WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The sudden death of a budding star and two straight losses temporarily halted Armys fast start to the season. Count coach Jeff Monken among those who have marveled at the resolve of the Black Knights.Ive really been impressed with this team and their ability to continue to focus through everything that we have been through this year, Monken said as he prepared for Saturdays home game against North Texas. I think theyve handled the wave of emotions that comes with winning and losing, and I sense in our team that theres not a satisfaction like they accomplished what they wanted to this year.With a little luck, Army (4-2) could be unbeaten and already qualified to play in a bowl game. The Black Knights started the season with three straight wins, then blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and dropped an overtime game at Buffalo that was there for the taking in regulation. That setback came two weeks after defensive back Brandon Jackson was killed in a one-car accident in the hours after a victory over Rice at Michie Stadium. Then came a 13-6 loss at Duke played in a driving rain as Hurricane Matthew buffeted the East Coast.Last week, Army rebounded with an emphatic 62-7 victory over FCS foe Lafayette, a nice reset with the imposing second half of the season looming. Air Force, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Navy still remain after Saturdays game against North Texas (3-3) of Conference USA.Armys triple option chews up yards and time. For teams that rarely play against that type of offense, its normally a real test. At least North Texas head coach Seth Littrell has had some extra time to prepare for the nations top running team. The Mean Green is coming off a bye week.The challenges are you dont see them much, said Littrell, in his first season at North Texas. Seeing all the different reads, you have to be extremely disciplined. You have to have your eyes in the right spot. If youre not careful, people will be running wide open.This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Army and North Texas, and the Mean Green has yet to win one. Mapping out a plan on paper to succeed is easy. Executing it is another matter.Youre going to have to be physical, no doubt, and youre going to have to stay patient ... and not get frustrated, Littrell said. Its crucial that you stay on the field when youve got the opportunity to score.Other things to know when Army hosts North Texas on Saturday at Michie Stadium:NO. 1 AGAIN IN THE RUN: Army has regained its spot as the top rushing team in the nation. The Black Knights had 537 yards rushing against Lafayette and now are averaging 366.5 yards per game and 5.9 per carry. The North Texas defense is allowing 4.7 yards per carry.RUN TO VICTORY: Tailback Jeffrey Wilson has been a key cog for North Texas. In the teams three wins, Wilson has averaged 142.7 rushing yards and the team has rushed for an average of 265.3. In the Mean Greens three losses, Wilson has averaged 44.3 and the team 31.3.SACK CREW: Army has 15 sacks this season, and theyve been nicely spread around. Alex Aukerman, Andrew King and Kenneth Brinson share the team lead with four apiece. Aukerman, a hybrid defender who can line up at either linebacker or end, has 8.5 tackles for loss and his 1.4 per game ranks 22nd in the country.DEFENSE RULES: The Army defense is allowing only 14 points per game to rank fourth in the nation. The Black Knights also rank second in total defense, allowing an average of 245.2 yards per game, and second against the run, allowing just 99 yards per game on the ground.Weve got to do a good job of making competitive plays in the run game, Littrell said. Weve got to get off the ball. Our running backs are going to have to break tackles.FAMILIAR FOE: Both teams beat Rice. Army posted a 31-14 triumph over the Owls in September. Two weeks later, North Texas beat them 42-35 in double overtime.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947Eric Paschall Warriors Jersey . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. DAngelo Russell Jersey . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Chris-Mullin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Klay Thompson Jersey . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Rick Barry Warriors Jersey . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach.Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said his batsmen had given West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo eight soft wickets during their second-innings collapse on the fourth day of the day-night Test in Dubai. Having taken a 222-run lead in the first innings, Pakistan were dismissed for 123 in 31.5 overs, losing their last six wickets for 11 runs. Chasing 346, West Indies were 95 for 2 at stumps with senior batsmen Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo at the crease.Arthur praised Bishoo but rued that the collapse had given West Indies a chance to win the game. He said Pakistans plan when they chose not to enforce the follow-on was to score about 180 runs in 45 overs and shut West Indies out of the match.I am not going to take anything away from the way Bishoo bowled because he bowled really, really well, Arthur said. I thought we gave him eight soft wickets. We were cutting against the spin, some lazy shots. That is something we have spoken hard about because thats not how we play the game. We worked so hard to get ourselves in front of the game and then in one session we lost 6 for 11 and that gave West Indies a sniff. We want to be better than that. We want to be a team that closes the opposition out when we get the opportunity and we didnt.The message was very simple: we wanted a score of 180 in 45-50 overs. We felt that would have given us 25-30 overs tonight and a full day tomorrow. So we were looking at 180 in probably 45 overs at the most and we played poorly.Bishoo, whose returns of 8 for 49 were the best by a visiting bowler in Asia, said he had reflected on his performance in the first innings - 2 for 125 in 35 overs - and ddecided to bowl straighter, targeting the stumps, in the second innings.ddddddddddddLast evening I spent some time thinking about how I had bowled in the first innings and I was bowling most likely fourth-fifth stump and they were cutting the ball down to cover for a single all the time, Bishoo said. So I tried to bowl straighter on the stumps. I expected the ball to spin more on the fourth and the fifth days, and thats exactly what happened. I used the rough a little and I tried to use the crease a bit more and tried to bowl more on the stumps.Arthur said the batting implosion had forced Pakistan to play slightly defensively when West Indies came out to chase on the fourth evening. He said the team was working towards eradicating issues, like the sudden collapse, from their game.Weve batted really well, certainly through the Test matches in England I thought we were excellent, and we were brilliant in the first innings here. So that is something we are trying to eradicate. We want to get this completely out of our game. Consistency is something we need to keep working on, we are talking long and hard about it.We were disappointed that we took our foot off their throat and gave them a glimpse into the game when we should have put them out of it. Because what that would have done for our spinners tomorrow is it would have allowed us to have close catchers for longer. So tonight we have a man at sweeper and we havent got a silly point to Bravo and thats simply because the game is getting closer. ' ' '
