Army delivered the fourth-most productive offensive performance in program history last Saturday against Bryant. The Black Knights piled up 648 total yards, including 569 on the ground. Sixteen players carried the ball, and 11 of them had multiple carries. The offensive line allowed a grand total of zero negative plays. Defensively, Army made 64 tackles, with no individual accounting for more than five. Army punted once for 53 yards, and Dawson Jones went 1-for-2 on field goals; his 54-yard attempt at the end of the half missed left, but he clearly had the distance.
This was a spread-the-love game if there ever was one. The breadth of experience the Black Knights gained against Bryant will be extremely valuable later in the season.
This week Army takes on South Florida. The Bulls won their Week 1 matchup against FIU, 19-9, in a game they were favored to win by two touchdowns.
This Saturday represents the third overall meeting between these Army and USF, though it will be their first matchup in more than two decades. The first two meetings were conference games in 2003 and 2004, and the road team won both times. The Michie Stadium game also played host to ESPN’s College GameDay.
Our first mission of 2026 complete.
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 7, 2026
A season-opening win built on effort and execution.#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/Mn34UEwsYT
South Florida Bulls
USF Head Coach Brian Hartline arrives in Tampa after nine seasons at Ohio State, including time as wide receivers coach and three seasons as offensive coordinator. His tenure there represented one of the most prolific runs of high-end wide receivers in college football history, producing no less than six first-round draft picks.
South Florida Defensive Coordinator Josh Aldridge is plenty familiar with option offenses. He coached against Army as ECU’s DC last year and as Liberty’s DL coach in 2021. He was also Drew Cronic’s DC at Lenoir-Rhyne back in 2018.
Overall, USF has one of the lowest levels of returning production in all of FBS college football. All but sixteen teams returned more defensive production than the Bulls.
Playmakers 👏 pic.twitter.com/U96FRLXO2L
— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) September 6, 2026
Offense
South Florida did not explore its bench depth much against FIU. The Bulls ran the ball 38 times between three players, including QB Michael Van Buren Jr. Even when discounting Van Buren’s rushing attempts, the running back duo of Jason Collins Jr. and D.J. Crowther averaged just 3.3 yards per attempt. Beyond that, Van Buren went 11/18 through the air for just 100 yards and found just two receivers more than once — Arhmad Branch and Bryson Rodgers. In total, FIU outgained USF by 173 yards.
The Bulls’ offensive line allowed seven TFLs, including a four-yard sack. Those negative plays, combined with multiple incompletions and penalties, stunted most of the USF’s offensive drives. South Florida’s lone touchdown came on a 35-yard drive off a FIU turnover in their own end. However, the Bulls failed to gain more than 40 yards on any of their offensive possessions. The offense’s saving grace was that all 13 of its fourth-quarter points came off of FIU turnovers. None of their points came from sustained drives.
Defense
The construction of this defense is the epitome of modern college football. The Bulls lost four starters to bigger schools via the Transfer Portal. Another six exhausted their eligibility. That means there is exactly one returning starter in CB Tavin Ward. He represents 23 of the 28 total starts that current USF’s starting defensive players have made for the program.
The Bulls did manage to bring in a bit of talent through the Portal themselves. But USF will have to find a way to work together against an option offense in just their second game. The starting defense now has two transfers from Florida, one each from Rutgers, West Virginia, Norfolk State, and Kansas State, and five returning players, only two of whom have made actual starts for the Bulls.
USF will have the advantage of having Army early enough in the season that their offseason triple-option preparation should still be fresh. However, playing disciplined, assignment football with just sixty minutes of collective experience as a unit will be no easy task.
W by the 📊 pic.twitter.com/TbbjQE2q3P
— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) September 8, 2026
Special Teams
K Nico Gramatica went 4/4 on field goals this past week, including a long of 53 yards. He’s in his second year as the starting placekicker and already has a career long of 58 yards! Granted, his father is a former NFL great Martin Gramatica, a pro kicker and soccer player of no small renown. P Luke Goater averaged 47 yards on 4 punts last week after averaging 36 yards/punt last season.
Your @American_Conf Special Teams Player of the Week 👏 pic.twitter.com/qfuvx90uCw
— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) September 7, 2026
Key Takeaways
Despite the challenges USF faces, this team possesses a lot of raw talent that arrived in Tampa from Power 4 schools. The task for Coach Hartline, then, is to fit those pieces together in a way that can successfully stop a triple-option attack. Notably, DC Josh Aldridge held Army to just six points last year when he was at ECU. But that ECU team had a lot of starts overall, and perhaps more importantly, they had a lot more starts together as a unit.
On defense, Army will have to rely on the experience of their defensive line to give the new linebackers more time to grow. Army DL Jack Bousum left the Bryant game and returned in a boot last Saturday. He walked off under his own power, but even if he is ready for Saturday, fans will have to wait and see how effective he can be. His loss would be a bad one ahead of what we should expect will be a physical, run-heavy contest.
Final Thoughts
Not including the COVID season, this is the first time Army has started a season with consecutive home games since 2017. That’s great now, but we might want some of those home games back come late October. Still, it’s always nice to be at Michie Stadium when it’s warm enough that you don’t need to worry about a parka or sled dogs.
Congrats to LTG James Bartholomees on getting his first Army Football win as the 62nd Superintendent of @WestPoint_USMA 👏👏👏#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/pmPPZU0bBe
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 7, 2026
This week’s game will kick off in the standard noon time slot on CBS Sports Network. As usual, the Varsity App is the place to go for radio. If you want the best gameday chat around, come join us in the Firstie Club. Check it out; the water’s fine!
Here’s hoping for another big week from the Black Knights.
Go Army! Beat USF!!!
