Army Black Knights vs. North Texas Mean Green Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 9th 2024

Preview and Prediction

The unbeaten Army Black Knights found themselves in a favorable position when the initial College Football Playoff rankings were unveiled on Tuesday night.

Their focus in the American Athletic Conference matchup against North Texas on Saturday afternoon in Denton, Texas is to continue their ascent.

Army (8-0, 6-0) was ranked No. 25 in the CFP standings, securing the final spot in the rankings used to determine the field for the inaugural 12-team playoff.

The Black Knights maintained their undefeated record with a defensive-minded 20-3 win over rival Air Force last weekend, extending the nation's longest active winning streak to 12 games.

The margin of victory of 17 points matched Army's smallest this season. They also defeated East Carolina (45-28) and Florida Atlantic (24-7) by the same margin on October 19 and September 7, respectively.

During their 12-game winning streak, the Black Knights have not trailed in any game.

Since 2003, the only school with a longer winning streak without trailing is Alabama, who went 14 games from 2020 to 2021.

Army is one of only five unbeaten teams in FBS competition, along with Miami, BYU, Indiana, and Oregon.

While Army's triple-option offense is usually their main threat, coach Jeff Monken praised the defense for their performance in the 20-3 victory over Air Force.

"I don't think we could have asked more from our defense," Monken said when asked if it was their best performance of the season.

"There were some plays where they converted on first-and-25 and fourth-and-11, but we managed to get them off the field and came up with three big interceptions. That was fantastic."

Defensive back Chance Keith led the Black Knights with eight tackles.

After a promising start to the season with a 5-1 record, the Mean Green (5-3, 2-2) have suffered two consecutive losses to Memphis (52-44) and Tulane (45-37) and had to sit out last weekend with a bye.

Facing Army will present a clash of styles: the disciplined triple-option attack of the Black Knights versus the Air Raid offense of North Texas.

Mean Green coach Eric Morris acknowledged on Tuesday that defending Army's triple option will be a difficult task.

"Teams have tried using three and four defensive linemen against the triple option," Morris said. "It's such a unique offense that requires discipline in reading your keys. When executed properly, it's a work of art. It's always fascinated me.

"(Legendary coach) Mike Leach used to compare the triple option to the Air Raid in terms of spreading the ball to different areas of the field and forcing defenses to cover every inch of it."

North Texas quarterback Chandler Morris has thrown for 2,873 yards and 26 touchdowns on 224 of 349 passing through eight games. The junior has recorded over 400 yards in four games, including a season-high 449 in the home loss to Tulane two weeks ago.

PREDICTION

Army Black Knights

North Texas Mean Green