Army Football is on something like an all-time high, at least as far as the modern era is concerned. The team now sits 4-0, having hit that mark for the first time since 2021. If that’s not enough, they’re also now tied with Mizzou for the nation’s longest winning streak with eight wins in a row.
The secret is out!
Yes, Army Football is really good this year.
Friends, Army is rolling hot. However, fans would do well to remember that the hot start we saw in 2021 next saw the team unaccountably drop a road loss at then 1-3 Ball State in their fifth game that year. That Ball State squad proved to be a middling team out of the MAC that struggled mightily to get to 6-6 before dropping a blowout loss to Georgia State in the Camellia Bowl.
Nothing in college football is guaranteed. For Army to keep winning — and to keep pace with a suddenly red hot Navy team — the Black Knights will need to continue improving week-to-week. Tusla, this week’s opponent, has not had a great season thus far, but they might still be the best team Army will have faced this year.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Now in his second year with the program, Tulsa Head Coach Kevin Wilson has his squad 2-3 (0-1 in the AAC) heading into Week 6. The Golden Hurricane started the year with a good-looking win over FCS Northwestern State but then lost a close game at Arkansas State, 28-24, and in blowout fashion at home to then #13 Oklahoma State, 45-10. They bounced back at La. Tech in Week 4 to win, 23-20, in overtime but then regressed again just this past Saturday at North Texas, losing 52-20.
When Tulsa has been competitive, they’ve been able to maintain a balanced rushing and passing attack and a solid rushing defense. When things get out of hand, though, they tend to get way out of hand.
Run it back. Game 4 mixtape 📼#ReignCane pic.twitter.com/gFJhnt4ZUA
— Tulsa Football (@TulsaFootball) September 26, 2024
Offense
Tulsa runs a standard collegiate read-option rushing attack that they use to set up explosive plays in the passing game. On the season, this team has 180 passing attempts against 182 rushes. That’s notable considering that this team has been in three blowouts this season and on the receiving end twice.
QB Kirk Francis has started the year 90/154 passing for 980 yards (58.4%) with 6 touchdowns against 4 interceptions and 4 sacks. He’s also got 9 carries for 54 yards after adjusting for sack yardage. Francis hasn’t been particularly accurate this season, but he’s hit a few deep balls for big yardage, and though he’s a capable runner, he’s run just enough to keep defenses honest.
RBs Anthony Watkins, Bill Jackson, and Lloyd Avant all have a decent number of rushing attempts. Collectively, this trio has carried 123 times for almost 586 yards (4.8 yards/carry). Watkins also has three rushing touchdowns plus four receptions for 47 yards.
WR Kamdyn Benjamin leads the team in both receiving yards and receptions by a huge margin. Benjamin has caught 32 balls for 427 yards and 2 touchdowns. WR Zion Steptoe comes next with just 9 catches for 109 yards.
Despite punting 10 times against La. Tech, Tulsa has actually been quite good on 3rd down this season. The team has converted 31/78 attempts (39.7%), good for a respectable 71st overall in the FBS. However, Tulsa has gone just 3/8 on 4th down (37.5%), which ties them for 115th.
Beating this team should be a matter of shutting down their running game while preventing big plays down the field. This already plays to the strengths of Army’s defense, but they’ll have to execute to make it work.
Defense
Tulsa’s defense can be tough, depending on how one attacks it. They’ve given up just 130 rushing yards/game (61st) on just over 3.6 yards/carry, and that’s good. However, they also allowed 8 rushing touchdowns, and they’ve been outscored 173-139 through their first five games of the season.
Maybe this is a function of who they’ve played, or maybe it’s a matter of opponents taking what Tulsa has given them. Either way, this team has been absolutely torched through the air. They’re allowing almost 300 passing yards/game. Worse, opponent quarterbacks have completed damn-near 63% of their passes against this secondary. This from a team that somehow has 10 sacks plus 3 interceptions!
S Dayne Hodge leads this defense with 30 tackles, 14 solo, plus 2 passes defensed and an interception. LB Gavin Potter comes next with 29 tackles, 13 solo, plus 1 sack. Moreover, four of Tulsa’s top five tacklers are linebackers. This perhaps explains why this team has been so good against the run.
As noted, though, a lot of these statistics seem to have come as a result of match-ups. While Tulsa did an excellent job shutting down La. Tech’s running game in particular, most everyone else has run for at least 3.1 yards/carry, and indeed, North Texas posted 179 yards rushing on a whopping 6.9 yards/carry just this past weekend. Granted, North Texas also threw for 439 yards in last week’s game.
Teams that have beaten Tulsa have mostly gotten up on them early, forcing them away from what they want to do offensively while slowly beating them down on defense. Army can make this work, but they’ll most assuredly want to get off to their typically fast start.
Special Teams
PK Seth Morgan has gone 15/16 on extra points this season and 7/9 on field goals. Notably, Morgan had a short kick blocked against Northwestern State, who then returned the ball all the way for a touchdown in Tulsa’s opener.
P Angus Davies has hit punts of up to 50 yards this season but averaged about 45 yards/punt against North Texas. In that game, he hit one touchback while sticking two kicks inside the 20.
We’ll see if Army can make anything with that. The team notably hasn’t blocked a punt yet this season. They’re due to get one soon.
Final Thoughts
Once again we see Army up against a team they really should beat, perhaps handily, with a betting line that reflects as much. The line on this game somehow opened at Army (-2.5) but has since slid all the way to Army (-10.5). The Over/Under currently sits at 50.5 points.
Even with all of that, Tulsa is a potentially dangerous team that matches up fairly well against the Black Knights. While all the talk this season has been about Army’s offense, this game in particular will require a strong performance from Army’s defense. The Golden Hurricane has struggled to move the ball consistently this season, even in games they’ve won, but they’ve mostly mounted an at-least capable rushing defense even when they’ve been getting smoked in the passing game. And sure, Army might try to throw a little against this team, but the Black Knights are not about to come out in the spread with five wideouts. So this match-up ought to be about strength-on-strength when Army has the ball, but the Black Knights will need to make it strength-on-weakness when Tulsa has it.
ESPNU has the game this week, and they’ve scheduled it for noon Eastern, 11:00 am Central. That puts the game not only opposite Navy-Air Force over on CBS but also right smack during the hottest part of the day. This matters because temperatures are expected in the lower-90s this weekend in Oklahoma, granted with just 46% humidity. So this game won’t see quite the blasting heat that Army faced at Florida Atlantic, but it’ll be plenty hot enough with abundant sunshine.
Remember your last trip to NTC? It’ll be like that.
If you’re going to the game, definitely wear sunscreen. Beyond that, have fun out there, friends. This should be a good one.
Go Army! Beat Tulsa!!!
Cover image via Flickr: The U.S. Military Academy.
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