Kentucky fans fondly remember the day the Wildcats put the future Heisman Trophy winner in hell. How could one forget the time Lamar did the Heisman, then fumbled? Jay Bateman has a similar memory against an exceptional foe.
Army was a 31-point underdog when the Black Knights traveled to Norman to take on No. 5 Oklahoma in 2018. Lincoln Riley was at the peak of his offensive powers, preparing to launch another Heisman Trophy campaign with Kyler Murray at quarterback. Before No. 1 became a no-doubt No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, he experienced four quarters of hell against Jay Bateman’s defense.
Things started out according to plan for Oklahoma. Their first three drives all went 60+ yards in fewer than six plays and resulted in touchdowns. That’s when Bateman and the Black Knights’ defense settled in.
“That Army defense put on an absolute clinic: The discipline, the play-style, the physicality, and really snuffing them out in the red zone,” recalled Coach Dan Casey in a recent conversation with KSR. “Oklahoma could drive the field, but then when it got condensed in the red zone, Army really tightened the clamps on them. I thought he did such a good job disguising coverages moving fronts, doing different things like that that just give offenses a real problem.”
Punt, punt, pick, turnover on downs. Oklahoma had 19 first downs, but actually got out-gained by Army. Murray only mustered 165 passing yards. The future Heisman winner actually drove the field and put Oklahoma in position to kick a game-winning field goal, but the chip shot was missed.
The Sooners needed overtime to dispatch Army, ultimately escaping with a 28-21 win. Oklahoma fans gave Army a standing ovation as the Black Knights left the field.
Can Kentucky Find the Right Balance for Bateman?
The Army offense deserves as much credit as the Army defense for keeping that game close. They controlled the ball, running 87 plays from scrimmage. It’s easier to call a defense when you don’t have to play that much of it. Big Blue Nation learned that lesson throughout the Mark Stoops era. Bateman received that benefit at Army, but he’s also been on the wrong end of it.
“You look at a coach’s Wikipedia pages. What was their record here? What was their record there? There’s a lot of different factors in play,” said Casey.
“When you’re at Army, and you’re working with Jeff Monken, he’s going to control the football on the offensive side of the ball, so you’re going to play defense a little differently. Then, when you go to North Carolina with Mack Brown, they’re running a Phil Longo offense that’s Air Raid with tempo, a complete opposite, so you’re having to play a different style of football. Then, when you get to Texas A&M with Collin Klein and how Mike Elko runs that program, it sets you up for success on that side of the football. And so I think one of the things Will Stein has gleaned from being with Dan Lanning and Tosh Lupoi at Oregon is that you got to play a style of football that doesn’t hang your defense out to dry.”
Will Stein wants to play aggressively, but he’s wise enough to know that you can’t play tempo 100% of the time or you will cut off your nose to spite your face. The first-year head coach has experience with some of the best defensive minds in the sport. He has an idea of how things will work, but it will take time for him to find his footing as a head coach. That means putting his defense in a position to succeed and also appropriately delegating offensive responsibilities to Joe Sloan.
“The staff is a very collaborative staff. That’s part of the interesting dynamic here. It’s not like Will Stein is completely hands-off on the offense by any means. There’s a lot of conversation happening in that building and a lot of collaboration,” said Casey, who spent time with the program this spring.
“It’s a new-school staff, it’s a young staff, and there’s lot of ideas being thrown around there. It seems like they have a pretty good dynamic. You never really know until the bullets fly, but they seem like they have a pretty good plan in place.”