The 2018 Army Black Knights football team represented the
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
in the
2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 149th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...
. The Black Knights were led by fifth-year head coach
Jeff Monken
Jeffrey Michael Monken (born April 15, 1967) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the Army Black Knights football, United States Military Academy, a position he has held since 2014. Monken previously served as ...
and played their home games at
Michie Stadium
Michie Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. The home field for the Army Black Knights, it opened in 1924 and has a seating capacity of 30,000 for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. ...
. Following their 28–14 victory over
Colgate in Week 12, Army entered the
AP Poll at No. 23 and the
Coaches' Poll
In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. ...
at No. 24, the first time Army had entered the national rankings since finishing the
1996 season at No. 25 in the AP and No. 24 in the Coaches'. On December 2, Army accepted an invite to participate in the
Armed Forces Bowl
The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian ...
against the
Houston Cougars
The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...
of the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...
. On December 8, Army defeated its archrival Navy by a score of 17–10, increasing their Army-Navy Game win streak to three in a row and winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the second straight year. With the win the Black Knights also secured their second straight 10-win season, the first time that had been accomplished in the Academy's long and storied history. In the Armed Forces Bowl, they defeated Houston by a score of 70–14 to tie NCAA bowl game records for points scored and margin of victory. Their 11 wins are the most in one season in program history. As a result of his team's 2018 accomplishments, Coach Monken was awarded the
George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award by the
Maxwell Football Club
The Robert W. Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 in sports#American football, 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Tiny Maxwell, Robert ...
, the Vince Lombardi College Football Coach of the Year Award by the Lombardi Foundation, and the
President's Award by the
Touchdown Club of Columbus
The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More ...
. Army finished the season with a ranking of No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the Coaches' Poll, their highest finish in both polls since
Pete Dawkins
Peter Miller Dawkins (born March 8, 1938) is an American business executive and former college football player, hockey player, military officer, and political candidate. Dawkins attended the United States Military Academy, where he played as a ...
's Heisman Trophy-winning season in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
where the Cadets finished No. 3 in both polls. Following the completion of the season, the Black Knights were awarded the
2018 Lambert Trophy by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Metropolitan New York Football Writers, signifying them as the best team in the East in Division I FBS. This was the eighth overall time the Lambert Trophy had been awarded to Army, and the first since 1958.
Preseason
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released
Personnel
Roster
Schedule
Rankings
Game summaries
At Duke
Liberty
Hawaii
At Oklahoma
At Buffalo
Vs. San Jose State
Miami (OH)
At Eastern Michigan
Air Force
Lafayette
Colgate
Vs. Navy
Vs. Houston – Armed Forces Bowl
References
{{Army Black Knights football navbox
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
Army Black Knights football seasons
Armed Forces Bowl champion seasons
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy seasons
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football team, historically known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. The Black Knights team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Ath ...