The Black Knights got a good-looking home win against FCS Bryant last weekend. However, they’ll face a much tougher opponent this week. The University of South Florida Bulls come to Michie Stadium this weekend, and they have a ton of talent on their roster. If Army wants to win again this weekend, they’ll have to hit hard, play fundamentally sound, and find a way to generate some explosive plays when the opportunities present themselves.
This Bulls team has a lot of potential. One week ago, their defense held Florida International to just 80 yards rushing and to nine total points. They forced three turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble — along with two turnovers on downs and another five tackles-for-loss. By the end of the game, FIU had gained plenty of yardage, but they came away with almost nothing to show for it.
Will the Black Knights do better?
We’ve got five Keys to Victory this week to tell us how they can get it done.
ICYMI: ITS GAME WEEK ON POST!
— Army A Club (@ArmyAClub) September 9, 2026
⚔️The Black Knights host USF after a 59-3 season opening win!#GoArmy | #BeatUSF | #DutyHonorCountry pic.twitter.com/ZQqe7dXUiB
Keys to Victory: Five Ways to Beat the Bulls
Stop the Run
This Bulls offense has a lot of talent, but the team’s players haven’t yet gotten on the same page. They struggled to move the ball last week at home against FIU, putting up just 208 yards of total offense. QB Michael Van Buren Jr. went 11/18 passing (61.1%), but he threw for only 100 yards. USF Head Coach Brian Hartline is known for his dynamic passing offenses and for being a wide receiver guru, and we know he’s recruited some dudes for his system, so at some point, this offense ought to explode. However, they haven’t yet started hitting their deep shots.
USF will want to work their running game to both set up those downfield shots and to take pressure off of their new quarterback while he’s still trying to find his rhythm. Indeed, they ran the ball 38 times last week for exactly this purpose. They stuck with the run despite gaining just 2.8 yards/carry. If Army can continue to stop the run this week, they’ll put the pressure back on Van Buren, forcing him out of his comfort zone and hopefully into some mistakes.
If Army’s defense can keep the Bulls’ running game bottled up and get after their quarterback, this won’t be the week USF’s offense gets on track. With that, the Black Knights will give themselves an excellent chance to win this game.
Your Need to Know heading into our @American_Conf opener against South Florida on Saturday. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/1EyeNOEJ4b
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 9, 2026
Sustain the Outside Running Game
Army got its pitch game going this past weekend, setting up SB Zach Mundell for his first ever 100-yard game. As we noted on this week’s AFF Army Football Show, the team took about 55% of their runs between the tackles but gained more than 60% on their yardage on the outside. If they can sustain that outside success, this offense will be very hard to stop.
But. South Florida will have seen last week’s game tape, and if they learned anything, it’ll be that Option Pitch plays kill. The Bulls will be looking for the pitch, and even if it works a few times, it just won’t be there all game like it was last week. The Black Knights will therefore need to find more ways to get to the perimeter than just off the option. Whether that’s using the Shovel Pass Sweep we saw a few times last week or with the Rocket Toss or just by using power running off-tackle with good blocking, Army can’t afford to get too focused on pounding inside.
Honestly, with the way last week’s game played out, we’re expecting to see a healthy dose of Quarterback Keepers from QB Cale Hellums this week, especially early in the game. However, if the Black Knights want to sustain offensive success for four full quarters, they’ll need to continue using the full power of their triple-option offense. If they can continue getting the ball outside and thus get some explosive plays on the ground, they’ll have an excellent chance to pull ahead early and win this game down the stretch.
Our Call of the Game presented by @USAA is Cale Hellums' 37-yard rushing TD that put us up 21-0 in the first quarter 🫡#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/sVNCjtA6az
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 9, 2026
Throw the First Punch
We’ve heard all week about how USF has better athletes than Army. The Bulls have a ton of Power 4 transfers, many of whom were four-star recruits coming out of high school. In their own minds, these guys were and still are kings. By comparison, Army has *no* four-star recruits, and if Center Brady Small is playing at an All-American level, he’s also the best player on the team, potentially by a wide margin.
Friends, if we’ve heard this, you know for damn sure that USF has heard it. And if they’ve undoubtedly heard it in the context of, “You have to take these guys seriously because they’re a good team, even though individually they’re a bunch of bums,” every player on South Florida’s roster still has to be feeling pretty confident right now.
These guys suck, they’re thinking. Whatever else happens, *I* can win my individual match-ups easily.
But many of these same South Florida players only just transferred into the program. It didn’t work out wherever they were before, and — perhaps subliminally — they’ve got to be wondering if maybe it’s not going to work out again.
That’s a lot to process for a twenty- or twenty-one-year-old kid. Sure, it’s easy to shut out the noise when things go well. But that same noise can get pretty loud when things start to go badly.
This is why Army needs to throw the first punch this weekend.
If the Black Knights come out and straight-up out-work the Bulls in the early going, they have every chance of creating a crisis of confidence — potentially an existential crisis of confidence — in guys who haven’t quite found their rhythm in their new surroundings just yet.
Indeed, we’ve seen this before. Army smoked FAU two years ago only a week after the Owls went toe-to-toe with Michigan State. The Owls never recovered. That same year, we saw a physically superior Tulane team come into Michie Stadium and implode under an early onslaught from the Black Knights.
Friends, if this Army Team can hit first and hit hard, they’ll have an excellent shot at winning this game.
Pics from Mike K. Heit’s Photobook at this past Saturday’s game. The full gallery is up on our Patreon page.
Win in the Trenches
Army’s offensive line is arguably the best unit on the team, so if the Black Knights can’t win there, then they ought to struggle overall. However, we rarely think of their defensive line as a true team strength. D-Linemen tend to be the biggest, fastest, most athletic players on the field, and with that, they can be very hard to recruit to the United States Military Academy.
This year, though, the Black Knights have an experienced D-Line with a bunch of legit dudes. These guys are more than capable of getting penetration and getting after the quarterback. If the Black Knights’ D-Line can do that, they’ll let their new starting linebackers smash USF’s running game, setting the team up to win this weekend’s game, potentially by a wide margin.
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
Hold Onto the Football
USF’s offense didn’t look great in Week 1, but the Bulls got enough short fields via turnovers on downs, fumbles, and interceptions that they were able to score 19 points and pull away late in an otherwise close contest. Meanwhile, the Bulls didn’t turn the ball over at all themselves, meaning that they came away +3 on turnover margin.
This was their key to victory over FIU.
Turnovers provide arguably USF’s best chance to win again this week. We know that. We also know that the Black Knights cannot afford to beat themselves. The Army Team needs to hold onto the football, make good reads and safe throws, and give their playmakers a chance to make some plays when the opportunities present themselves. If they can do that, they’ll have a truly excellent chance to win tomorrow afternoon.
Know before you go with our Gameday Guide for our game against South Florida on Saturday!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 10, 2026
Information on parking, shuttles and activities leading into kickoff.
→ https://t.co/si6wQAmx98#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/Im8TxV5AWE
Final Thoughts
We should be in for an excellent football game this weekend. USF has a talented team that’s still learning to work together, and because they’re very likely to figure it out at some point this season, these early-season games have become incredibly important to their overall conference standing. The Black Knights cannot afford to let these guys figure it out in real time tomorrow afternoon. They need to strike first, keep the Bulls off-balance, and win at every level.
How good is this Army Team? We’ll start to find out tomorrow.
Go Army! Beat USF!!!
