Coming off an inspiring comeback that led to a disappointing overtime home loss this past Saturday, your Army Black Knights travel to Greensville, North Carolina, tonight to take on the East Carolina Pirates. ECU features a good rushing defense anchored by an outstanding defensive line. They also have a dynamic passing attack led by a veteran quarterback now in his second year in their system.
Friends, this will not be an easy game. What can Army do to get a badly-needed road win tonight?
Let’s get into it.
Keys to Victory
On the show this week, James noted that no one had beaten the Black Knights. In both of their losses this season, the Black Knights had instead beaten themselves. With that in mind, we’ve got just three Keys to Victory for this game, and they’re all about getting back to the basics of Army Football.
Bottom line, Army wins nearly all the time when they can do these three things.
Traditional road threads for Thursday night.
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 24, 2025
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1. Run the Football.
As of this writing, the Black Knights have the nation’s fourth-ranked rushing offense, averaging just over 300 yards/game on 4.4 yards/carry. That’s not bad, but it’s heavily dependent on last week’s 380+ yard rushing performance against North Texas in which the team hit nearly 6 yards/carry.
The Black Knights will have to work to up their average this week. They face an East Carolina squad that currently ranks 20th against the run, having allowed a meager 2.8 yards/carry through their first four games this season. Beyond the numbers, this ECU squad showed last year that they are quite familiar with Army’s scheme. Perhaps the Black Knights will catch a bit of a break because of the short week, but the Pirates came into Michie Stadium ready to play last season. We should expect them to be ready again in 2025.
Army had a lot of success with straight power running plays in their game against Kansas State. Last week, they moved the ball a bit with those same power plays but didn’t really kick it into gear until they’d added a healthy dose of option football between the tackles. This week, we expect they’ll need to play both styles, and that they’ll therefore need a quarterback who can manage that and who’s comfortable running whatever’s working. It’s hard to know what will work against this experienced East Carolina front seven.
For Army to win this game, they have to run the football and control the clock. If they can do that, they’ll at least give themselves a chance no matter what else happens. We’ve seen that all season despite occasionally disastrous turns of events.
Our Call of the Game presented by @USAA is Brady Anderson's 68-yard TD reception from Dewayne Coleman in the fourth quarter last Saturday. pic.twitter.com/5jemPpa0qm
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 24, 2025
2. Stop the Run
ECU QB Katin Houser has thrown accurately this season, hitting a 68.4% completion percentage through the first four games. This is outstanding football! On top of this, we know that the Pirates have a talented and speedy wide receiving corps. Army will match that with its classic soft zone, bend-don’t-break defense that forces throws underneath while attempting to stop the run and then stand tall in the red zone.
Army’s defensive backs will play way back off the ball, so that they don’t get beat deep. That is fine so long as the Black Knights’ linebackers can stop the run. We saw this against Kansas State. However, this defense struggles when the Black Knights cannot stop the run. At that point, they’re giving up first downs with reckless abandon, both through the air and on the ground, allowing teams to drive straight down the field almost unchecked.
If the Black Knights can stop the run and force Houser to throw short repeatedly, they have about a 30% chance of creating a negative play based solely on quarterback inaccuracy, even against a very accurate quarterback. Over the course of a game, that should result in enough punts to give a good running team a decisive advantage in time-of-possession and — eventually — on the scoreboard.
But that only works if Army can stop the run.
This Black Knights defense cannot afford to allow another 5+ yards/carry game to an opposing offense. When they do that, they’re almost guaranteeing a shootout, and the Army offense has struggled to find the consistency it needs to win these kinds of contests.
The good news is that ECU has run for about 3.5 yards/carry so far this season. If Army’s defense can make that work for them, then the Black Knights will have a very real chance to get some stops. With that, they’ll give themselves a chance to at least keep up and eventually take the lead in this game.
Congrats Andon 🫡
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 24, 2025
Thomas named a semifinalist by @NFFNetwork for the William V. Campbell Trophy.
The trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. pic.twitter.com/v2JTSV9XuK
3. Hold Onto the Football.
Army stands 1-2 this season because they’ve had *two* three-turnover games. As James said, no one has been able to beat the Black Knights because they’ve beaten themselves.
ECU has a good team. The Black Knights simply cannot spot them three possessions on short fields and expect to win. The fact that they’ve done this twice and still had chances to win just shows how much talent this year’s Army Team actually has. This week, they simply MUST hold onto the football, successfully manage time-of-possession, and maximize their opportunities. If they can do that, they can win tomorrow night.
Finally Thoughts
Maybe the toughest aspect of this week’s contest will come from playing on a short week after an overtime game in which the offense and defense both played about 80 snaps. We’re only one week removed from a bye, but that’s still a Hell of a lot of wear and tear on the Black Knights’ players. Physical recovery could become a concern, and even more than that, this team needs to focus in order to play its very best football. It’s tough to focus when one is tired.
Your Need To Know heading into Thursday night's kickoff! pic.twitter.com/7mgAk2c9xV
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 23, 2025
This game will by no means be a gimme. However, it’s become a game that the Black Knights need now that they’ve started 1-2. Thankfully, if they can do what they’ve become known for doing in the Monken Era and play their brand of football, they’ve got every chance to get back on the good foot heading into winnable games against UAB and Charlotte.
Speaking personally, I feel good about this game. I believe in this team.
Go Army! Beat East Carolina!!!
Cover image via Lynn Fern Photography.
