How Do They Do It?

Did any of you catch the Michigan vs. Air Force game? Air Force had Michigan on the ropes late in the fourth quarter at The Big House! A pro Michigan crowd of over 105, 000 cheered a vastly more talented Wolverine team on to a win over feisty Air Force 31-25. How do the service academies do it? Yes, Notre Dame put a whippin' on Navy two weeks ago but the Midshipmen and Falcons have been very competitive for the last several years against superior talent. Army has been down but I think they're getting better. So, I ask again, how do they do it?

The answer to that might be several different factors but the main one, in my opinion, is disciplined football. Air Force and Navy both run an extremely effecient triple option offense. And they run it flawlessly. Every football guy knows that option football is an equalizer on the field and can allow the team with less talent to go with a bigger, stronger, faster team. The deception and "trickery" if you will, is said to be the equalizer. Now, personally, I don't find the option trickery, just smart football. Never the less, it IS deceptive, but all offenses feature fakes and deception. It's considered though a high risk offense because of the pitch from the QB to the pitch back and that scares off a lot of coaches. But it's not high risk the way these guys run it to perfection.

Another factor is the tremendous personal discipline that the athletes of the academies possess. I mean, these guys are dedicated and committed to excellence in ALL areas, not just football. It carries over to the football field in a way that all football coaches admire. These guys are athletic, smart, classy and real all-americans. It demonstrates how much of a team game football is when lesser talent can band together and play fundamentally sound football to the extent these guys do.

As you can tell I'm a big fan of the service academies football teams and I really enjoy watching them. Course, I love option football too and that's what they run. There are probably other factors that contribute to the success of Navy and Air Force but those are my top two factors on how they do it. Your thoughts? Chiefpigskin.com