Army Black Knights at Memphis Tigers

Army's grinding option attack rolls into Memphis for a Friday night AAC clash that pits college football's most disciplined rushing game against a Tigers roster that's essentially starting from scratch.

Bush’s Picks

ARMYMEM

ARMYMEM

OverUnder

Best BetArmy

Army brings back 8 starters and a quarterback who ran for over 1,200 yards, while Memphis is trying to win games with a roster that turned over almost completely. That experience gap is the whole ballgame here, and it's hard to back a first-year staff still learning each other over a program that knows exactly what it wants to be.

Army

• +8 returning starters, veteran option attack intact
• +Hellums back after 1,223 rushing yards
• +Joe Moore Award linemen anchor the O-line
• −New DC Dixon replacing last year's scheme
• −Defense managed only 15 sacks, 46 TFLs in 2025

Memphis

• +Charles Huff bowl-eligible in all 5 prior seasons
• +DC Lance Guidry coached in LSU's defense last year
• +Portal additions add real depth
• −21 of 22 starters gone from last year's roster
• −Brutal slate: 8 of 11 FBS foes made bowls in 2025

Cale Hellums is back under center for Army after piling up 1,223 rushing yards a year ago, and with veteran blockers returning up front, that option scheme should only get more dangerous with time to gel. Memphis counters with a completely new look on the sideline — Charles Huff takes over as head coach after building Marshall into a Sun Belt champion, and it's his new coordinator, Lance Guidry, fresh off a stint helping run LSU's defense, who has to figure out how to slow Army's ground attack in real time.

That's the real swing factor here. Memphis lost 21 of 22 starters from a year ago, meaning the Tigers will be leaning heavily on transfer-portal pieces by the time this one kicks off on Friday, October 30. Army isn't without its own question marks — new defensive coordinator Darryl Dixon inherits a unit that managed just 15 sacks and 46 tackles for loss last season, so how quickly both new-look units find their communication matters as much as who has the ball.

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ARMY Army

MEM Memphis

Memphis already knew this season was a gauntlet — 8 of the Tigers' 11 FBS opponents made bowl games a year ago — and this one lands right in the middle of that stretch under the lights. Army, meanwhile, arrives with a legitimate shot at an American Conference title if the rushing attack does what it's built to do and keeps opposing offenses off the field.

Army Black Knights

Oct 23?@ Tulsa—

Oct 17?vs Florida Atlantic—

Oct 10?vs Tulane—

Oct 2?@ Louisiana Tech—

Sep 25?@ Temple—

Sep 12?vs South Florida—

Sep 5?vs Bryant—

Memphis Tigers

Oct 22?vs East Carolina—

Oct 16?@ Tulane—

Oct 9?vs UAB—

Oct 2?@ Charlotte—

Sep 19?vs UT Martin—

Sep 12?@ Boise State—

Sep 5?vs Arkansas State—

Aug 29?@ UNLV—

The pieces up front are what make Army's math work. Center Brady Small and right guard Paolo Gennarelli were both starters on the offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award in 2024, and with top receiver Brady Anderson also back to stretch defenses over the top, Army returns eight starters and the connective tissue needed to keep grinding out long, clock-eating drives.

Memphis isn't hopeless by any means — Huff has made a bowl game in every season he's coached, and Guidry's defensive pedigree is real — but asking a roster built largely through the portal to slow down an experienced option attack this early in a rebuild is a tall order, and it's the biggest storyline going into Friday night.

Army Black Knights

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Memphis Tigers

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report