Consensus All-Americans, 3 Heisman winners, 3 national titles, and 1 world championship in September 1945.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| 21 | Army | 2018 | 21.387 | 11-2 |
| 22 | Army | 1996 | 14.395 | 10-2 |
| 31 | Army | 2017 | 12.912 | 10-3 |
| 35 | Army | 2021 | 11.11 | 9-4 |
| 35 | Army | 1984 | 8.734 | 8-3-1 |
| 37 | Army | 2020 | 4.555 | 9-3 |
| 33 | Army | 1985 | 3.89 | 9-3 |
| 39 | Army | 1988 | 3.357 | 9-3 |
| 61 | Army | 2016 | -6.234 | 8-5 |
| 60 | Army | 1995 | -11.022 | 5-5-1 |
| 59 | Army | 1986 | -12.278 | 6-5 |
| 65 | Army | 1989 | -14.467 | 6-5 |
| 70 | Army | 2010 | -14.529 | 7-6 |
| 82 | Army | 2022 | -15.939 | 6-6 |
| 68 | Army | 1990 | -18.312 | 6-5 |
| 67 | Army | 1993 | -18.469 | 6-5 |
| 77 | Army | 1992 | -20.998 | 5-6 |
| 67 | Army | 1987 | -21.66 | 5-6 |
| 89 | Army | 2005 | -26.885 | 4-7 |
| 101 | Army | 2019 | -28.29 | 5-8 |
| 96 | Army | 2009 | -29.355 | 5-7 |
| 85 | Army | 1994 | -30.917 | 4-7 |
| 86 | Army | 1998 | -32.814 | 3-8 |
| 86 | Army | 1991 | -33.006 | 4-7 |
| 88 | Army | 1997 | -33.973 | 4-7 |
| 105 | Army | 2014 | -36.035 | 4-8 |
| 100 | Army | 1999 | -39.144 | 3-8 |
| 102 | Army | 2011 | -41.722 | 3-9 |
| 107 | Army | 2008 | -41.912 | 3-9 |
| 107 | Army | 2006 | -44.082 | 3-9 |
| 109 | Army | 2007 | -44.774 | 3-9 |
| 108 | Army | 2013 | -45.193 | 3-9 |
| 101 | Army | 2001 | -45.553 | 3-8 |
| 109 | Army | 2004 | -47.117 | 2-9 |
| 119 | Army | 2015 | -50.068 | 2-10 |
| 112 | Army | 2012 | -50.93 | 2-10 |
| 100 | Army | 1983 | -51.722 | 2-9 |
| 109 | Army | 2000 | -56.537 | 1-10 |
| 117 | Army | 2002 | -70.825 | 1-11 |
| 117 | Army | 2003 | -77.003 | 0-13 |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 5956 (95th)199-269-2 record
0 conference titles
7-3 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
2 NFL players drafted
Army’s the lowest ranked of the service academies, with Air Force and Navy ahead. Just 2 NFL players drafted isn’t all that surprising, but many thought it’d be 3 with 6’7 LB Andre Carter II getting 1st round NFL buzz before the 2022 season. Carter went undrafted, and signed with the Minnesota Vikings, who are getting a steal of a player. Army has 8 seasons finishing ranked in my top 40, which is the most of any program so far.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2003 (0-13 overall, 0-8 Conference USA)
The rare 0-13 season, where you go 0-12 and lose your bowl game. Kidding, they played an away game at Hawaii. This is the 4th worst team since 1983! Why? I’m not quite sure myself. They were bad, averaging 15.8 PPG and giving up 36.6 PPG, but didn’t play a very easy schedule. 8 of their 13 opponents finished with a winning record, and 4 more finished 5-7. A 32-38 loss to 1-11 East Carolina really hurt. QB Zac Dahman completed 53% of throws for 2234 yards and 11 TD to 19 INT. Dahman, who was in his sophomore season at the time, would go on to become Army’s all-time leading passer with 6904 yards, but with 36 TD to 48 INT. The team averaged just 2.0 YPC, last in the nation, as starting RB Carlton Jones amassed 632 rushing yards and 6 TD on 3.3 YPC.
5. 1984 (8-3-1 overall, Independent)
Led by College Football HOF coach Jim Young, 1984 was a season to remember for Army. After an opening win over Colgate, Army traveled to Neyland Stadium, playing Tennessee to a 24-24 draw. Fast forward a few weeks later, 4-2-1 Army trumped 4-2 Air Force 24-12 to take the lead in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Next week, Army traveled to Chestnut Hill and played Boston College to a 31-45 loss in Doug Flutie’s last home game. Army then traveled to Japan(!) to play in the annual Mirage Bowl, beating Montana 45-31, whose QB was Marty Mornhinweg, future coach of the Detroit Lions (2001-02). Army flew back to the U.S. and after a week’s rest, played the Army-Navy game, winning 28-11 in front of 73,000 and claiming the season’s Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Finally, Army accepted a bowl invite for the first time in the program’s history, and beat Michigan State 10-6 in front of 70,000 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome. Even despite winning national titles in the past, this is considered one of the greatest Army teams of all time.
4. 2021 (9-4 overall, Independent)
Let Jeff Monken cook. They started 4-0 with wins over 8-5 Georgia State, 9-5 Western Kentucky, and 7-6 Miami (OH). After a loss to 6-7 Ball State, they gave Wisconsin a scare in a 14-20 loss, and the same the next week in a 56-70 barnburner to #16 Wake Forest. Thanks to a surprisingly effective passing attack, Army threw for 214 yards while rushing for just 102 in a 21-14 OT win over Air Force, who finished the year 10-3. 3 weeks later, Army was victorious 31-16 over 8-5 Liberty, and was building a damn good resume. They’d lose the 122nd Army-Navy game in an upset, 13-17, but rebounded to beat Missouri in the bowl 24-22. Overall, Army finished #35 in my rankings, which is impressive for a 9-4 G5 team. They beat 5 teams with winning records, and nearly beat 9-4 Wisconsin and 11-3 Wake Forest. QB Christian Anderson played the most, throwing for 713 yards 5 TD 0 INT while rushing for 619 yards 8 TD on 5.7 YPC. Backup QB Jabari Laws was the more effective passer, completing 19-24 for 306 yards, 4 TD 0 INT, which sounds like an extremely good single game. 6’7 LB Andre Carter II was one of the best pass rushers in the country, ranking 2nd in the nation with 14.5 sacks.
3. 2017 (10-3 overall, Independent)
2017 Army took the option to the extreme, ranking last in the nation with just 27.8 pass YPG and leading the nation with 362.3 rush YPG. This was thanks to QB Ahmad Bradshaw, who might’ve been the best QB of the Monken era so far, or at least the best rushing QB. Bradshaw completed just 14-43 passes for 285 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT, but was 5th in the nation in rushing yards with 1746 and 14 TD on a whopping 7.2 YPC. Coming off an 8-5 season, 2-0 Army headed to #8 Ohio State to test their mettle. It was a 7-38 loss, but the rushing attack was solid, going for 259 yards on 4.5 YPC. After a last-minute loss to Tulane, Army went on a win streak, taking out (eventual 7-6) Temple 31-28 in OT, rival Air Force 21-0, and even Daniel Jones and Duke 21-16. 8-2 Army lost to 7-3 North Texas in an exciting clash of styles, rushing vs passing. Army ran for 534 yards and 7(!) rushing TD with just 27 passing yards. North Texas QB Mason Fine threw for 386 yards 4 TD to just 1 INT and UNT walked off on a 39 yard field goal for the 52-49 win. The 118th Army-Navy game was played in a snowstorm, and Navy lined up for a 48 yard FG for the win with 3 seconds left…just wide left! Army defeats Navy 14-13! The two teams combined for just 3 passes compared to 95 rushes. In the bowl against 10-2 San Diego State, Army was down 35-28 with just 20 seconds left. Darnell Woolfolk runs it in for the 1 yard TD, we’re going to overtime! Hold your horses, Army’s going for 2. They run a pitch play to the right, and Kell Walker runs it in for the lead. San Diego State tries to score on the final play with laterals, but Army returns it back for a TD to win 42-35 and end the season 10-3.
2. 1996 (10-2 overall, Independent)
It was a season that started rather innocuously. 37-20 over Ohio, 35-17 over Duke, neither was that impressive, both teams weren’t expected to be any good. Wins over 2nd year FBS team North Texas and FCS Yale weren’t anything to write home about either, but Army was 4-0. They beat Rutgers 42-21 the next week, and suddenly they were 5-0 with all wins by 17+ points. How long could they keep it up? 34-10 over 2-3 Tulane, 27-7 over 4-4 Miami (OH), 41-21 over Lafayette…Army was 8-0. Their best start to a season since 1950. 5-3 Air Force was no match for Army’s boa-constrictor style of bleeding out games, with the Knights winning 23-7. To the preseason prediction of nobody, #22 9-0 Army was headed to #19 Syracuse. Cuse QB Donovan McNabb had himself a day, and the Orange won 42-17. A 28-24 win over Navy ended the regular season at 10-1 for Army. At #24, they played 7-4 Auburn in the Independence Bowl. Down 21-32 with 3:37 to go, Army drove 70 yards to make it 29-32 with 1:30 left. They recovered the onside kick! Immediately they got down inside the Auburn 20, but instead of going for the win, they decided to kick a 27 yard FG on 3rd and 6…and it was wide right. Army fell to 10-2 on the season, but with a #25 overall finish. QB Ronnie McAda was 1 of 2 Army players since 1969 to be drafted, in the 7th round by the Green Bay Packers.
1. 2018 (11-2 overall, Independent)
This was a truly impressive Army team. They played Daniel Jones and Duke, who’d finish 8-5, tough in the opener, but penalties and fumbles did them in for a 14-34 loss. After beating Liberty and Hawaii, who finished 6-6 and 8-6 respectively, Army played Kyler Murray and #5 Oklahoma to a 21-28 OT loss in Norman. Murray had no problem moving the ball, but Army executed a masterful gameplan of controlling time of possession, holding the ball for 45 minutes compared to OU’s 15. After the 2-2 start to the season, Army was flawless the rest of the way. A 42-13 win over 4-0 Buffalo, and 52-3 over San Jose State came next. Wins the rest of the regular season included 17-14 over Air Force and 17-10 over Navy. #22 Army played 8-4 Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl, and played flawlessly, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry in a 70-14 win. The offense throughout the year was good as usual, averaging 32.8 PPG with great seasons from QB Kelvin Hopkins Jr and RB Darnell Woolfolk. The defense was the real star of the season though, ranking 10th in the nation with just 17.7 PPG allowed. 3 defensive players went on to play in the NFL, which is 3 more than you’d expect from Army. LB Jon Rhattigan has 10 tackles for the Seattle Seahawks, LB Cole Christiansen just won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs, and SS Elijah Riley has 50 tackles for the Eagles/Jets/Steelers. 2018 and 1996 are the only 2 Army teams since 1958 to finish the season in the AP Top 25.
5th Quarter
Are you a fan of the option? What’s your favorite Army moment or game? Think the #95 ranking is fair?
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