Army's next goal is a bowl game

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08/24/2010 -

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) -Rich Ellerson's first season at Army was successful in several ways. The Cadets won five games and were more competitive than they had been in years.

The goal now for Ellerson will be building on the accomplishments of the first year.

Ellerson installed a triple-option attack similar to the one Jim Young used with great success at Army in the 1980s, and the Black Knights responded by going 5-7, a season-ending loss to Navy depriving them of their first bowl berth since 1996.

Ellerson expects more this season, and he's not alone.

``The offense in general has made leaps and bounds since last year,'' senior offensive tackle Jason Johnson said. ``The cohesion level is much better than it was last year. It feels like everyone is on the same page and knows what they're doing. There is a lot more trust in the huddle.''

It starts with quarterback Trent Steelman, who last season became just the second plebe to start at quarterback for the Black Knights against Navy and the first Army quarterback, regardless of class, to start 12 games in a season.

The Black Knights averaged just more than 200 yards rushing behind Steelman, who ran for a team-high 706 yards and five touchdowns and threw for 637 yards and three TDs with two interceptions.

One of the biggest questions of the offseason was how effective senior quarterback Chip Bowden would be after recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee.

So far in preseason camp, Bowden, the backup to Steelman for seven games in 2009, has not displayed any ill effects from the surgery.

Bowden has shared reps with the first string with junior Max Jenkins while Steelman nursed a minor knee injury.

Freshman wide receiver Anthony Stephens, a walk-on from Greenville, S.C., also has impressed the coaches and will be called on to help fill the void left by wideout Alejandro Villanueva, who at 6 feet 10 was the tallest player in Army football history.

Villanueva had 34 catches for 522 yards and five touchdowns in 2009 after playing offensive tackle the previous year.

``Anthony has been a pleasant surprise,'' offensive coordinator Ian Shields said. ``He just kind of showed up here. His dad went to school here. We knew about him, but he's been better than advertised.''

Pat Mealy, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry and scored three times last season, is the top returning running back. Freshman Raymond Maples, Malcolm Brown, Brian Cobbs and fullback Jared Hassin round out the group.

``It has a chance to be an explosive group,'' Ellerson said.

Kicker Alex Carlton is back after he tied a single-season academy record with 18 field goals in 2009. Though he missed twice against Navy in the season finale and twice more in the annual spring game.

``He got rid of the shanks and went right back to work,'' Ellerson said. ``It looks like he's grown from last year.''

The past eight seasons have ended with losses to Navy, which has won 11 of 13 to take a 54-49-7 advantage in the rivalry.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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