Veteran coach Bobby Ross gets his first chance to see if his leadership can help the Army Black Knights put an end to one of the most perplexing travel nightmares in college football.
In his second season coaching Army, Ross is preparing his team for a 1:30 p.m. game Saturday against Air Force (3-6) at Falcon Stadium, where the Black Knights (1-6) haven’t won since 1977. The Army quarterback then was Leamon Hall. The coach was Homer Smith.
Since then, Army has lost 13 consecutive games at Falcon Stadium under coaches Lou Saban, Ed Cavanaugh, Jim Young, Bob Sutton and Todd Berry.
“I reminded our squad yesterday that we’re 1-15 against them in our last 16 meetings,” Ross said. “If it’s to be called a rivalry, we have to do a better job. We have a big challenge; we’re on the road. Hopefully it’s time for us, but it hasn’t been for a while up to this point.”
Since 1977, Air Force has only an 8-6 edge in games played at West Point, making the Falcons’ unbeaten streak at home in the series all the more unusual.
Previous Army coaches tried some psychology to get their teams over the Falcon Stadium blues. Young once brought the Black Knights to Colorado Springs in full battle dress.
“In no way will there be anything out of the ordinary,” Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said. “Bobby Ross knows that you get your team prepared the best you can and then let the players play. Players win the game, not coaches.”
Ross said other than substituting more freely because of the altitude, he doesn’t plan on special adjustments Saturday.
Army is coming off a 20-0 triumph over Akron two Saturdays ago, its first shutout of a Division I-A opponent since 1991.
“It starts with our defense against their offense,” Ross said. “I’ve been very pleased where our defense has been up to this point. We needed the week off. There will be a quicker pace to things in the game. It comprises all the things you talk about – consistency, effort, commitment all come into one, and we need all of them.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
