Your Army Black Knights host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane tomorrow afternoon with a chance to get bowl-eligible on the line on senior day. This is a big game; we will absolutely need to see this Army Team play its best football this weekend. The team has improved steadily all season, but they have yet to put a complete game together in 2025. The AFF Crew would sure like to see them get it all the way together before they have to travel out to San Antonio.
Our gameday timeline for our final home game of 2025 as we get set to honor our seniors prior to kickoff! pic.twitter.com/r3LuyCMKul
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 20, 2025
Keys to Victory
Tulsa hired Head Coach Tre Lamb in December 2024. That makes Lamb a first-year head coach starting a redshirt freshman quarterback on a young team overall.
Tulsa has a bad record, but they do not have a bad team. The Golden Hurricane currently stands 3-7 overall, but 0-6 in American Conference play. This means that they’ve gone 3-1 in non-conference play. If they played in a different conference, they’d probably be looking for a bowl bid.
Jeff Monken Weekly Press Conference – November 18th, 2025 https://t.co/jtoh0eYmAS
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 18, 2025
Play Smashmouth Football
Tulsa boasts the nation’s 101st ranked rushing defense, allowing 171.3 rushing yards/game on 4.3 yards/carry. Those are not great numbers, but they’re also not terrible, especially on a per-carry basis. Army, by way of comparison, has allowed way less total rushing yardage but about the same yardage per-carry. The biggest difference in these defenses comes via the fact that Tulsa has been much better at getting after the quarterback. The Golden Hurricane has a good secondary, and their D-Line has put up a ton of sacks this season.
This week’s game therefore sets up a lot like last week’s, at least when Army has the football. Tulsa LB Ray Coney leads the team in tackles, but after Coney come safeties Lento Smith, Jr, and Zach Williams. We can expect Tulsa’s defensive ends to get penetration and to attack the backfield, and we can expect their safeties to string out sweeps and pitch plays. However, these same factors should make their defense susceptible to the Fullback Dive and other Inside Zone runs. Basically, any fast-hitting run between the tackles ought to find some success against this particular scheme, especially if they hit a hole where Coney isn’t.
The best part of this Black Knights’ offense is its interior O-Line. Moreover, the current two-deep anticipates a battle that’s heavy on blunt force trauma between the tackles. The team has listed FBs Carson Smith and Jake Rendina, the team’s two biggest bangers, as its starters with the smaller, faster RB Hayden Reed moving back out to the Slot. If Army’s O-Line can again move the line of scrimmage up the middle, the Black Knights should succeed in getting their fullbacks going. This in turn will set up the rest of their offense if Tulsa tries to adjust while giving the Black Knights an excellent chance to win the game overall.
Throwing it back to last Saturday for our Call of the Game presented by @USAA!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 14, 2025
Jake Rendina's second career TD! pic.twitter.com/6K0yDaGZqU
Force Mistakes from a Young Quarterback
Redshirt freshman QB Baylor Hayes followed Coach Trey Lamb over from East Tennessee State, but this is his first year as a full-time starter. He’s been pretty good this season — 155/263 passing for 1,732 yards (58.9%) with 10 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. However, he’s also taken some 21 sacks and lost a couple of fumbles.
Hayes is a talented young player, but like a lot of young players, he tends to make some mistakes. If Army can stop Tulsa’s running game and force Hayes to try to make plays outside of the structure of his team’s offense, the Black Knights will have a good chance of forcing a few more mistakes. If they can generate a few turnovers from this Tulsa team — a team that currently stands 117th in total turnover margin at -7 overall — the Black Knights will have an excellent shot at winning this game.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/ftjwUYRxs2
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 12, 2025
Break a Few Big Plays
The Black Knights have been very good at extending drives through massively long marathon possessions this season. They have the nation’s 4th ranked rushing offense, putting up 261 rushing yards/game, but they average a mere 4.25 yards/carry. This has allowed them to hog the ball this season to an unprecedented extent, but it has also set up a ton of fourth down conversions. Friends, Army has gone for it *42 times* this season in just nine games. The Black Knights have to convert 4 or 5 of these do-or-die downs every single week just to make their offense work!
Army has gotten good at converting on fourth down. That’s the good news. However, their offense would be one Hell of a lot more efficient if they could find a way to be just a touch more explosive, especially in the running game. Running for as little as an additional half-yard/carry more would likely cut the number of fourth down plays that Army needs by as much as 80%.
Friends, the Black Knights need a game where they rush for 300+ yards on 5+ yards/carry. This week, playing at home on Senior Day, they need to find a way to kick it into gear and run with more than just raw power. They need to break a few longer runs in space and put up some damn points. If they can find a way to improve their efficiency on the ground, they’ll win not just this week but going forward as well.
Finally Thoughts
Army needs to win this week. They need to get bowl eligible, they need to send their seniors off on the right note, and damn it, they need to keep getting better as a team heading into the biggest games of the year.
This game sets up nicely to allow these Black Knights to continue improving. If they can do that, the rest of the season will take care of itself.
Go Army! Beat Tulsa!!!
