There's no question the offense clicked on Saturday. Colin Mooney had a career day. Chip Bowden remained effective. But Mooney's plays were no different than any other game this season. Perhaps the blocking was better. Perhaps Tulane was a team that was just befuddled by the option. Louisville used to fill that role during the Bob Sutton years. Or was it both factors combined with better decision making by Chip Bowden?
All indications point to Bowden. The Army quarterback showed promise against aTm, but probably held the ball too much and had a critical turnover. Against Tulane, Bowden's footwork looked even better and the whole offense looked quicker and more precise. The offense was no more imagitive in play calling. The pitch plays were not especialy effective. But the sleight of hand shown by Bowden had Tulane and the fans in the stands fooled as to whom was carrying the ball on many occasions. The question for Saturday will be if Eastern Michigan finds the BK's attack as troublesome, or easy to defend as did Army's first three opponents.
Possibly the most exciting facet of the improvement is the defense. Make no mistake, Tulane had over 400 yards on offense, but had a QB with a bad thumb resulting in TO's. They had the ball inside Army's 30 yd. line four different times without scoring. And yet there was improvement. The hard hitting seen the week before continued. DB's had receivers well covered frequently, something not seen around the Hudson in quite some time. And the playmaking ability shown by the back 7 converted TO's into points, usually something that happens to Army rather vthan for them. The youth and ability of the secondary bodes well for things to come.
Mix in strong play by the special teams seen on Saturday, and you have the makings of a team that can be competitive in most games they play. Army fans hope this just isn't another mirage on the way to yet another disasterous season.