Army’s Triple Option Takes Off as Terry Baggett Runs for School-Record 304 Yards
October 13, 2013
Army’s Baggett runs for 304 yards in win over E. Michigan
Oct. 12, 2013
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Government shutdown, Eastern Michigan’s defense — nothing could stop Army and its newest offensive star on Saturday.
Terry Baggett ran for four touchdowns — including a 96-yard score — and a school record 304 yards, the highest in Division I this season, as Army came back to beat Eastern Michigan 50-25 for the fifth time in six games.
“People keep telling me, `Man, you just broke the Army record for a single game,”’ the beaming junior said. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”
Larry Dixon added 69 yards and a score for the Black Knights (3-4), who went up 22-15 on Trenton Turrentine’s one-yard touchdown with 9:46 left in the second and never looked back. Turrentine finished with 92 yards.
Tyler Benz was 17 for 26 for 223 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Eagles (1-5, 0-2 MAC), while Bronson Hill rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Army’s rare triple-option offense figured to present a challenge for Eastern Michigan, which had given up a combined 995 total yards over the past two weeks; Army finished with 551 all-purpose yards.
“Guys rose up and made plays,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said. “The whole offense feels great about those numbers, feels great about that W.”
The Eagles got on the board first on a 17-yard touchdown strike from Benz to Hill on third-and-7. Benz dropped back and evaded Hayden Pierce’s sack attempt in time to connect with an open Hill for the score.
Earlier on the drive, Hill turned a screen pass into a 27-yard scurry as the Eagles drove into Army territory – one of five straight completions by Benz on the opening drive.
Things kept going Eastern Michigan’s way even after that touchdown. Picking up a botched snap on the extra point, placeholder Mark Iannotti scrambled back and heaved a prayer to Cole Gardner. The 6-foot-5 tight end made the grab and barreled just across the goal line before going out of bounds to give the Eagles an early 8-0 lead.
Army answered on the ensuing drive, buoyed by a 35-yard run by Turrentine – who deftly split two defenders – off a pitch left to get the Black Knights into the red zone. Two minutes later, Baggett ran up the middle and Army cut it to 8-7.
Eastern Michigan needed just three plays and 53 seconds to score again, however. On the second play of the drive, Hill broke through traffic and ran right for a 43-yard gain to Army’s 12. Hill finished the drive with a touchdown on the next snap, and the Eagles went up 15-7.
Then Baggett got involved. On the first play of Army’s next drive, Baggett got to the edge on a pitch and ran up the right sideline for a 67-yard score. Angel Santiago’s keeper on the conversion attempt made it 15-all.
“When you have the offense executing like this, it definitely makes the job as a quarterback easier,” said Santiago, who had 38 passing yards and 36 on the ground.
Turrentine’s 1-yard plunge made it 22-15. Eastern Michigan cut it to 22-18 when Dylan Mulder drilled a 31-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half, but never got any closer in losing its fifth straight.
Baggett broke through the line unscathed for his third touchdown, a breezy 34-yard run to make it 29-18 early in the second half.
Eastern Michigan was poised up to claw back after Hill turned a screen pass into a 53-yard gain, setting the Eagles up on the Army 12. But Jay Jones fumbled on the 4 after a completion.
“We knew we needed to win this game,” linebacker Justin Trimble said.
Next: the coup de grace.
With Army deep in its own end, Baggett took the handoff on second down, broke a tackle and ran 96 yards – one shy of the longest run in Army history – and the Black Knights went up 36-18 with 9:05 remaining in the third.
Larry Dixon wanted in on the fun, too. He broke five tackles on a 30-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left in the quarter as Army went ahead 43-18.
Baggett’s record performance came on 18 carries. He averaged 16.9 yards per run.
“Baggett doesn’t have that kind of a game if the other backs aren’t blocking,” Ellerson said.
Once endangered by the government shutdown before the military academies were given the go-ahead to complete at least October’s games, this game was a different result than a year ago, when Benz threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-38 Eastern Michigan win.
_________________________________
Academy
The Big Idea in 171 Words
Here’s the problem. If you can’t block defensive linemen, you’ll never move the ball, you’ll never score points, and you’ll never win a game.
You need to understand why this disconnect occurs to overcome it and win.
______________________________________
“I know many coaches would rather install an offense the traditional way by researching it, visiting colleges that run the offense, and then picking coaches for information.
I have used that same strategy, and I know that it takes about three years to really gain an understanding of the offense and get players to execute it at a high level.
Consequently, in the research method, you do not have any collaboration with experts that are readily available when questions arise or resources that have consistency.
We wanted to give our players an offense that they could be successful with immediately.
We also concluded that by the time we visited colleges, bought DVDs, playbooks, and sent players to college camps to gain skills, we would have invested many times the cost of the camp.”
–Dr. Jimmy Woods, Head Football Coach, Timmonsville High School.
Went from 1-9 (2010) to the state semifinals (2011) in one year after their three-day camp with Triple Option Football Academy Owner, Lou Cella.
________________________________________
Here’s the solution. The Triple Option Football Academy.
For $997, clients receive the following plan to win:
Questions? Contact the Triple Option Football Academy at (570) 332-0265.
