Stunner in Manhattan: Army, after loss to FCS squad, takes down Kansas State
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Neither the Army Black Knights nor the Kansas State Wildcats opened their season in strong fashion. But after Saturday night, there’s no disputing which team is off to the worse start.
Eight days after losing at home to FCS Tarleton State 30-27 (2OT), Army went on the road and took down Kansas State 24-21. The Black Knights outscored the Wildcats 10-0 in the fourth quarter and scored the game-winning points on QB Cade Hellums’ 14-yard touchdown run with 2:52 remaining in regulation.
Hellums threw only 11 passes in the victory. He ran the ball a whopping 39 times for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. Overall, Army had 70 carries for 237 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and Hellums’ two scores. The Black Knights weren’t particularly efficient offensively, but their ball-control style squeezed the clock on the Wildcats, who were out-possessed by nearly 22 minutes (40:29-19:31).
Kansas State entered the 2025 season with incredible hype. The Wildcats were the betting favorite to win the Big 12 Conference and ranked No. 17 in the first AP poll of the year. But they stumbled out of the gate, falling 24-17 to Iowa State in Ireland. Then, last week, they narrowly beat FCS North Dakota 38-35 after scoring a touchdown with 42 seconds left in the game.
Following these awful first three performances, Kansas State will need a miracle to be in College Football Playoff contention come November. Army, meanwhile, is sitting with the same record most fans probably believed they’d have through two games, just with flipped results.
The Black Knights go on bye next week before hosting North Texas on Sept. 20. The Wildcats, meanwhile, face a mascot twin in conference foe Arizona on the road this Friday. Kickoff for that contest is set for 9:00 p.m. E.T. on FOX.
