University of South Florida
Army
USF Football Prepares For Early Conference Opener at Army
September 08, 2026 | Football
GAME 2: Bulls at Army
Michie Stadium (36,000) • West Point, N.Y. • Saturday, Sept. 12 • 12:00 PM
TV: CBS Sports Network - Play-by-Play: Jack Gordon, Analyst: Taylor McHargue, Sideline: Tina Cervasio
RADIO: Q105FM/Bulls Unlimited (digital) - Play-by-Play: Jim Lighthall, Analyst: Sam Barrington, Sideline: Joey Johnston
South Florida Game Notes
Army Game Notes
Hartline Tuesday Presser
Respect.
In a word, that's the dominant feeling the South Florida Bulls (1-0) will take into Saturday afternoon's American Conference opener against the Army Black Knights (1-0) at Michie Stadium.
"The way Army operates, frankly, it feeds into everything I believe in,'' Bulls head coach Brian Hartline said. "It's not about your talent level. It's about your skill and discipline level. … Talent is what God blessed you with and your job is to maximize that. Your skill and discipline development is purely on you. They kind of embody that.''
"I have a whole lot of respect for them,'' offensive guard Caleb Cook said. "I appreciate what they're going to do after they're done playing, serving our country, risking their lives to keep us safe.''
And there's obviously respect for the way Army plays football. The Black Knights opened with their patented triple-option offense in high gear, rushing for 569 yards (and 648 total yards, the fourth-highest total in Army's 136 seasons of football) in a 59-3 win against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Bryant University. Meanwhile, the Bulls began with a 19-9 home victory against the FIU Panthers.
"Army is going to be disciplined and they're going to be tough … those are the main things they focus on,'' running back D.J. Crowther said. "We've got to match that. Starting fast. Starting physical. Setting the tone. That's the mindset.''
Army has gone 19-8 (12-4 in league play) since joining the American Conference in 2024, winning the conference championship in their first year. USF is playing the earliest conference opener in program history and earliest since joining Conference USA in 2003 (ironically opening that season with a win at … Army on Sept. 27). So, for the second game this season, the stakes are especially high.
"When you talk about winning conference championships, especially in this conference right here, you've got to go through the service academies,'' Cook said. "It's not a guarantee to win (the conference title) if you beat the service academies, but a lot of our conference champions had to go through those service academies just to get a shot at winning the championship.''
Obviously, South Florida will look to contain Army's rushing attack, which was led by quarterback Cale Hellums (87 yards and two touchdowns against Bryant; 1,223 yards and 18 scores last season).
Bulls' defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge has been relatively successful in two meetings against Army. Last season, with Aldridge as East Carolina's DC, the Black Knights rushed for 241 yards (4.5-yard average) and posted 290 yards overall as the Pirates prevailed 28-6. Aldridge was a defensive coach at Liberty in 2021, when the Flames limited the Black Knights to a 3.5-yard rushing average in Army's 31-16 victory.
"When there's a triple option, there are three decisions that have to be made and you need an answer for all three,'' Hartline said. "The best way to erase anything is high effort, high discipline, running through the football with effort. The ability to match the strain level, supersede the strain level, be detailed in recovery, understanding your conflict … all of those things will help you problem-solve when you're on the field.''
Because of Army's unique offense, it can be easy to overthink the situation. Hartline and his players believe this: If they can correct the mistakes from the opener against FIU while playing at maximum effort, they'll be just fine.
"They were very unsatisfied as a team (after the FIU game), which is great to see as a coach,'' Hartline said. "We left a lot of opportunities on the field. We want to make the routine plays routinely. We want to execute on a consistent basis, not up and down.
"We did a great job taking care of the football and (minimizing) penalties. That has to continue. You are not that type of team by doing it once. You are what you do over time. We're trying to get some things fixed, but we're also trying to make sure the things we did well remain a staple.''
The Bulls had zero turnovers and four penalties against FIU, but gained just 208 yards and scored a lone touchdown (Crowther's 1-yard run in the fourth quarter). Hartline said quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (11 of 18, 100 yards) was "a staple and a strength, not a liability'' while protecting the ball. Defensively, the Bulls forced three turnovers, all of which led to scoring drives. Overall, though, the players weren't pleased.
"Coming off that field last Saturday, we were really unsatisfied,'' Cook said. "So, we're doubling down on being extremely disciplined, playing tough, playing physical and playing hard. Winning is hard and we're really happy we came up with a dub (win).
"We won, but the glee wasn't all there because we know we left so much stuff out there on the field. We left so much stuff out there it made all of us sick to our stomachs.''
–#GoBulls–
Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer
