Mistakes plague Army in Football Opener; Tarleton State wins 30-27 in Double Overtime
By John Chuhran CaMMVets Media
Highland Falls, N.Y. – Any doubt that the 2025 Army football team is different from last year’s squad was erased Friday night at Michie Stadium. Army struggled all night long against Tarleton State, the pre-season number 8 ranked team in FCS polling, and the visitors eventually claimed a 30-27 triumph in double overtime.
Forget the closeness of the final score, Army Head Coach Jeff Monken was blunt in his assessment of Army’s performance.
“Congratulations to Tarleton State and (Head) Coach (Todd) Whitten,” Monken said quite solemnly. “They completely outplayed us in every aspect of the game. They were the better football team tonight. We just didn’t do the things it takes to win the football game. That starts with turning the ball over. We turned the ball over three times, they didn’t turn over any.
“We didn’t sustain blocks, they got off blocks and made plays. We allowed them to get off big plays, they sustained their blocks and we weren’t doing a great job getting off their blocks. (Army had) missed tackles, missed assignments. We turned the ball over, got the ball punched out, dropped a pick-six opportunity – they caught theirs, we didn’t catch ours. We missed two field goals, they hit all theirs.
“It’s my responsibility, the responsibility of our staff, to get our guys to play fundamentally sound (football) and keep their assignments. We didn’t do it. That’s the story – they outplayed us.”
Statistically, Army (0-1) didn’t seem to be as totally outclassed as Monken indicated, but they were clearly outplayed. The Black Knights finished with 411 total yards (280 rushing, 131 passing). Starting quarterback Dewayne Coleman, a senior making his first start aside from leading Army to a 20-3 win over Air Force last year, led the running game with 100 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries followed by Hayden Reed (88 yds. and 1 TD on 19 carries), Noah Short (43 yds. on 11 carries) and substitute quarterback Cale Hellums (37 yards and a touchdown on eight carries). Coleman completed 7-of-12 passes for 129 yards, but also threw two interceptions that played pivotal roles in the outcome. Short led three Army receivers with six catches on 9 targets for 81 yards.
Army’s defense was led by co-captain Andon Thomas, who had a game high 14 tackles. Eric Ford, Casey Larkin, and Collin Matteson each had eight. Army Kicker Dawson Jones hit a24-yard field goal with 1:47 left in the first half and added a 40 yard FG in the first overtime, but he was wide right with a 43-yarder with just seven seconds left in regulation and did it again with a 35-yarder in the second overtime.
Most battles between a BCS team and an FCS team favor the BCS organization – they generally recruit better players and have more financial resources to help bring out the best in those players. But Tarleton State, from a small town about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth, TX, has been working hard in the last few years to build a strong football team that would help increase the institution’s name recognition and reputation on a national level. That effort took another step forward on Friday night.
By John Chuhran CaMMVets Media
Highland Falls, N.Y. – Any doubt that the 2025 Army football team is different from last year’s squad was erased Friday night at Michie Stadium. Army struggled all night long against Tarleton State, the pre-season number 8 ranked team in FCS polling, and the visitors eventually claimed a 30-27 triumph in double overtime.
Forget the closeness of the final score, Army Head Coach Jeff Monken was blunt in his assessment of Army’s performance.
“Congratulations to Tarleton State and (Head) Coach (Todd) Whitten,” Monken said quite solemnly. “They completely outplayed us in every aspect of the game. They were the better football team tonight. We just didn’t do the things it takes to win the football game. That starts with turning the ball over. We turned the ball over three times, they didn’t turn over any.
“We didn’t sustain blocks, they got off blocks and made plays. We allowed them to get off big plays, they sustained their blocks and we weren’t doing a great job getting off their blocks. (Army had) missed tackles, missed assignments. We turned the ball over, got the ball punched out, dropped a pick-six opportunity – they caught theirs, we didn’t catch ours. We missed two field goals, they hit all theirs.
“It’s my responsibility, the responsibility of our staff, to get our guys to play fundamentally sound (football) and keep their assignments. We didn’t do it. That’s the story – they outplayed us.”
Statistically, Army (0-1) didn’t seem to be as totally outclassed as Monken indicated, but they were clearly outplayed. The Black Knights finished with 411 total yards (280 rushing, 131 passing). Starting quarterback Dewayne Coleman, a senior making his first start aside from leading Army to a 20-3 win over Air Force last year, led the running game with 100 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries followed by Hayden Reed (88 yds. and 1 TD on 19 carries), Noah Short (43 yds. on 11 carries) and substitute quarterback Cale Hellums (37 yards and a touchdown on eight carries). Coleman completed 7-of-12 passes for 129 yards, but also threw two interceptions that played pivotal roles in the outcome. Short led three Army receivers with six catches on 9 targets for 81 yards.
Army’s defense was led by co-captain Andon Thomas, who had a game high 14 tackles. Eric Ford, Casey Larkin, and Collin Matteson each had eight. Army Kicker Dawson Jones hit a24-yard field goal with 1:47 left in the first half and added a 40 yard FG in the first overtime, but he was wide right with a 43-yarder with just seven seconds left in regulation and did it again with a 35-yarder in the second overtime.
Most battles between a BCS team and an FCS team favor the BCS organization – they generally recruit better players and have more financial resources to help bring out the best in those players. But Tarleton State, from a small town about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth, TX, has been working hard in the last few years to build a strong football team that would help increase the institution’s name recognition and reputation on a national level. That effort took another step forward on Friday night.
All week long, Monken had said that Tarleton State (2-0), which defeated Portland State 42-0 on September 23, was good enough to be a BCS team, that he was very concerned and that the entire Army team was taking the contest very seriously. It didn’t take long for those watching to see that his words were true. The Texans won the coin toss and elected to defer possession until the second half. Army started with a three-and-out (all rushes), and the Texans took possession on their own 22. The visitors advanced 65 yards in 13 plays over the next 5:02 to take the lead on a 30-yard field goal (the first of three) by Brad Larson.
Army countered with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Coleman’s 26-yard dash into the end zone with 4:08 left in the first quarter. Tarleton State had its most effective drive in the second quarter as the Texans’ QB Victor Gabalis (16-for-30 for 152 yards and 1 TD) mixed pass plays with runs in a 12-play, 90-yard drive culminated by Trevon Page III charging 10 yards to regain the lead for the visitors. Army responded with Jones’ first field goal, and with 1:47 left and then Hellums pushed through from 1 yard out with 15 seconds left, giving the hosts 17-10 advantage at intermission.
After the break, Army had an opportunity to seal a win, stopping the Texans on the first drive of the third quarter and starting its own possession from excellent field position (the Army 38). Unfortunately, that drive quickly stalled. But two drives later, Coleman directed a 6-play, 65-yard attack that ended with Reed blasting through a hole in the middle and charging 37 yards into the end zone as the cadets built a 24-10 lead.
Army’s game fell apart after that. Coleman threw a pair of costly interceptions – a drive killer in the third quarter followed later with a missed scoring opportunity with an errant toss into the endzone on the opening drive of the final stanza of regulation-- and Reed added a fumble on Army’s next fourth-quarter possession. Tarleton State’s Kasyus Kurns had the best day of his collegiate football career – he recovered both interceptions and the fumble.
To make matters worse, Coleman fell to the ground clutching the back of his right leg with 0:59 left in regulation. Though Monken said the injury did not appear to be serious – Coleman was standing along the sideline for the rest of the game – and he was expected him to be available to play next week, but the coach added a cautionary comment that nothing was certain and we’d all have to wait for the official medical report to know the actual extent of the injury.
Both teams scored field goals in the first overtime to make it 27-27, but Army missed another three-pointer on the first possession of the second OT. Larson nailed a 37-yarder to clinch the upset win.
The Black Knights now try to figure out what to do to correct their mistakes, but they don’t have much time to prepare for an even tougher opponent – Big 12 powerhouse and No. 17-ranked Kansas State (0-1), which lost 24-21 on September 23 to No. 22 Iowa State. Next Saturday’s match up in Manhattan, Kansas starts at 7 PM with TV coverage on ESPN.
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Army countered with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Coleman’s 26-yard dash into the end zone with 4:08 left in the first quarter. Tarleton State had its most effective drive in the second quarter as the Texans’ QB Victor Gabalis (16-for-30 for 152 yards and 1 TD) mixed pass plays with runs in a 12-play, 90-yard drive culminated by Trevon Page III charging 10 yards to regain the lead for the visitors. Army responded with Jones’ first field goal, and with 1:47 left and then Hellums pushed through from 1 yard out with 15 seconds left, giving the hosts 17-10 advantage at intermission.
After the break, Army had an opportunity to seal a win, stopping the Texans on the first drive of the third quarter and starting its own possession from excellent field position (the Army 38). Unfortunately, that drive quickly stalled. But two drives later, Coleman directed a 6-play, 65-yard attack that ended with Reed blasting through a hole in the middle and charging 37 yards into the end zone as the cadets built a 24-10 lead.
Army’s game fell apart after that. Coleman threw a pair of costly interceptions – a drive killer in the third quarter followed later with a missed scoring opportunity with an errant toss into the endzone on the opening drive of the final stanza of regulation-- and Reed added a fumble on Army’s next fourth-quarter possession. Tarleton State’s Kasyus Kurns had the best day of his collegiate football career – he recovered both interceptions and the fumble.
To make matters worse, Coleman fell to the ground clutching the back of his right leg with 0:59 left in regulation. Though Monken said the injury did not appear to be serious – Coleman was standing along the sideline for the rest of the game – and he was expected him to be available to play next week, but the coach added a cautionary comment that nothing was certain and we’d all have to wait for the official medical report to know the actual extent of the injury.
Both teams scored field goals in the first overtime to make it 27-27, but Army missed another three-pointer on the first possession of the second OT. Larson nailed a 37-yarder to clinch the upset win.
The Black Knights now try to figure out what to do to correct their mistakes, but they don’t have much time to prepare for an even tougher opponent – Big 12 powerhouse and No. 17-ranked Kansas State (0-1), which lost 24-21 on September 23 to No. 22 Iowa State. Next Saturday’s match up in Manhattan, Kansas starts at 7 PM with TV coverage on ESPN.
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