Every game from week 13 is a no-mercy event for all the giants of college football. Oregon stands as the only exception in the grammar. Dan Lanning keeps his team at the top of the league with a marvelous undefeated 11-0 record. But wait, when the Ducks dominate the table, they are not the only team that didn’t drop a single game. Indiana got their hype. Now, let’s just count the Black Nights (9-0) in. You might not see them in the ranking, but existing as the three undefeated teams itself is an honor. That said, when it comes to a potential week 13 win against the Fighting Irish, veteran CFB analyst deems it as a fat chance.

There’s no doubt that the Army has faced a soft schedule so far. So, there has always been a risk attached to believing that they will cast an upset on the Fighting Irish (9-1) this week. The kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm ET (November 23). The game will be live on NVC.

While not playing a tougher opponent doesn’t necessarily imply that they can’t when they need to, insider Joe DeLeone doesn’t count the ‘if and but’. He simply rules out a victory day for Jeff Monken and the Black Nights.

”The Army has not played anybody that’s presenting them with any real challenge. They have played through a schedule against G5 opponents that are of a similar level of athleticism. But when you are schemed up and you’re far tougher than them, you’re going to be able to win those football games. That’s why they are undefeated at this point,” said Joe on a bombastic revelation.

Juggling out all the Black Nights’ success this season, Joe thinks only the win against North Texas (5-5) made some sense and added some value to their blown-up resume. For the fans who still counter, screaming a ‘what if they win’, Joe had a cutthroat reply: ”They are not gonna win this football game. They haven’t been challenged. They are playing at the bottom of the AAC this year.”

DeLeone may have a point, but it doesn’t mean that the Army doesn’t have a route to victory. Of course, it’s a fact that they have played lesser opponents, but that doesn’t mean they can’t take down Notre Dame. The Black Nights have been efficient offensively, both in passing (No. 1 efficiency) and rushing (no. 1 in the country). They are coming up against a run defense that has corrected whatever happened in that Week 1 game in South Bend.

If you’re a Black Nights fan and you feel extremely triggered at the brutal judgment of experts, just believe coach Jeff Monken isn’t. He’s well aware of the weight the game holds and isn’t wasting time in letting his ego take over.

Coach Jeff Monken seems to be leisure-focused to tackle a difficult week 13 opponent

The Army stands undefeated at No. 19 in the CFP list after a five-spot jump last week. But still, everyone ignores them in the playoff berth discussion like anything. It, quite unsurprisingly, takes a toll on the player’s mental place. But they chose to remain silent because they have a lot of other work to focus on right now.

”They’ve got a phone. They read a lot of stuff about that. But we don’t talk about it.’‘ Monken explained the team’s resilient mindset amidst the harsh flakes.

The Army had a painful history with the Irish. A 6-44 loss in the Alamodome still haunts the squad. On top of that, the current Notre Dame is way better under coach Marcus Freeman. The Black Nights’ coach remembers the night they were simply washed away from the stadium eight years back and how they struggled to get an upper hand over the arch-rival since 1958.

So, the last thing Monken would do is to treat the match-up like any other regular game. He said he doesn’t want to waste time demystifying the present Notre Dame strength, rather he will put that energy into making his boys run some extra mile in the practice to have a chance against the Irish this weekend. After all, it won’t just give them an edge to move in the playoff direction, but it will alter their disgraceful fate in the age-old rivalry.