Well friends, it all comes down to this. After dropping a winnable game at home on Senior Day to an otherwise forgettable Tulsa team, your Army Black Knights now have exactly one last chance to earn their sixth win in time to qualify for a bowl game. To do so, they’ll have to win on the road in the Alamodome against a suddenly red hot Roadrunners team from UTSA.
Can Army finally put a complete game together and earn a postseason bid?
Let’s get into it.
Traveling to the Lone Star State for a Saturday matchup. pic.twitter.com/wZTPvIkqUo
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 24, 2025
UTSA Roadrunners
Like the Black Knights, the Roadrunners have been up and down this season. UTSA opened the year with a respectable loss on the road against what we now know is a very talented Texas A&M team. The Roadrunners then lost a shocker at home to Texas State, 43-36. Wins against Incarnate Word and at Colorado State followed, but UTSA then dropped another winnable game on the road at Temple. They then beat Rice, got blown out at North Texas, recovered by beating the HELL out of Tulane in the Dome, and then got blown out again at South Florida before winning their last two, a road contest at Charlotte followed by a monster home win against a very good team from ECU this past weekend. With last weekend’s win, they became bowl eligible.
UTSA doesn’t necessarily travel well. However, they play excellent football at home. In fact, the Roadrunners haven’t lost a home conference game since way back in 2019, years before they joined the American Conference.
But.
Exactly one team in the FBS has had something like sustained success on the road in the Alamodome, and it’s Head Coach Jeff Monken’s Army Black Knights. Army won in the Dome in 2020 led by then plebe quarterbacks Tyhier Tyler and Cade Ballard. They won there again with their infamous Shotgun Option offense in 2023 behind then cow-QB Bryson Daily.
Army comes into this game as a decided underdog, but of all the teams in the American Conference, the Black Knights have reason to believe they can win in San Antonio.
𝓖𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓑𝓸𝔀𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 🎳#210TriangleOfToughness | #210wned pic.twitter.com/ka2klCxrvU
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) November 23, 2025
Offense
Though they’re not as consistent now as they were during the Frank Harris years, UTSA’s offense has improved a lot from where they finished last season. QB Owen McCown has gone 232/342 this year for 2,434 yards (67.8%) with 25 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions and 14 sacks. Notably, he’s played much better down the stretch than he did through the middle part of the season. Moreover, UTSA boasts arguably the best running game in the American, led by RBs Robert Henry Jr. and Will Henderson III. These guys went off for 201 rushing yards on every bit of 5.4 yards/carry last week against ECU. Friends, ECU’s rushing defense has been way, WAY better than Army’s this season.
McCown spreads the ball around to lots of different receivers. WRs Devin McCuin and David Amador II lead the team with 90+ catches collectively for about 10 yards/catch. Together, they have 11 receiving touchdowns. WR AJ Wilson has emerged as UTSA’s downfield threat. He’s caught another 25 balls for about 18.5 yards/catch and also has 4 touchdowns. UTSA’s top two tight ends, Houston Thomas and Patrick Overmyer, add another 51 catches collectively alongside another 4 receiving touchdowns.
All of this promises to put enormous stress on Army’s secondary. This creates a problem because the Black Knights’ front seven hasn’t been able to consistently stop opponents from running the football. Instead, Army’s defense has bent and then broken with alarming regularity. The Black Knights might not give up a lot of big plays through the air, but that won’t matter if the Roadrunners can rush for 5+ yards/carry. Indeed, Army’s current defense ranks 126th in the FBS in third down conversions allowed, allowing opponents to convert more than 40% of their attempts. More than any other factor, it’s these defensive failures that have cost them games this season.
Upon further review… Touchdown ‼️
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) November 22, 2025
What a catch, DJ Allen 🙌#210TriangleOfToughness | #210wned | #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/62fCxoWY5Y
Defense
UTSA has a good rushing defense, though they’ve not been remotely as good as they were last season. The Roadrunners have given up 147.5 rushing yards/game on 4.25 yards/carry, and they’ve allowed 14 rushing touchdowns. That’s respectable, especially on a per-game basis. However, UTSA often boasts a top ten rushing defense. They had one last year. This isn’t that.
LB Shad Banks, Jr., leads the team with 74 tackles, 46 solo, plus a sack, a pass defensed, 3 interceptions, a forced fumble, and 3 fumble recoveries. Dude has had a solid season. Moreover, three of UTSA’s top five tacklers are linebackers while the other two are safeties. This is about what you’d expect from a team that’s mostly pretty good at stopping the run. As a defense, they’ve got 21 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 10 forced fumbles with 7 recoveries.
On the whole, Army has faced better rushing defenses this season and made it work. However, UTSA should match-up well enough if their offense can find sustained success against the Black Knights’ defense. Army’s offense might succeed in holding the ball and dominating time-of-possession, but that’s hardly guaranteed. Moreover, they’ve never scored enough points to win shootout-type games in 2025.
Shad Banks had 10 tackles, a pick six and a fumble recovery and Will Henderson registered his second straight 100-yard game on the ground, as UTSA secured bowl eligibility with a 58-24 win over East Carolina.#210TriangleOfToughness | #210wned https://t.co/hSMvTmzlc0
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) November 23, 2025
Special Teams
PK Michael Petro has gone a perfect 47/47 on extra points this year but just 14/17 on field goals. He has a pair of misses from 30+ and a from 40+ yards out as well.
Army will face another excellent punter this week. P Calie Hogan averaged 46.5 yards/punt last week against ECU and dropped two of his four punts inside the 20 without allowing a touchback.
Final Thoughts
Army-UTSA has become a favorite tertiary rivalry for both fanbases over the past few years. This is now the second year in a row that the Black Knights will close their season against the Roadrunners on Rivalry Weekend. If this game doesn’t have quite the juice of an Army-Navy or even Army-Air Force, it still matters quite a lot to all involved. The game has real stakes, too.
Can Army match-up against this talented UTSA team on the road in Military City, USA?
In games in which the Black Knights have played well, they’ve tackled well and therefore stopped the run. We saw this against K-State, Tulane, and in the second half against both Temple and ECU. When Army has lost winnable games, however, they’ve missed a bunch of tackles — as many as twenty each against Tarleton State, North Texas, and Tulsa. The biggest predictor of the Black Knights’ success therefore comes via the play of the senior captain middle linebackers. When those captains play well, the team plays well. When they don’t, the team struggles.
We’ll see how they look this week.
The line on this game opened at Army (+6.5) but has since slid a point to Army (+7.5). Speaking personally, I would take the Roadrunners to cover if I had to place a bet, but Army certainly could pull off the upset. They’ve done it before in the Alamodome — twice — both times in similar situations. The Over/Under opened at 49.5 but has since risen to 52.5. That one I wouldn’t touch.
Army at UTSA kicks at 3:30 pm Eastern on ESPN+. You can also catch the radio call on the Varsity Network. Here’s hoping the Black Knights can finish strong and head into Army-Navy with some real momentum.
Go Army! Beat UTSA!!!
