At certain moments, we’ve all surely felt like we’re living in the craziest timeline this season. The Army Team turned the ball over so much in the opener that they broke a ten-game home winning streak with a loss to an FCS team. A good FCS team to be sure, but still. The Black Knights then rallied to beat freaking K-State at their place in arguably the most “Army” game this team has played in years before turning around and again handing a home game to an opponent off a bunch of unforced turnovers. They then got run the Hell over by ECU, who even scored a touchdown on a fake field goal just to drive the point home. In addition to their turnover problems, this Army Team’s rushing defense has started giving up almost 4.5 yards/carry, and oh by the way, kickoff coverage hasn’t looked good since Week 1. We haven’t seen that particular problem from an Army Team since maybe 2015.
The Black Knights need to improve a lot in 2025, and that’s true on both sides of the ball. And yet, this team has somehow hung in almost every game, and they even *won* what should have been the hardest game on their schedule. So now, even when they’re down 21-0 in the first quarter, this team has shown that it has enough talent and keeps making enough plays to keep us all sitting on the edges of our seats, hoping for a miracle. Even in the ECU game — a game that Army lost in a legitimate blowout — this team was still just two dropped passes and a fumble from making that thing 21-21 or maybe 21-17 heading into the half.
Noah Short’s 60-yard run setup Coleman’s TD 👏pic.twitter.com/TZrULXHnzh
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 26, 2025
They needed three plays for the tie and just two to keep it competitive, and this in a game where they all but got run off the field.
Friends, this Army’s Team’s single most important Key to Victory — this week and every week — is to just Execute Better. No one had Downfield Pass to the Fullback as their would-be Play of the Game last week — twice! — but if the team completes those passes, and they both hit the receiver’s hands, we’d have had a completely different ballgame. On both sides of the ball, we’re not seeing widespread problems with scheme or with coaching. Guys are getting into the right spots to make plays. This season’s problems exist in sheer headspace and timing.
Can this team fix that? Can the Black Knights turn their season around?
Let’s get into it.
Keys to Victory
UAB boasts a high-powered passing attack but a much less well-respected rushing defense. That’s about as much as we could ask for in a week in which the Black Knight either do or die.
1. Establish the Fullback.
Omar said it on the show this week: Fullbacks just haven’t done enough this season. QB Dewayne Coleman has 69 carries. QB Cale Hellums has 67 carries. By comparison, FBs Hayden Reed, Briggs Bartosh, Carson Smith, Jake Rendina, and David Clerk as a unit have just 81 total carries on the year. To put that another way, Army quarterbacks have taken the ball 62% of the time this season, counting passing attempts and sacks.
Army’s triple-option looks about like we might expect without its foundational piece. As a result, Army’s quarterbacks started pressing, especially early in the season, resulting in the same kinds of turnovers we saw over the first half of 2023.
Coleman did a nice job reading the defense against North Texas, and not surprisingly, we saw much better ball distribution in that game. He and Hellums collectively took 32 carries. Reed, Bartosh, and Smith took 30. North Texas struggled to adapt, and overall, the Black Knights ran for 387 yards on 5.7 yards/carry.
Army has seen a few good rushing defenses this season, and in those games, we’ve argued that they needed to just take what the defense gave them. Hellums wasn’t wrong to carry the ball 40 times against K-State. But this week, they face a defense that gives up over 220 rushing yards/game on just over 5 yards/carry. With that, this team needs to get back to basics and establish the fullback.
As with everything else this week, it’s now or never.
Dewayne Coleman punches it in on 4th down!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 26, 2025
Army cuts the lead to 21-6 in the third. pic.twitter.com/Fw3VUQHu7r
2. Generate Turnovers in the Red Zone
UAB has an excellent passing attack led by an outstanding quarterback. QB Jalen Kitna has thrown for big numbers against literally everyone. There’s just no reason to believe that Army’s secondary can shut him down.
If Army’s defense can generate some pressure on the quarterback, that would help a lot. However, the Black Knights’ pass rush hasn’t been much of a force this season. Instead, these guys probably need to play that maddening soft zone that everyone hates, give up passes underneath but not over the top, and do their best to stop the run. With that, they can get into their red zone defense and — perhaps — generate some turnovers.
Like Army, UAB has turned the ball over a decent amount this season. Both teams stand at -3 on the year (112th). There’s an opportunity here, and if the Black Knights can take advantage, they’ll almost certainly win this game.
Eric Ford with the big mitts to get the takeaway!
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 26, 2025
Army forced two turnovers in the 2nd quarter. pic.twitter.com/i1XtRlgm9G
3. Get Off to a Faster Start.
None of this is going to matter if the Black Knights turn the ball over themselves and again get down 21-0 in the first quarter. Or even 13-0 at the half. Instead of starting slow and trying for the miracle, the Black Knights need to actually play their game right from kickoff, hold onto the football, build a lead, and put pressure on the opposing offense to make plays and catch up.
This is how they win. Coming from behind has been way less successful. But if they can get this right, they can probably also get their season turned in the right direction.
Congrats Larry 🫡
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 30, 2025
Pickett Jr. named to the @WittenCMOY Watch List 👏
He is one of 67 recognized for displaying exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship on and off the field.
→ https://t.co/nfj1jG6bDf pic.twitter.com/JeM7QJ8qsA
Finally Thoughts
One other thing that Omar noted on the show this week: because bowl invites go out before Army-Navy, the Black Knights must now win five of their next seven in order to earn a postseason bid. Among other things, they’ll have to beat Air Force on the road in order to play in a bowl game. This is what happens when a team fritters away its early opportunities.
Your Need to Know for Saturday's kickoff in Alabama ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Q2Dm8ehBNd
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 1, 2025
The Black Knights have now used up all of the grace in their schedule. They still have time to turn things around and make this a year to remember, but that absolutely must start this week.
Cheer loud, friends, even from your couch.
Go Army! Beat UAB!!!
