Ground assault gives Army win

If only the Army could get out of Iraq as easily as it dispatched the sprint football team.

Posting 33 points in the first quarter on five running touchdowns, Army cruised past Princeton, 54-9, at West Point, N.Y., last Friday.

"This was a monster first quarter," head coach Thomas Cocuzza said. "I think it takes us a little while to catch up to game speed. I was playing quarterback during scout team, and I may have been a step slower than their quarterback. Also, they were only tagging me — maybe I should have let them tackle me."

The Black Knights (2-1 overall) outgained the Tigers (0-3) 474 yards to 284 yards for the game, with all 474 yards coming on the ground. Army averaged 7.8 yards per carry and only attempted two passes.

"Army had a very good running game," Cocuzza said. "They were well-coached and well-drilled. Our kids knew what they were going to do, but they were just a few steps behind."

The Tiger defense warmed up by the second quarter, outscoring Army 3-0 in the period. Sophomore kicker Reid Fritz topped off a 10-play, 22-yard Princeton drive with a 24-yard field goal, making the score 33-3 at halftime.

Army scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth, which included scores off a 43-yard touchdown run by Scott Rupnow and a 57-yard touchdown run by Miles Grooms.

Princeton scored late in the fourth quarter, driving 74 yards on 11 plays. Junior quarterback Alex Kandabarow completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Lon Johnson. Freshman Anthony Cheng missed a dropkick for the extra point.

Johnson posted another remarkable performance in the loss, catching 12 passes for 141 yards, nearly half of the team's total offense.

The Tigers' offensive strategy was diametrically opposed to Army's, as Princeton ran just nine times for 11 yards.

The game was Kandabarow's best of the season statistically, as he completed 25 for 53 through the air for 273 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.

"Alex is getting better," Cocuzza said. "He is going to be very good by the time he is finished [this season]."

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Kandabarow was helped by solid protection, as the team allowed zero sacks. Army, however, did not blitz as much as Cornell or Penn.

"The offensive line did a good job considering we were missing two starters," Cocuzza said. "Army did not blitz very much due to the fact that they were up 33 points within 15 minutes."

Though the early lead may have affected Army's defensive strategy, Cocuzza claims that the deficit did not affect Princeton's morale.

"One of the benefits of this offense is that it works well from behind," Cocuzza said. "I don't think our morale is affected by being down. One of the things that I respect about our kids is that they battle right until the end."

Princeton has been outscored by a combined 70-0 in the first quarters of the three games this season. Early deficits can be hard to come back from, especially with the Tigers' young offense.

Playing against teams like Army, which can boast rosters twice the size of the Princeton squad, fatigue can become a factor.

"When you consider that most of our players are playing twice as much as the guy across from them and only practicing half as long since we cannot split the team into an offense and defense, you realize that the final score is not a true indicator of our success," Cocuzza said.

Princeton plays at Cornell next Friday.