09/06/2026
Army Gets 569 Rushing Yards
To Dominate Bryant, 59-3
By John Chuhran for CaMMVets Media
West Point, N.Y. – Heading into the first game of any sports season, nothing is certain. Even after a strong training camp, there are always feelings of doubt and uncertainty. Davids can and sometimes do beat Goliaths.
Those concerns lasted for 3:55 on Saturday for the Army West Point football team, which cruised to a 59-3 win over Bryant University at Michie Stadium. While Bryant is an FCS program (with smaller budgets and fewer scholarships than allowed for FBS institutions like Army) and the Black Knights were expected to win, last year’s opening-game 30-27 loss to Tarleton State (another FCS program) was in the back of everyone’s mind as was the Rutgers 37-21 loss to the University of Massachusetts on Thursday. Army was taking nothing for granted and the Black Knights played tenaciously all day against the Bulldogs.
“I thought we did a good job today,” said winning Head Coach Jeff Monken as he began his 13th year at West Point. “We played hard. Each phase made some plays, each got some things we’ve got to correct. That's the good thing about playing somebody else – we have it on film and they can make those corrections.
“It was nice to see everybody play. I think everybody dressed up got a chance to play in the game and that was a lot of fun for our young guys. Some of our veteran players got their very first snaps of their college careers today and so I was really proud of those guys and all that effort and investment they put in. To have the opportunity to finally play, that was fantastic.”
At 11:05 of the first quarter, Slotback Zach Mundell staked the hosts to a 6-0 lead, dashing 15 yards into the end zone to cap a 5-play, 39-yard drive. The Black Knights had held the visitors to 7 yards on three plays on the game’s opening possession.
Army got excellent field possession on the ensuing punt – a low boot that bounced hard and seemed likely to pin the Black Knights inside their own 20 yard line. Army’s Lloyd Benson III made the decision to grab the ball on the first bounce at the Army 39, He weaved left then right, advancing to the Bryant 44 where he was brought down. When Bryant was also called for an illegal formation, Army found itself starting its first drive on the Bryant 39.
From that point on, Army dominated every aspect of the game. After Mundell’s initial score, Quarterback Cale Hellums added another touchdown on a 27-yard run to end Army’s second possession (five plays, 72 yards) and he followed with a 37-yard dash to give Army a third touchdown and a 21-0 lead on West Point’s third possession (10 plays, 75 yards)
The Black Knights made it 28-0 at 4:12 of the second quarter when Hellums rolled left and pitched backwards to Brady Anderson, who was charging right on a reverse and swept around the corner, sprinting 30 yards and crossing the goal line.
Bryant finally got on the board on the next possession. Quarterback Brennan Meyer completed 4-of-6 pass attempts (three short and a 24 yarder that threaded a very narrow eye of the needle to Kelijah Williams) during a 12-play, 64-yard drive that stalled on the Army 11. Bulldogs kicker Nick Stoyanovich came on to kick a 28-yard field goal that made it 28-3. Army kicker Dawson Jones (who was a perfect 5-for-5 on point-after kicks) split the uprights for a 37-yard field goal with 48 seconds on the second quarter clock to make the score 31-3 heading into intermission.
Army had an astonishing 293 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 569 (on 57 carries – an average of 10 yards per carry) for the game as 16 different players advanced the ball. Hellums was 7-for-13 in the air for 59 yards while Ethan Washington was 2-for-2 for 13 yards and Bryson Luter was 1-for-2 for 7. Army led in time of possession (32:58 to Bryant’s 27:02). The Black Knights defense held Bryant to just 165 total yards (98 in the air) and the single 3-point field goal as 17 players had at least two tackles; Dillon Stowers, Jaquavius Moss and Elijah Walton led the way with five each. Neither team committed a turnover and Army won the penalty battle with only two to Bryant’s five.
With a big and growing lead, Army was able to play virtually every player who suited up for the game. Each member of the Black Knights can honestly say they had a hand in this victory.
Because everyone on the Army team got to play, the game had some very moving redemption stories, none more so than slotback Mundell. The senior came to West Point four years ago hoping to be the quarterback, was shifted to running back and worked as hard as anyone to develop skills he had previously never needed and suffered a torn ACL that prematurely ended that first season just before the Army-Navy game. It was a long slow road to recovery, but on Saturday he carried the ball four times and found the end zone twice as he led all players with 105 rushing yards.
“I’m so proud of him,” Monken said. “As a freshman, we recruited him as a quarterback and late in the year we moved him to Slot(back) and then he got hurt in practice. He’s missed time here at the Academy because of the injury. He was a quarterback a year ago and he’s played where we needed him. He’s a good athlete, as you saw today.
“He’s done a good job without the football. When he got transitioned to another position, he had to learn a lot of things he’d never done before like blocking, and route running. He’s done a good job at that.”
Every player and coach at West Point tried to keep the victory in perspective. Army has not yet faced an American Conference opponent. The talent and skill levels displayed by those foes are expected to be higher.
“I think (it helps in) having a football team that's grown up together and trained together,” said Coach Monken. “Some of these guys,it’s been four or five years (including the Army Prep school) they’ve spent together. So early in the year, to play a team like Bryant, which has some new guys on their team, we were able to play well. I’m going to reserve judgment because next week we’re playing a team that has more than 20 Power Five (conference) transfers, a starting center who was the starting center at Missouri State the last three years, a starting defensive player that was an All-Conference player at Georgia Southern. They’ve got a lot of guys that are very, very talented and they are very well coached. Today, our guys executed well, things went our way and I’m proud of the effort, but (next week) some things will have to be better (if we are going to win).”
Army hosts the Bulls of the University of South Florida at Michie Stadium next Saturday in another 12 noon start.
