Friends, your Army Black Knights beat the Air Force Falcons yesterday in one of the most heart-stoppingly exciting contests we’ve ever seen. Generally, when your team forces three turnovers in a Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy game, you’d like to win with a little more breathing room than we saw yesterday. But a win is a win, especially in a rivalry game, and most especially in one that saw as many changes in momentum as this one did.
Honestly, what an incredible finish!
FIGHT ON TO VICTORY! FOR THAT'S THE FEARLESS ARMY WAY!#GoArmy #BeatAirForce pic.twitter.com/twOMJrCzk0
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 1, 2025
Coming into this one, we thought Army would need to play the way they play most of their conference games. Run the ball, run the clock, and limit Air Force’s time-of-possession and overall offensive opportunities. But this was not what we saw this week in any way. Instead, Army’s offense struggled at times, going three-and-out three times and turning the ball over on downs in a crucial four-and-out on their own 24 yard line when a first down would have iced the game.
Incredibly, Army hit way more explosive plays this week than Air Force did on both sides of the ball. Air Force outgained the Black Knights 335 yards to 295 and held onto the ball for a whopping 34:04, gassing Army’s defense through the third quarter with back-to-back 11- and 12-play drives that ate up damn-near all of that third period.
But execution and resilience both matter a lot in college football, and this Army Team answered every time Air Force got anything like momentum. Army’s defense played their bend-don’t-break style, giving up yards between the twenties but forcing *3* turnovers when it counted, either in or down near the red zone. They repeatedly kept the Zoomies off the board despite Air Force putting together otherwise promising-looking drives. Likewise, the Army offense answered with their own 13-play, 8-minute drive to start the fourth quarter after those two long Zoomie drives had pushed the Black Knights’ defense to its limit. That crucial drive put the Black Knights back in front on the scoreboard and rested their defense for the fourth quarter.
Army even answered in the game’s final ninety seconds when Air Force got a miracle stop on 4th-and-1 deep in Army territory and then scored a quick touchdown to tie the game at 17-17. An incredible momentum swing! But the Black Knights managed the two-minute drill perfectly, setting themselves up to hit a potentially long field goal before throwing a deep post to make that field goal a whole Hell of a lot easier.
Whew!
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This game set up a lot like last year’s Air Force game in the sense that the Zoomies again got off to a rough start this season, but they’ve since rebounded strongly. In 2024, they played their best game at Michie Stadium coming out of their bye and then went on to win their next four straight to close that season 5-7 overall. This year’s Air Force team started similarly, if mostly better on the stats sheet. But this 2025 team also started their turnaround early, getting a win two weeks ago at home against Wyoming. So this year’s match-up, on the road against a confident, rapidly improving Air Force team, was always going to be the tougher of these two games.
Don’t be surprised if the Zoomies continue playing better football down the stretch. They’ll have to win out to make a bowl game, but they have every chance of pulling that off. They play at San Jose State, at UConn, at home versus New Mexico, and then at Colorado State on Black Friday. As we said, they made that work last year.
Regardless, for Army to stop that team’s momentum cold and get a win on the road… Friends, that is not easy. Air Force is not an easy place to play at any time, and this Army Team has a LOT of young players all over the place.
The @ArmyWP_Football defense forces another turnover and this one couldn't have come at a better time for them. pic.twitter.com/oEHTHgUW9S
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 1, 2025
Consider who made the plays this week. On offense, QB Cale Hellums is a cow. FB Briggs Bartosh is a yearling. WR Brady Anderson is a yearling. All the team’s tight ends are cows or yearlings. C Brady Small is, incredibly, still a cow. On defense, standout NT Kody Harris Miller is a cow. DE Jack Bousum is a yearling. CB Cole Searight is a yearling. Even PK Dawson Jones is a yearling.
These guys all stepped up and made it happen with the game on the line. Sure, the team has some senior leadership, especially at linebacker and safety. But this Black Knights team rolled out a lot more than just a bunch of firsties this week. And in high leverage, gotta have it situations, we saw young guys make the plays that won this game.
In fact, the Black Knights played very well this week overall. Army’s defense held an incredibly explosive Air Force attack to just 174 yards rushing on 3.5 yards/carry. No one has gotten remotely close to that this season. The Black Knights also forced two picks and a sack fumble, and I think they also tipped a critical chip shot field goal to force that thing wide. QB Cale Hellums finished 5/9 passing (55.5%) for 102 yards and a touchdown, and he carried for 98 yards on a respectable 3.8 yards/carry. He missed a read or two, and he overthrew a couple of deep routes, but he didn’t turn the ball over. He also hit a deep shot to SB Noah Short for a touchdown as well as a deep post to Anderson with the game on the line to set up the winning field goal. Meanwhile, Briggs Bartosh looked incredible at fullback. Dude finished with 11 carries for 74 yards (6.7 yards/carry), including one 38-yard run that set up Army’s touchdown pass.
Are there things to correct this week?
Hell yes.
But this team came to play, and they made clutch plays every time they needed them. The Black Knights have a young team, especially on offense, and like Air Force, they’re improving every week. In this case, they’re improving faster than Air Force. As fans, we now get to celebrate this win and look forward to the rest of the season. Enjoy it!
No better feeling than SINGING SECOND! pic.twitter.com/uOgY0zm424
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 1, 2025
Let’s finish by noting that despite TV commentary to the contrary, Army has in fact been OUTSTANDING in two-minute situations this season. They scored a critical touchdown in two-minute against K-State. They scored a field goal to end the half on the road at UAB. They scored a field goal in two-minute last week to end the first half against Tulane. And they set up the winning field goal this week with something like twenty-two seconds remaining on the play-clock and a timeout in their pocket despite having to drive the length of the field. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the only time this team has failed to score in two-minute all season came two weeks ago with maybe thirty seconds remaining and no time-outs at Tulane. Even then, the Black Knights got close enough to throw up a Hail Mary.
I get that people think that the Black Knights don’t throw the ball very well. On the season, Hellums has gone 19/37 passing (51.4%) for just 274 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick. However, he’s taken just two sacks this season, and he scrambles at least as well as you might expect a running quarterback to scramble. He also throws well on the run, and over the past month or so, he’s done an excellent job taking care of the football. With that, the Black Knights have become quite good at managing these late-game situations.
So. Uninformed opinions to the contrary, Army can and should consider running that hurry-up style a little more often. They’ve become quite good at it.
CLUTCH from Hellums letting it go deep to Anderson to setup the winning FG 😤 https://t.co/X98DeRtoqZ pic.twitter.com/0aCtiqDlJ6
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 1, 2025
Looking Forward
Army faces a vastly improved Temple team (5-4, 3-2 in the American Conference) next week at Michie Stadium. Temple beat UTSA and took Navy to the limit a few weeks ago, seemingly announcing themselves to the conference in a big way. However, they also let Tulsa come back on them last week to force overtime, and this week, they lost to ECU, 45-14, in a game in which they let the Pirates run for 358 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns on a whopping 7.0 yards/carry. They also let the Pirates hold the Temple rushing attack to just 82 yards on 2.7 yards/carry. With that, the wheels came off their offense. Even in the Navy game, where they played very well overall, they still gave up a whopping 6.6 yards/carry, including a mind-boggling 51-yard touchdown run by Navy QB Blake Horvath on 4th-and-1 with just 39 seconds remaining in regulation.
Don’t fool yourself. The Black Knights have drawn a tough match-up this week. But they’re playing at home against a team that’s given up its share of rushing yardage this season. They’ve got to find a way to make that work.
We’ve got a sold out game this weekend, friends. Let’s get loud as Hell and keep the good vibes rolling.
Go Army! Beat Temple!!!
