Army is returning to the bowl lineup for the first time since 1996, when the Black Knights square off with the Mustangs of SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl on December 30 at noon.

The Mustangs were relegated to the Armed Forces Bowl after losing the C-USA Title game.

Former Hawaii Head Coach June Jones will lead the Mustangs; having turned around the program after the NCAA death penalty crippled the program. The Mustangs have now received bowl bids in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1983 and 1984.

Rich Ellerson is in the midst of his own turnaround effort at Army, and his Hawaii connections make for an interesting storyline between the two coaches.

The game will be played at SMU’s stadium. Usually the game is held at TCU, but due to stadium renovations it is being held at SMU this year.

After a Donovan Travis interception in the end zone gave the Army offense the ball on their own 20 yard line, the Black Knights marched 78 yards on 17 plays, chewing up almost nine minutes of the first quarter. An Alex Carlton field goal gave Army a 3-0 lead.

The formula worked. Employ the “bend but don’t break” defense, run the ball, control the clock, and come away with points. Mix in a pass here or there to keep the defense honest.

It all went downhill from there.

After Notre Dame knotted the game at 3-3 with 14:50 remaining in the second quarter, an Army three-and-out and a 12 yard punt gave Notre Dame good field position, on the Army 40 yard line.

Notre Dame went to the air, with a 35 yard completion on third and six setting them up on the Army 1 yard line. Robert Hughes punched it in from there, giving Notre Dame a 10-3 lead.

The next few possessions, which proved to be crucial, are where I think the coaching staff for Army faltered.

You have been a running football team the whole season. That is what has gotten you this far, so ride it out. If you are going to get beat, get beat doing what you do best. Run the ball.

Instead Army comes out on first down and throws. Incomplete, putting themselves in a second and long yardage situation. Two running plays did not net the necessary 10 yards, and Army was forced to punt again.

Five plays later, another Notre Dame touchdown was on the board again, 17-3 Irish with 8:01 remaining in the first half.

The team traded punts, then with barely any time remaining the Black Knights found a little success on the ground, picking up a first down before time expired in the second quarter.

Coming out of halftime, down two touchdowns, time to get back to your identity and try to get back in his game. Right?

The team ranked 120th in the country in passing came out gunning.

On first down Jared Hassin picked up 3 yards. Second down and seven yards, time to ride the option and get another solid gain. Or, if you are Army last night, throw for it.

An incomplete pass on second down and an interception returned for a touchdown on third down put the nail in the coffin. A David Ruffer field goal with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter closed out the day’s scoring.

What Went Right: The running game (when they allowed it). Army 3.1 yards per rush. Not setting the world on fire, but against a team like Notre Dame you have to expect that. Just keep pounding the rock. Eventually you will find a seam for a big play. The option was working very well the first drive. Then Army decided to start throwing the ball on the early downs and sabotage their own attack.

What Went Wrong: Play calling. Not to be an armchair coach, but why did Jared Hassin have eight carries in this game? Hassin has been Army’s workhorse all year, and probably the closest thing they have physically to a Notre Dame player other than Stephen Anderson. He averaged 2.9 yards a carry for the game. That’s fine. Give him the ball. He is your best offensive weapon. Use him. And on the first drive of the second half, backs against the wall, when he picks up three yards on first down? Give it to him again. Run the option. Just don’t throw it. There’s a reason you are 120th in the nation in passing.

Play calling was an issue defensively too. Going into the game, I doubt anyone thought it would be a good idea to have the Army defenders in man coverage against the Notre Dame receivers. Well, we sure saw a lot of it last night. I understand you have to play some man to keep the opponent honest. But when you aren’t getting to the quarterback, playing man coverage on superior athletes will be disastrous. And why was there any instance last night where an Army defender was 1-on-1 with Michael Floyd? May as well have handed the Irish 20-plus yards on those plays.

Player of the Game: Notre Dame QB Tommy Rees. Looked good for an 18 year old freshman. Hit the open receivers, did what he needed to do. Moved well in the pocket to avoid the Army pressure.

Final Word: The loss itself doesn’t upset me. Obviously, Notre Dame deserves a lot of credit. I underestimated them. But Army is better than that score. I would not have minded the loss as much if Army had stuck to their guns and done what they are good at. When things get tough, you don’t go to the stuff you don’t practice all the time. Go to what has gotten you this far. Know your identity. Be who you are. If you come up short, at least you got beat at what you do best.

Now, a couple weeks off in preparation for the biggest game of the year, Navy. Army has some work to do before taking on the Midshipmen.

When and Where: 7:30 p.m. at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. The game will be shown on NBC.

Series History: 37-8-4 in favor of the Fighting Irish, including a 14-5-3 Notre Dame edge in games played at the old Yankee Stadium.

Matchup: Saturday night we get the matchup of an overlooked, often completely dismissed program that has shown recent improvement after a long period of darkness and an overhyped, overexposed program that has been idling for years. This is the crossroads, the game where Army moves past Notre Dame and continues to move towards its bright future under Rich Ellerson, as the Fighting Irish continue to yearn for days gone by.

Yankee Stadium is the perfect staging point for such an event, the newest version of the big ball yard in the Bronx where these two historic programs used to battle back in their heyday. Back then the names were Rockne and the Four Horsemen – Stuhldreher, Crowley, Miller and Layden – or Earl “Red” Blaik with Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Now we have Brian Kelly with Manti Te’o and Tommy Rees versus Rich Ellerson and Trent Steelman, Jared Hassin, Stephen Anderson and Josh McNary.

I am sure plenty of the Notre Dame faithful, buoyed by the strong performance against Utah, are counting on their Irish to roll over the presumed hapless Black Knights in front of a pro-Notre Dame crowd at Yankee Stadium that will give them a champion’s welcome. These people will be surprised when they see that this is not the Army team from 2006 that went out to South Bend on Notre Dame’s senior day to be the butt of the joke.

This Army team has already faced offense with more weapons than the Irish, such as the Hawaii team that the Black Knights had on the ropes after coming behind from a three-touchdown deficit. For Notre Dame, a freshman quarterback behind a shaky offensive line against a unique defense that boasts one of the top pass rushers in the country? I know who I would put my money on.

Make no mistake; the better team on the Yankee Stadium field Saturday night will be sporting gold helmets. The ones with the black stripe down the middle.

Player(s) to Watch: QB Trent Steelman, FB Jared Hassin. These two will be counted on to carry the Army offense on Saturday. It won’t always be pretty as Notre Dame will have an edge in size along the front line. Honestly, Army played a more athletically gifted defense in Temple and was able to put up 35 points. Expect Notre Dame to try a different approach than the one they took against Navy. Army will have to grind this one out, but that’s what they have been able to do on offense all season.

Potential X-Factor: DE Josh McNary. McNary has been very quiet lately, with no sacks since the overtime loss to Rutgers. On the big stage this weekend, look for him to step up and create some havoc.

Prediction: I think it helps that this game doesn’t have Army’s bowl implications riding on it. There is no added pressure for the team, and they can go into Yankee Stadium loose and hopefully we see them take some chances to make big plays offensively. Army wins.

Army 23, Notre Dame 13

Army football is back.

The Black Knights are eligible for postseason play for the first time since 1996 following a 45-28 win over Kent State. With games still remaining on the schedule against Notre Dame and Navy, Army has a chance to make some national noise before all is said and done.

Becoming bowl eligible does not guarantee Army a spot. Click here for a rundown of the bowl situation.

Army used a balanced attack to rush for 233 yards against the country’s top rushing defense. Army had two players rush for over 60 yards (Jared Hassin, Brian Cobbs) and three more with over 25 yards (Trent Steelman, Patrick Mealy, Raymond Maples). Four players scored rushing touchdowns for the Black Knights: Cobbs (2), Steelman (2), Hassin and Maples. The offensive line played a great game and stepped up against the highly-ranked Golden Flashes defense.

The Army defense forced the Kent State offense into four turnovers, including three interceptions. Richard King had two interceptions, Donovan Travis had the other. Stephen Anderson had seven tackles and forced a fumble that was recovered by Mike Gann.

What Went Right: Offense. Army ran and threw the ball effectively, gaining 382 yards of total offense. Hassin led the way with 75 rushing yards, part of a 233-yard effort by the rushing attack. Steelman was very accurate and hurt Kent State through the air.

What Went Wrong: Defense. The defense was opportunistic, creating four turnovers, but against better teams they will not have that many chances to create those plays. The Black Knights still gave up 410 yards and four scores.

Player of the Game: QB Trent Steelman. Two touchdowns rushing and completed 9 of 10 passing attempts for 149 yards. Steelman and the offense looked sharp.

Final Word: This makes Army a very dangerous team now. There is no pressure this week against Notre Dame. Army will probably be expected to lose although they may be the better team. The team can enjoy the trip to Yankee Stadium and take some chances they probably wouldn’t have if their bowl hopes were riding on the game. Later this week I will preview Army’s upset of Notre Dame.

When and Where: 2 p.m. at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio.

Series History: Only one game, a 17-14 Army win in overtime in 2006.

Matchup: Army comes in at 5-4, looking to rebound after the loss to Air Force.

Kent State comes in at 4-5, also looking to bounce back after a loss to Temple.

Last week’s loss makes this a huge game for Army. With only two of these next three games counting for their push towards bowl eligibility, the clock is ticking on Army’s postseason chances. I doubt Rich Ellerson wants the Black Knights to have to play in Yankee Stadium against Notre Dame in front of what will be a pro-Fighting Irish crowd still looking for their sixth win. That game will have enough distractions without the pressure of a do-or-die scenario.

I think the fact that there is a lot riding on this game helps Army. If they had nothing to gain here, it would be easy to overlook Kent State and begin thinking about Notre Dame and Navy. I think the Black Knights will come out hungry on Saturday and put on a good performance, paving the way for an exciting finish to the season.

Player to Watch: FB Jared Hassin. Hassin has now rushed for 100 yards in four straight games. I expect Army to continue to feed him the rock and let him lead them to postseason eligibility. The offensive line has done a great job this season opening up lanes for him and they will have a great chance to step up and show how good they are against the Kent State front seven, which has done a great job against the run.

Potential X-Factor: DL Jarrett Mackey. Mackey has played very well so far, and has been unheralded as much of the attention has gone to Josh McNary. He has played a large role for the Army defense this year and I expect more of the same Saturday.

Prediction: Army won’t suffer from a hangover after the Air Force loss, simply because they cannot afford to. The Black Knights come out strong and dominate from the beginning, cruising to bowl eligibility.

Army 27, Kent State 10

Notes: Army placekicker Alex Carlton was named the CFPA honorable mention Kicker of the Week… Rich Ellerson’s weekly press conference.

The Army football team fell to 5-4 Saturday after losing to Air Force 42-22. The Black Knights honored 29 members of the senior class at Michie Stadium prior to kickoff.

Coming into the game, Army was fifth in the nation in turnover margin. This has been a major factor in the team’s success this season. Sometimes watching the team this year it seemed as if they were walking a tightrope, and needed to be perfect in order to pull the game out. Army cannot get away with mistakes the way other teams can, and we saw an example of that Saturday.

The loss against Air Force provided a good chance for Army to measure were it stands. The game showed just how far they still have to go as a program. Still, the game turned on a few plays, and with a little better luck it could have been a different game.

Army turnovers crushed their chances of winning, with Trent Steelman first interception of the season setting up an Air Force score and a Jared Hassin fumble returned for a touchdown. Army missed its opportunities to create turnovers, with senior linebacker Stephen Anderson dropping an interception. The Black Knights also failed to pick up an Air Force fumble in the first half that they had a good shot at recovering. Finally, down 35-22 and in desperate need of a stop at the goal line, Army forced an Air Force fumble and came out of the pile with the football. It was ruled Air Force’s ball, and the review was inconclusive. Tim Jefferson scored on the next play to make the score 42-22.

What Went Right: Rushing attack. Army was able to rush for 244 yards against the Falcons. Jared Hassin has now rushed for 100 yards in four straight games.

What Went Wrong: Turnovers/Defense. The turnovers really killed Army’s chances, as I detailed above. The defense was put in some tough situations, but that is no excuse to allow the Falcons to run wild. Air Force rushed for 277 yards and threw for 124 more.

Player of the Game: The seniors. What I hope is not lost in this is the improvement that has occurred in this program in such a short period of time. The seniors on this team have talked about bringing winning football back to Army, and they are on the verge of doing so. Many of the seniors stepped up and had big games today.

Final Word: This was the game it would have been nice to have. Still, I favor Army in each of the last three games, beginning next week at Kent State. If Army doesn’t get the win next week, there will be a lot riding on the Notre Dame game at Yankee Stadium. Army needs to take care of business next Saturday.