Last week, your Army Black Knights lost their home opener to a good team from Tarleton State. Now they travel to the Little Apple — Manhattan, Kansas — to take on a Kansas State team that has also gotten off to a disappointing start.
The Wildcats traveled to Ireland to drop their Week 0 game to Farmageddon rival Iowa State, saw a wild, family feud-style parking lot brawl break out in the parking lot before they could leave for the return trip, and then came home to almost drop a game to FCS North Dakota.
For those keeping score at home, T-State currently stands 5th in the FCS while North Dakota ranks 20th.
Can Army rebound on the road against a highly touted, once-ranked Big 12 team? It’s wild to contemplate, but things don’t look any better for the Wildcats than they do for the Black Knights coming into Week 2.
Your Need to Know for Saturday night ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/rsbOHNJEfW
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 4, 2025
Keys to Victory
Friends, K-State has a very good team that’s gotten off to a slow start. This might be a winnable game, but it certainly won’t be an easy one. With that, we’ve got four Keys to Victory.
1. Do the Right Thing.
Arguably Army’s biggest issue last week came via poor execution of their basic fundamentals. Dudes didn’t block the right guys; backs didn’t hit the right holes. On defense, running backs broke contain while tight ends slipped totally free up the seam. This just wasn’t good football.
If the Black Knights want to have any chance of winning this week, guys will have to do their jobs. This is not complicated.
In fact, arguably the most amazing thing about last week’s performance was that we saw all those problems, plus three turnovers and two missed field goals, and the Black Knights still somehow had a chance to win. We suspect that there might be a talented, even explosive Army Team hidden somewhere under all these mistakes. Once these guys get right, we might see some real Army Football.
Working toward Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/j6aTnCWQvd
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 4, 2025
2. Play Fast, Violent Football.
The flipside to that first point is that the guys need to know their responsibilities well enough that they can play fast, loose, violent football. Playing hesitant or overthinking will get them beat as surely as missing assignments will.
Can the Black Knights correct their mistakes well enough to play fast after just one week of film study? That’s the real question.
Our Call of the Game presented by @USAA is Hayden Reed's 37-yard TD run last Friday night. pic.twitter.com/73AFfwjyuU
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 3, 2025
3. Contain the Running Game & Get Off the Field.
We expected to see Kansas State put forth a strong power running game in order to set up an explosive downfield passing attack. To date, however, we’ve yet to see it. The Wildcats have averaged just 126.5 rushing yards/game on 4.5 yards/carry. That’s fine on a per-carry basis, but it’s not a lot of yards overall, and it’s caused some problems for the Wildcats offense.
Over the course of 35 first downs this season, the Wildcats have thrown 21 times versus just 13 runs. This has set them up for a lot of long third down conversions, and though they’ve made a respectable 38.5%, they’ve still struggled to sustain drives overall. Moreover, they’ve failed 4/7 fourth down attempts in just two games.
Army’s defense has got to make something with this. Last week, K-State went just 5/13 on third down, and they failed a fourth down. Along with two fumbles, this was enough to keep North Dakota in the game — and even winning! — despite the Wildcats outgaining the Fighting Hawks 464 yards to 354.
If Army’s defense can contain K-State’s rushing attack and keep their tight ends from moving the chains via third-and-long possession passes, then maybe the Black Knights will have a chance to win this game.
4. Control the Explosive Plays.
As always, it’s the big plays that change games in college football. That was true last week, and it’ll be true again this week.
Army’s defense tends to be really good in the red zone. However, they have to force long drives by not getting beat deep in order to have a chance once the field gets shorter.
On the other side, K-State’s defense has struggled with eye discipline at times this season. This from a team that’s already played two games and which won’t have had extra time to prepare for the triple-option. If the Black Knights can use their unique offense to bust a few long runs, well… that’s how they win. But again, that requires guys to do their jobs, and it requires Army’s quarterbacks to make good reads in traffic.
There’s a path here, but it won’t be an easy one. The Black Knights will need to play fast and execute quickly and violently.
More than just football🫡
— The American (@American_Conf) September 4, 2025
A day after his first college football game @ArmyWP_Football, Larry Pickett Jr. and his father rescued a man from a burning car
"There was no conversation, no hesitation….we just ran right at it and saw somebody needed help" pic.twitter.com/AX9jh8QuGv
Finally Thoughts
Army’s got a prime time game on the road against a powerhouse Big 12 opponent, but despite the odds, this looks like a game that the Black Knights could actually win. But as we said, they’ll need to play fast, disciplined football of a kind we’ve yet to see this season. But this is Army. This is how they’ve built their brand.
Can the 2025 Black Knights be a legit Army Football team?
We’ll find out tomorrow night. Kickoff goes at 7:00 pm on ESPN.
Go Army! Beat Kansas State!!!
