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Army Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Middle Tennessee in Week 1

By John Vogel

WEST POINT, NY - OCTOBER 26: Kelvin Hopkins Jr. #8 of the Army Black Knights throws a pass while pressured by Kyle Harmon #45 of the San Jose State Spartans during the second quarter of a game at Michie Stadium on October 26, 2019 in West Point, New York. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
WEST POINT, NY - OCTOBER 26: Kelvin Hopkins Jr. #8 of the Army Black Knights throws a pass while pressured by Kyle Harmon #45 of the San Jose State Spartans during the second quarter of a game at Michie Stadium on October 26, 2019 in West Point, New York. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) /
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Middle Tennessee football
Asher O’Hara, Middle Tennessee football (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Army, MTSU combined will run for over 500 yards

Both teams will feature explosive run attacks, and a lack of practice to prepare for each other. The last time MTSU played against a triple-option offense was against the Naval Academy in the 2013 Armed Forces Bowl. “In a normal situation,” coach Rick Stockstill explained, “we start game preparation about ten days out… We really started implementing some Army stuff about two or three days after they announced that we were going to play (Aug. 10). We’ve gotten a little more time, but we have to have a good week of practice this week.”

In other words, Stockstill has a little bit of concern surrounding his defense’s ability to contain the triple-option.

Army has a couple of very talented offensive lineman that the offense will be centered around. Between senior Bryce Holland and junior Peyton Reeder, the team is very comfortable with the guys who can pave the way.

On the MTSU side, quarterback Asher O’Hara is the dual-threat player who can bust a game wide open with a big run. Beside him is a rotation of four running backs, power guys like Frank Peasant and Chaton Mobley, and speed guys like Brad Anderson and Jayy McDonald. Between those five players last year, MTSU scored 32 touchdowns.

I would expect MTSU to lean heavily on this run game and try to keep the ball away from Army, who will try to do the same against the Blue Raiders. With the unusual offseason, there’s going to be a lot of opening week rust as well as teams trying to get into the mold that they want to acquire on both sides of the football. Both teams are going to run for a lot of yards in this game.

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