An occasional series looking ahead to what USF will face in its American Conference schedule
Brian Hartline's first American Conference game as USF's head football coach involves a trip on September 12 to West Point to face Army.
That game, in just the second week of the season, could set the tone for how far the Bulls can go in the conference. Army regressed to a 7-6 record in 2025 after going 12-2 the year before. But hopes are high at West Point that this season will be a significant bounce back.
Why Army could be really good: First off, the Black Knights of the Hudson return a ton of players from last year's squad, led by senior quarterback Cale Hellums. And if you look at Army's 2025 season, that record is a bit deceiving.
Army lost 17-16 to Navy, 26-25 to Tulsa, and a pair of one-score games to American champ Tulane and North Texas. Of couse, the Black Knights also lost to Tarleton State to open the season 30-27, which seemed bad at the time. However, the Texans finished 12-2 and won a game in the FCS playoffs.
And if USF fans still have scorch marks on their backs after watching Navy rush for 338 yards last year against the Bulls, look for Army to try more of the same. The Knights rushed for 3,314 yards in 2025.
Hartline and his staff spent a lot of Transfer Portal capital on beefing up the Bulls' run defense. This will be an early indication of how successful that was. They'll have to be wary of Godspower Nwawuihe, who started 2025 as a quarterback but was switched to running back. He had 171 yards in Army's Fenway Bowl rout of UConn and became the first Army freshman with 100 yards rushing and two rushing scores in a game since at least 1995.
Army returns four starters on the offensive line, and Hellums is a dual threat. He rushed for 1,233 yards and 18 touchdowns, but if the Bulls sell out to stop the run he's liable to let it fly. He had five completions ast year of 40 or more yards.
Why Army might struggle: The defense was statistically good last year -- third in the conference in scoring defense -- but they struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. They also lost key players at linebacker and in the secondary, so with USF's expected strength at receiver the Bulls will certainly try to test the Black Knights with the passing game.
The Bulls probably will throw more elite athletes at Army than most teams on its schedule, and that could also be a key to controlling the line of scrimmage.
X-factors: Army head coach Jeff Monken is in his13th season (89-63), so there is stability. Hartline will be in his second game as a head coach. He has been in plenty of high-stakes games, of course, but it is different when you're the head man.
USF safeties coach Danny Verpaele came to USF this season after spending the last three years in the same position at Army. That could lead to a little inside intel for the Bulls.
And USF defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge put together the No. 1 American Conference defense last season. That included a 28-6 win at West Point in which Army was just 2-of-15 on third downs and were limited to 12 first downs.
The six points Army scored in that game was its lowest total of the season.
Also, as the coach at a service academy, Monken doesn't have to deal with the modern problems like NIL that other programs must address. That's one huge headache off his plate.
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