Friends, your Army Black Knights seemed to find their rhythm over the past two weeks. Granted, it helps playing teams with a combined record of 3-9, but even within that context, they’ve looked a lot better than they did earlier in the year. Their defense has allowed just four touchdowns in the last eleven quarters of play, and their offense has been able to establish the Fullback Dive, develop their new starting quarterback within their unique offensive system, and even hit a few explosive plays at opportune moments.
We said on the show this past week that this Army Team finally looks ready for bigger and better things, and that’s convenient because that’s exactly what they face this week. This week, the Black Knights travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane at their place in a big-time match-up that both teams badly need to win.
Your Need to Know as the Black Knights travel down to New Orleans for a Noon kick on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/usxUzniBzQ
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 15, 2025
Tulane Green Wave
Tulane comes into this week 5-1, 2-0 in the American Conference, with their only loss coming on the road at then #13, now #5 Ole Miss. The Green Wave beat Northwestern and Duke handily earlier in the year and have seemingly only struggled on the road. Even then, the worst we can say is that their game against a mediocre South Alabama squad unaccountably went down to the wire. Tulane still won that game, 33-31. More to the point, the Green Wave beat ECU last Thursday night, meaning that they will have had extra time to both rest and to prepare heading into this weekend’s contest.
Offense
Former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff leads a decidedly run-heavy offensive attack that has only just found its rhythm in the passing game. Retzlaff has gone 94/161 passing this season for 1,167 yards (58.4%) and 4 touchdowns against just 5 sacks. He also leads the team in rushing with 388 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns on just 62 carries (6.3 yards/carry!). Frankly, he’s had to run a lot because up until the ECU game, he hadn’t been particularly effective within Tulane’s passing scheme. This perhaps owes to the reality that he joined his new team late after getting forced out at BYU. However, he looked like a different player last week, going 26/36 through the air for 347 yards (72.2%!) and 2 touchdowns in a game in which Tulane ran for just 96 yards.
When they hit it, Tulane’s downfield passing attack kills, especially given how good their rushing offense has been this season.
Besides Retzlaff, there’s not just one key guy on Tulane’s offense. RBs Javin Gordon and Arnold Barnes III lead the Green Wave ground game; each guy averages about 4.5 yards/carry. Several more backs have seen meaningful carries this year. Similarly, WRs Omari Hayes, Shazz Preston, and Bryce Bohanon each have between 15 and 19 catches, while a host of guys have somewhere between 4 and 10 catches. This includes two separate tight ends.
Tulane’s offense doesn’t necessarily put up points in bunches, but they do everything at least reasonably well, including maintaining time of possession. They also have enough talent to adapt to whatever defenses throw at them. ECU kept last week’s game close by using their red zone defense to force field goals, and we suspect that Army will have to take this same approach.
.@jretz11 has been named a @ManningAward Star of the Week! #UptownFootball pic.twitter.com/Z0hh4rDRpu
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) October 13, 2025
Defense
The current Tulane defense has not been as good as they were last year. They’re allowing about 150 rushing yards/game (80th) on just under 4.2 yards/carry. Typically, we would expect the Black Knights to be able to make something with that. More to the point, the Green Wave let ECU come back on them and even take the lead in a game they’d been winning, 12-0, once the Pirates got serious about running the football. Despite having an at-best inconsistent rushing offense, ECU put up 160 yards rushing last week on 3.7 yards/carry. They got damned-near all of that in the second half.
S Jack Tchienchou leads his team in tackles with 39, 23 solo, plus 1 sack and 2 passes defensed. In fact, two of Tulane’s top four tacklers are safeties. That’s not ideal, and indeed, Tulane currently stands 113th in defensive 3rd down percentage, allowing opponents to convert 44% of the time. Tulane has also committed more penalties than almost any other team in the nation, averaging 80 penalty yards/game (132nd).
Tulane makes up for their defensive shortcomings by forcing sacks and turnovers. They have 14 sacks this season and stand 8th in turnover margin at +6. On the season, this team has forced 6 interceptions and recovered 5 fumbles.
Special Teams
PK Patrick Durkin has gone 16/17 on extra points this season but has been a perfect 13/13 on field goals. He’s even hit a long field goal from 50+ yards. Similarly, P Alec Clark hit a couple of 50+ yard punts against ECU.
Your @American_Conf Special Teams Player of the Week, @PatrickDurkin24! #UptownFootball pic.twitter.com/OW1pREU3TL
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) October 13, 2025
Three Keys to Victory over the Green Wave
With apologies, the AFF Crew has had quite a busy week, so we’re combining this week’s Keys with our regular Game Preview.
Control the Line of Scrimmage on Offense
Both teams will attempt to control the ball and therefore time-of-possession this weekend. A shootout seems likely so long as Army can run the ball with power and avoid turnovers. We’ve seen them do that several times this season, and at least based on the numbers, they should be able to do it against Tulane, too.
Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen the Black Knights work to get their fullbacks going. This week, though, it feels like we might see a lot more Quarterback Power with Cale Hellums, setting up some Run-Pass Option (RPO) rollouts in the passing game. Regardless, the O-Line will need to do its thing against Tulane’s talented D-Line to give the Black Knights a chance. From there, we’ll need Army’s skill position players to execute with the kind of precision we’ve seen the last two weeks.
Our Offensive Line is among 24 units named to the @JoeMooreAward Midseason Honor Roll 🫡
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 16, 2025
The award recognizes the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit in College Football.
→https://t.co/nzOPrR0lqY pic.twitter.com/ucFDq3hnCv
Contain QB Jake Retzlaff
Retzlaff has been a better runner than passer this season, but now that he’s established in Tulane’s offense, he’s become a legit dual threat. Army’s secondary can play off the ball and hopefully contain the deep passing threat, but that only works if the Black Knights can contain the Green Wave running game. In particular they need to maintain disciplined rushing lanes, keeping Retzlaff in the pocket. If Retzlaff starts running all over the place, he’ll also start throwing all over the place, and then it will be all but impossible to get this Tulane offense off the field. However, Army has a chance if they can contain Retzlaff, force him to drive methodically down to the red zone, and then play good red zone defense.
Sunday Victory Frames 📸
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 12, 2025
Capitalize on Mistakes, Don’t Make Them
Tulane has an incredibly talented football team. However, they’re not the most disciplined squad in college football, and even in games they’ve won, they’ve been prone to mistakes. If Army can hold onto the football and play solid defense, they’ll have a chance to profit from Tulane’s inevitable penalties. The Green Wave have also put the ball on the ground four times this season, so perhaps Army can also force a fumble or two. Regardless, Army matches up reasonably well with this particular Tulane team so long as the Black Knights can play clean football, avoid turnovers themselves, and take advantage when the Green Wave fails to do the same.
We made last Saturday ours.
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 16, 2025
We set the tone at Michie and finished with the W.
🎥 Game 6 Victory Reel ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/7Bmct21B7B
Final Thoughts
The line on this game opened at Army (-12.5) but has since moved in the Black Knights’ favor. However, lots of pro bettors seem to hate the Black Knights this season, mostly because of the way they played early in the year. This is not unfair. Army has a chance in this game because they’ve developed as a team through the first half of the season. That reality hardly ensures victory, but it remains true.
This team has always reminded us of the 2023 team, down to the kinds of mistakes they made early this season, and if that’s the case, then we should expect a strong second half this year. Certainly, Army looks improved over the last few weeks, and not just because of the opponents they’ve played. They’re doing things now — running the Midline Option with Cale Hellums, pulling with their tackles, and stopping opposing rushing offenses — that they flat couldn’t do earlier in the year. Football teams grow and change in ways that pure statistics can’t always show.
We might get an interesting game weather-wise. Forecasts call for cloudy, humid conditions with temperatures in the low to mid-80s. We’ve got a slight chance of rain alongside a significant chance for up to 15 mph of wind. That might make both downfield passing and long field goals tricky. We’ll see.
As of this writing, just 3% of Tulane’s Yulman Stadium seating remains unsold. However, the get-in price still sits at just $10, and sideline seats remain available near the middle of the field under the press box for as little as $31. Might we see a heavy Army fan presence this week? Google Maps puts Tulane about four hours from Fort Polk and just six hours from Houston, where fully 10% of West Point’s Association of Graduates make their home.
Just landed in NOLA. Giving my phone a quick charge. Grabbed a beer from the gift shop because in NOLA airport that’s the rule. Live jazz band playing a few feet away. Gonna be a great weekend.
— Sam Houston (@Shenendoah6) October 16, 2025
GO ARMY! BEAT Tulane! pic.twitter.com/13sYOk0h3W
Friends, none of the pros expect the Black Knights to win this week, but we’ve got an unaccountably good feeling about this game here at AFF Central. We expect Coach Monken will have his team fired up and ready to go. If you’re going yourself, cheer loud and represent.
Kickoff goes at noon on ESPNU.
Go Army! Beat Tulane!!!
