Tulane Football Schedule Breakdown: Army

Tulane Football Schedule 2026

Week 1 - at Duke, September 5
Week 2 - South Alabama, September 12
Week 3 - at Kansas State, September 19
Week 4 - Southern Miss, September 26
Week 5 - OPEN DATE, October 3
Week 6 - at Army, October 10
Week 7 - Memphis, October 16
Week 8 - UTSA, October 24
Week 9 - at Charlotte, October 30
Week 10 - Tulsa, November 7
Week 11 - at Rice, November 14
Week 12 - North Texas, November 21
Week 13 - at South Florida, November 27

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After a tough four-week stretch of games, including the team we covered yesterday, Kansas State, Tulane will have to play their first conference game in hostile territory against Army.

West Point is easily one of the hardest places to win at in the American, as Army is 12-6 at home since 2023. However, that number is carried a bit by their stellar 7-0 home record in 2024, but nonetheless, it's a hard place to win in.

On the flip side, Army's 2025 campaign left a lot to be desired fresh off a conference championship title in 2024.

A Familiar Offense

Army's offense is about the only source of familiarity on this Black Knight squad. With 66% of its personnel returning from 2025 and a third year offensive coordinator (Cody Worely), Army is looking to improve on last year's campaign.

What's most interesting about this Black Knight offense is their identity as a run-heavy offense without giving a ton of thought to the passing game.

Its rushing offense is one of the best in the country with senior quarterback Cale Hellums at the helm and running back Jake Rendina backing him up. It'll likely be an option heavy offense as Army has been known to do, and they see quite a bit of success in that regard.

Hellums rushed for over 1,200-yards last year and 18 touchdowns. His legs are a serious threat, and even when teams know and prepare for that, they still struggle to stop him.

Backing his legs is Rendina, another senior who's looking for a lot more production this year. He played in most games last year. He wasn't the starter, but still a back who saw quite a bit of playing time, carrying the ball 40 times for 187-yards and a touchdown.

Like we said before, the passing attack is almost negligible, ranking as one of the worst passing offenses in the country. It's worth noting that Army threw the ball 14.47% of the time while they kept it on the ground for the other 85.53%.

A Completely New Defense

Army's defense is even more intriguing than their offensive counterparts.

Army's defense was all over the place last year, as they're one of the best scoring defenses in the country (20.9 ppg / 27th), but they were also one of the worst third down defenses in the country (46.26% / 124th).

A nearly 50% conversion rate is abysmal for any defense, especially when eight games were decided by one score or less and they went 4-4 in those games.

Getting your defense off the field just on one of those third downs could've led to less points or a possession for your offense.

Either of those things gives you a point swing in your direction that could've flipped the outcomes of these games.

Along with their third down defense is their pass rush, which has a measly 3.52% sack rate, which allowed for opposing QBs to complete 64.44% of their passes.

Their rushing defense isn't exactly stellar either, and with a brand new hire in defensive coordinator Daryl Dixon, the Black Knights are looking for improvement across the board on defense.

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