What a crazy couple of weeks, am I right? We thought the Black Knights might be on 2-10 Watch after dropping their home opener in ignominious fashion to FCS Tarleton State, only to then watch them come back and beat mighty Kansas State at their place two weeks ago. Just one week after almost nothing looked right, and somehow they got damn-near everything right. We’ve since seen a bye, and now here come the Mean Green on a three-game winning streak to start their own season.
Army won this game last year on the road. The good news is that the Black Knights get these guys at home this year. The bad news is that North Texas looks to have improved quite a bit from where they were in 2024.
Coming to Michie Stadium on Saturday?
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 18, 2025
Here’s our Gameday Timeline leading into kickoff! pic.twitter.com/njnJ28UXdy
AFF’s 4 Keys to Victory Over North Texas
North Texas has a hot quarterback, a lethal rushing attack, and a ball-hawking defense. What can the Black Knights do to send their fans home happy?
Let’s get into it.
1. Don’t Beat Yourselves.
Army beat themselves in Week 1. They weren’t great about playing their assignments, they missed reads, they drew plenty of penalties, and they turned the ball over three separate times. All of that was enough to let an FCS team overcome a 14-point fourth quarter deficit, force overtime, and ultimately win that week’s game.
That can’t happen. Indeed, the Black Knights fixed those problems just a week later, and that gave them the chance to beat Kansas State.
This Army offense doesn’t have superior size or speed. It didn’t last week, and it won’t this week. It therefore needs to use its superior discipline to create precise execution. With that, it can extend drives on both offense and defense, forcing its opponents to make play after play after play to avoid disaster.
Most college teams thrive on explosiveness and get frustrated with grinding drives. That’s not Army’s game. The Black Knights thrive in those same grinding drives. We’ve seen this time and time again. If Army can just hold onto the football, play their assignments, and avoid needless penalties, they’ll have every chance to win this weekend.
We took control in the second half with ball security and possession on Saturday night 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ztuiFXc8BA
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 9, 2025
2. Prove That This Offense Isn’t Just One Thing.
QB Cale Hellums ran the ball some 40 times last week. That was probably too many, but it came in a winning effort on the road against a hyper-talented power conference team. Army set up that rushing success via Hellums’s success throwing the football.
The Black Knights ran a series of Quarterback Draws and Roll-Out Run-Pass Options (RPOs) late in the second quarter in their two-minute drill. Hellums did a great job of taking care of the football and of running when a pass wasn’t open. He also went 4/5 through the air. With that, the Wildcats had to then honor the threat of the pass when he rolled out later in the game. This set up a bunch of high-quality quarterback runs in the game’s second half.
For example, we saw Hellums pick up a crucial 4th-and-3 on just such a rollout on Army’s second drive of the second half on a run that initially looked like it had scored a touchdown. Hellums rolled out, and K-State’s defense initially dropped into coverage because he’d thrown for a touchdown on a similar play to end the first half. This opened up the run, Hellums got a block from his fullback, and the Black Knights picked up the first down with good old fashioned quarterback power running.
We don’t usually think of these rollout RPOs as a staple of Army’s offense, but the Black Knights have used them when they’ve had guys who could throw accurately on the move. QB Kelvin Hopkins ran plenty of these back in 2017, and QB Christian Anderson used them less often but just as effectively in 2020. If Hellums also has these plays in his repertoire, then the Staff needs to turn him loose a few times on the edges. If they can prove the point that this team can do more than run the Midline Triple-Option, they’ll be in great shape against a lot of American Conference defenses.
Our Call of the Game presented by @USAA is Cale Hellums's 14-yard TD run that gave us the 24-21. lead against Kansas State on the road last Saturday night! pic.twitter.com/3RsJv7h026
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 10, 2025
3. Run the Midline Triple-Option.
We’re putting this in because this particular play became a staple of Army’s offense under QB Ahmad Bradshaw, and we saw it a ton last year with QB Bryson Daily either running or pitching straight back to SB Noah Short. They killed with this play against both Lehigh and especially FAU last year.
This year, however, the Staff has let neither QB Dewayne Coleman nor Hellums make a lot of these quick hitting reads inside the tackle box. Especially last week, we mostly saw either designed power runs or the kinds of RPOs described above with only occasional outside pitch reads occurring near the edges. It’s tough to know exactly what was called, obviously, but on the TV, it certainly looked like a Hell of a lot of called QB Power leavened with a few called inside handoffs and/or called Rocket Sweeps. That’s understandable for a new quarterback making his first start on the road against a Power Four opponent.
But still…
The Midline Triple is arguably Army’s best play. It’s their superpower. If they have indeed found their guy at quarterback, they gotta let him make those reads under-center, so he can kick ass to his full potential.
4. Make North Texas Drive the Full Length of the Field.
The Mean Green have an incredibly explosive offense. They have an explosive passing attack, and they also have a terrific running game that’s averaging almost 5 yards/carry.
We say it every week, but it bears repeating. Army has an excellent red zone defense. They can use that defense to force field goals and create turnovers in lieu of giving up points. That’s exactly how they beat this team last year, and it’s how they beat K-State just this past week. However, to get to that point, they can’t give up too many explosive plays, either over the top in the passing game or on the ground to UNT’s excellent running game.
Finally Thoughts
The Black Knights need this game. That Week 1 loss took a little wiggle room out of their overall chances at bowl eligibility. They cannot afford to start 0-2 at Michie Stadium. More to the point, this is a mostly young team, especially on offense. They can build on a win, but they’ll have a lot harder time trying to recover psychologically if they take another home loss.
Our game vs. Charlotte on Oct. 11 is officially SOLD OUT!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 16, 2025
Tickets are still available for our remaining home games.
We should get great weather on Saturday, and if rumors can be believed, a raucous crowd. Let’s get out there and make some noise to help our team win!
Go Army! Beat North Texas!!!
