Football Battles to the Wire in 24–17 Loss at Tulane

Saturday, October 18

New Orleans, La.

12:00 PM

Army West Point

3-4 , 2-3

Tulane

6-1 , 3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army West Point

Tulane

Photo by: Danny Wild/Army football

Football Battles to the Wire in 24–17 Loss at Tulane

October 18, 2025 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEW ORLEANS — Army West Point (3-4, 2-3) traveled to New Orleans to battle the Tulane Green Wave (6-1, 3-0) in a battle of last season's American Conference Championship Game.

Despite holding a seven-point lead with under six minutes remaining, the Black Knights would surrender a pair of passing touchdowns in the closing minutes at Yulman Stadium Saturday afternoon and would fall 24-17 against their American Conference foes.

The loss spoiled a two-game winning streak the Black Knights carried into the week.

Despite the loss, quarterback Cale Hellums set new career-highs in both single-game rushing and passing yards, with 125 yards through the air on 7-for-10 passing, and 155 yards rushing across 39 total carries. The junior signal caller collected a pair of touchdowns on the ground and set a new high-water mark in rushing yards for the second consecutive week.

Four of Hellums' seven completions went to sophomore wide receiver Brady Anderson, who recorded career-highs in both receptions (4) and receiving yards (97).

After Tulane won the toss and deferred to the second half, Army put together a prototypical opening drive, marching 18 plays and chewing up 11 minutes, 44 seconds of the first quarter before Tulane's offense even saw the field. The Black Knights converted three short-yardage fourth downs, all on Hellums' keepers, but the drive was derailed by a 15-yard illegal chop block penalty. It ultimately stalled, and kicker Dawson Jones missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt, leaving Army scoreless after a promising start.

Tulane quickly drove into the red zone, but linebacker Andon Thomas delivered a big hit on Green Wave quarterback Jake Retzlaff to force a fourth-and-2 at the Army 8-yard line. The Green Wave went for it, and the Army defense came up with a crucial stop as Kalib Fortner stuffed Brenden Sullivan on a quarterback draw. Sullivan entered on the play after Retzlaff was shaken up on the previous snap.

On Army's second offensive series, the Black Knights converted their fourth fourth down of the game as Hellums again kept it on a run up the middle. But Army missed a prime opportunity for a potential touchdown when Hellums threw deep to a wide-open Anderson, who had no defender in sight but couldn't haul in the pass.

Tulane scored the contest's first points on its second series, but the Black Knights were able to force the Green Wave to settle for a 30-yard field goal. After the home team drove 75 yards, Jack Bousum rushed Tulane passer Jake Retzlaff out of the pocket for a throwaway on third-and-7, ending the Green Wave's hopes of reaching the end zone on that drive at the Army 12.

Taking the ball back with just 1:49 to play in the half, the Black Knights were able to tie the game heading into the locker room, with a 43-yard field goal from Jones. Anderson hauled in a 39-yard pass from Hellums to march Army to the Tulane 32 on the drive's second play. Three plays later on a third-and-long, Hellums picked up nine yards on the ground to set up Jones' kick.

After forcing a three-and-out from Tulane to open the second half, the Black Knights struck again through the air as Hellums connected with Anderson for a 32-yard gain to move inside the Tulane 10-yard line. Three plays later, Hellums capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak to give the Black Knights their first lead of the game, 10-3.

The Green Wave quickly responded, scoring in four plays on a 37-yard touchdown run by Retzlaff to tie the game at 10-10 with 4:52 remaining in the third quarter.

Tulane threatened again inside the Army 25-yard line on its next series, but safety Casey Larkin forced the game's first turnover with an interception of Retzlaff to halt the drive and keep the game tied.

Army turned the takeaway into points, cashing in a 14-play, 80-yard drive to take the lead and 8:16 off the clock in the fourth quarter. Hellums accounted for a trio of plays of 10 yards or more on the drive, with two of those plays coming via his legs. His one-yard sneak with 5:54 to play made it 17-10.

Down seven, Tulane took the football looking to tie the game with under six minutes on the clock. Retzlaff methodically advanced the Green Wave inside the Army 15, where Army's defense forced a fourth-and-8 from the 12-yard line coming out of the two-minute timeout.

Retzlaff was forced out of the pocket by the rush on fourth down, but he was able to find senior wideout Bryce Bohanon in the end zone to tie the game with 1:54 to play.

Army took the football back, but went three-and-out and was forced to punt, with Wagenseller forcing Tulane to retake possession at their own 25 with 1:28 to go.

From there, Retzlaff took the Green Wave 75 yards and threw the go-ahead touchdown with 27 seconds remaining, a deflection in the end zone falling in the hands of junior Shazz Preston.

The Black Knights gave themselves a chance to tie in the waning seconds, running four plays to reach the Tulane 38 with two seconds left. However, a Hail Mary on the final play fell incomplete to solidify Army's fate.

GAME NOTES

Carrying the Flag: Slot Back Lloyd Benson III led the Black Knights onto the field with the Black Flag.

Division of the Game: Army honored the 1st Armored Division with helmet decals and headset logos. The 1st Armored Division, nicknamed Old Ironsides, is a combined arms division of the United States Army. The division is part of the III Armored Corps and operates out of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. It was the first armored division of the United States Army to see battle in World War II.

Army is 19-6 in its last 25 games dating back to November 2023. Army's .760 winning percentage is T-7th best in the country during that span and the 2nd best of Group of Five schools (Memphis).
Army's 18-play, 11-minute, 44-second drive was its seventh of the season spanning at least 15 plays and its longest in time of possession. It was the fourth-longest drive in the FBS this season in time of possession.
Hellums made his fourth start of the season at quarterback.
Hellums' 155 yards rushing marked a career best and back-to-back weeks of him eclipsing 100 yards on the ground.
It was the first time Hellums has passed and rushed for over 100 yards each in a game.
Hellums recorded his third consecutive game with multiple rushing touchdowns, scoring his ninth and 10th of the season. He entered Saturday's game one shy of the national lead among FBS quarterbacks and now has four multi-touchdown performances this year.
Safety Casey Larkin recorded his first interception of the season, picking off a Tulane pass in the fourth quarter. The interception was the first of Retzlaff in 2025.
Carson Smith made his first career start at running back, carrying the ball eight times for 27 yards.
This matchup marked the fourth consecutive season that teams led by Jeff Monken and Jon Sumrall have faced each other (2022 – Army at Troy; 2023 – Army vs. Troy; 2024 – Army vs. Tulane in the American Championship Game).