Football Falls to Tulsa in Home Finale

Saturday, November 22

West Point, N.Y.

12 p.m.

Army West Point

5-5 , 3-4

Tulsa

4-7 , 1-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

Army West Point

Nov 22, 2025; West Point, New York, USA; during the first half at Michie Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Photo by: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Football Falls to Tulsa in Home Finale

November 22, 2025 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army West Point (5-5, 3-4) closed out the home portion of the 2025 season on senior day from a damp and chilly Michie Stadium against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-7, 1-6). Saturday marked the final home game for the 2025 senior class, as the program recognized 23 players during pregame senior day ceremonies.

Army, however, dropped to .500 overall Saturday afternoon, surrendering a go-ahead 27-yard field goal to Tulsa kicker Seth Morgan with 12 ticks on the clock, to fall 26-25. Tulsa overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit, from down 25-14, to complete the comeback against the Black Knights.

The Golden Hurricane took over late in the game after Army QB Cale Hellums was tripped for no gain on a fourth-and-3 at the Tulsa 39 with 1:36 left. The Black Knights had previously recovered an onside kick inside the two-minute timeout, after Tulsa cashed in on a forced turnover to score a touchdown with 1:53 remaining, but failed on a two-point conversion to attempt to tie the contest.

A Morgan 48-yard field goal put Tulsa within a single possession with 4:38 in the final quarter after turning the ball over on its two previous drives.

Hellums rushed for 159 yards and three scores on 32 total carries in the loss, and was 6-for-10 through the air. Noah Short hauled in a quartet of passes for 47 yards, and safety Collin Matteson led Army on defense with 11 total tackles, including seven solo tackles.

In traditional fashion, Army won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Tulsa hit a massive play on its first third down of the game as Golden Hurricane quarterback Baylor Hayes hit Donnell Gee Jr. on a deep ball down the right sideline for a 50-yard completion to get down to the Army 21. Four plays later, Tulsa struck first on a 3-yard run up the middle by running back Dominic Richardson, giving the Golden Hurricane a 7–0 lead with 12:23 left in the first quarter.

Army's offense answered immediately, needing just two plays to cover 75 yards. Hellums opened the drive by hitting the senior slot back Short on a 44-yard deep post. On the next snap, Hellums broke free up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown run — the longest scoring run of his career to knot the game at 7-7 with 11:34 still to go in the opening quarter.

Tulsa again drove into Army territory and lined up for a 47-yard field-goal attempt, but CJ Martin broke through for the kick block to halt the scoring opportunity. The blocked kick was Army's second of the season, after previously blocking a field goal at UAB on October 4.

Tulsa reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter, capping an 8-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 3:55. On fourth-and-4, Hayes hit wide receiver Zion Steptoe for 33 yards down the right side to the Army 7. One play later, Ajay Allen powered up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown to put the Golden Hurricane back in front 14-7.

Down a touchdown once again, Army would not just tie the game on its next series, but take its first lead of the contest. Twice, Army moved the sticks on fourth-and-1, with Hellums finding the end zone with a five-yard rush on the latter of the two fourth-down tries. The possession was capped by a facemask penalty on Tulsa's Ray Coney during the touchdown play, placing the ball on the one-and-a-half-yard line for the PAT, prompting head coach Jeff Monen to go for two, of which Hellums found a wide-open sophomore tight end, Tex Brannan, in the corner of the end zone for a successful conversion.

A Golden Hurricane special teams miscue on the ensuing kickoff would place the ball on their own two-yard line following a fair catch. Tulsa would move the sticks once, but not twice, and the Black Knights regained possession on their own 45 after a Tulsa punt.

The Black Knights took over with 3:33 to play in the half, and chewed up over three minutes on their final drive before halftime. Hellums powered forward for his third rushing touchdown of the opening half on a five-yard run to highlight a nine-play, 55-yard drive with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Black Knights also forced Tulsa to use all three of its timeouts during the drive, leaving little time for their offense to work before the teams went into the half with Army leading 22-14.Overall, Cale Hellums powered the Black Knights' offense in the first half, rushing for 122 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.

Coming out of the locker room, Army methodically drove 15 plays for 60 yards over 7:51, capped by a 33-yard field goal from Dawson Jones to extend the lead to 25–14, completing an 18-point unanswered run.

Army's defense forced its first turnover of the game later in the third as Tulsa threatened inside the 10. Eric Ford recovered a fumble after a mishandled exchange between the quarterback and running back.

Army's defense forced another turnover on the very next possession, as Gavin Shields punched the ball free from the Tulsa ball carrier and Collin Matteson recovered. However, the Black Knights were forced to punt after taking 6:05 off the clock, setting up the Golden Hurricane to eat into Army's lead in the final quarter.

GAME NOTES

Carrying the Flag: OL Braden Bartosh led the Black Knights onto the field with the Black Flag.

Division of the Game: Army honored the 2nd Infantry Division with helmet decals and headset logos. The 2nd Infantry Division is a formation of the United States Army. Since the 1960s, its primary mission has been the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. Approximately 17,000 soldiers serve in the 2nd Infantry Division.

Army can reach six wins with a victory on November 29 at UTSA, to clinch bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. A bowl berth would mark Army's 12th all-time bowl appearance. The Black Knights are 8-3 all-time in bowl games and 5-1 under Head Coach Jeff Monken.
Army is 8–2 in games played in November since 2023.
Hellums' 44-yard pass to Short on the team's first offensive play was tied for Hellums' longest career pass, while equaling Short's longest reception of the season. One play later, Hellums' 31-yard touchdown scamper was his career-long touchdown rush.
Hellums' 15 rushing touchdowns this season tie him with Glenn Davis (1945) and Tory Crawford (1986) for fifth all-time in a single season at Army.
Saturday was Hellums' fifth multi-TD game of the season and his fourth with 120+ rushing yards.
Hellums is just 12 rushing yards shy of reaching 1,000 for the season.
Army's opening touchdown drive lasted just 49 seconds, its shortest scoring drive of more than one play in 2025.
Samari Howard's first-quarter rush of 15 yards was his longest across the 2025 season.
The 22 points from Army before halftime were the most in a first half this year, and the most in any first half since scoring 24 vs. ECU on October 19, 2024.
Tex Brannan's two-point reception represented the first points scored by an Army tight end since a Joshua Lingenfelter two-point reception vs. UMass on November 20, 2021.
Safety Gavin Shields' nine total tackles Saturday were a career-high, Matteson's 11 total tackles tied his career-high, and Jayden Mayes recorded a career-high with his six total tackles.
Army is 10-2 on senior day in the Jeff Monken era.
Army is 48-13 (.787) at Michie Stadium since 2016.
Senior Braden Bartosh made his first career start at right guard on senior day in place of Paolo Gennarelli (out).
The opening drive touchdown the Army defense surrendered to Tulsa was the first touchdown allowed in the first quarter in five games, the last coming in the East Carolina game on September 25.
Freshman RB Godspower Nwawuihe received his first carries in a game at Michie Stadium, rushing five times for 11 yards.