We’re now a little more than two weeks out from the start of Army Football season. This weekend will be our last without college football for the next several months.
FINALLY! This is awesome!
For this series, we’ve divided Army’s season into four quarters. This week, we’ll preview the season’s second quarter.
Second Quarter Preview
This second section of Army’s schedule features road games at East Carolina and Alabama-Birmingham as well as a home game against Charlotte.
Week 5: at East Carolina Pirates
2024 Record: 8-5 (5-3 in the American); Beat NC State in the Military Bowl
SP+: -6.6 (90th)
FPI: -2.6 (72)
Massey: 90th overall; Offense 92nd, Defense 92nd
ECU had a talented team in 2024, but turnovers hurt them early, and they hit a two-game skid in the middle of the season, losing to Charlotte and Army in successive weeks. But once new starting QB Katin Houser settled in, the Pirates won five of their last six, including a monster bowl win over in-state rival NC State.
ECU boasted an elite rushing defense last season but turned the ball over way too much on offense, and it cost them at least two games. If Houser can just cut down on the team’s turnovers, ECU could see dramatic improvement. If he also makes a few plays in the passing game, maybe ECU can even be a contender in the American.
This particular game gets added emphasis because it’s a mid-week night game on the road. Thankfully, the Pirates will be coming off a tough two-game stretch, at Coastal Carolina and then at home against BYU. Whatever else happens, they won’t have extra time to prepare for Army’s offense.
Projected Betting Line: Using SP+ gives us Army (-3). But if we use FPI, the line is instead Army (+8). None of that gives us much confidence in either this game’s outcome or in these overall projections.
FAST 🏴☠️ #LetsRide @GlobalAnt_26 pic.twitter.com/zBhf3ERBJQ
— ECU Football (@ECUPiratesFB) August 10, 2025
Week 6: at Alabama-Birmingham Blazers
2024 Record: 3-9 (2-6 in the American)
SP+: -13.8 (112th)
FPI: -11.2 (115th)
Massey: 119th overall; Offense 102nd, Defense 128th
Despite a few flashes, UAB struggled to play consistent football in 2024. They beat Tulsa and Rice badly and stayed competitive against a good Arkansas squad, but they also got blown out by Navy, Tulane, Army, and then Memphis to close out the season. This year, they’ve brought in a 325 pound nose tackle from Boston College and a highly-rated inside linebacker from Nicholls State, but that won’t automatically improve their rushing defense, and they’ll also need more consistent play on offense to win more games.
UAB Head Coach Trent Dilfer stuck by QB Jalen Kitna last year despite inconsistent play. Kitna finished with 2200 yards passing and 17 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions, and that’s not bad. But he also took 23 sacks. This came on a team that often struggled to run the football and that lacked a 1000-yard rusher overall. With that, the Blazers never generated enough offense to stay competitive with better teams in their conference.
Teams that ran the ball well hurt UAB badly in 2024. If the Blazers can fix that and maybe run it a little bit themselves, they can improve. They’ll be coming off a bye for this particular game, making it a crucial home match-up for them. With that said, however, this is a game that the Black Knights will absolutely need to have if they hope to keep their own season hopes alive in 2025.
Projected Betting Line: Army (-10)
DLee23 Mic'd Up 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/33s9VAGGcV
— UAB Football (@UAB_FB) August 8, 2025
Week 7: Charlotte 49ers
2024 Record: 5-7 (4-4 in the American)
SP+: -19.4 (133rd)
FPI: -11.4 (116th)
Massey: 134th overall; Offense 133rd, Defense 132nd
Charlotte showed flashes in 2024, but they never quite clicked under former Head Coach Biff Poggi. They actually seemed to improve after Poggi got fired, winning their last two games. Now they’re bringing in new Head Coach Tim Albin, and who knows what to expect?
This team is starting almost from scratch. Maybe they’ll put it together over time, but most everyone thinks the 49ers are in for a rough go of it in 2025.
Projected Betting Line: Army (-22)
🤙🤘🤟#BrickXBrick🧱 pic.twitter.com/S0zO39B6gm
— Charlotte Football (@CharlotteFTBL) August 3, 2025
Final Thoughts
If Army starts 2-1 and can then go at least 2-1 through this second stretch of the season, the team will be in good shape to earn a post-season bowl berth and stay in contention for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Perhaps they can even stay in contention in the American Conference overall. However, that’s hardly a given, especially if UAB’s rushing defense improves in time for their home stand against the Black Knights.
Hear from our OC during camp!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) August 8, 2025
🎙️ Mic'd up with Coach Worley. pic.twitter.com/mbK64tRk84
For better or worse, the Transfer Portal has made Group of Five football maddeningly hard to predict. Army will need to do well through this part of the season, but predicting that with any confidence is tough without having seen how some of these rosters will gel with their new Transfer Portal players. Nevertheless, if the Black Knights can get their own offense going, they ought to have the pieces to make things happen through this second part of the season.
Go Army! Beat Tarleton State!!!
Cover image via Flickr: West Point – The U.S. Military Academy.
