Tarleton State Upsets AAC Champs Army In Thrilling Double Overtime Victory

In a game where Army entered as 16.5-point favorites (via FanDuel), it was Tarleton State coming out on top in a tightly contested season opener. Few players lit up the stat sheet for the Texans, but a fantastic, concentrated effort to overpower the Black Knights resulted in the first FCS/FBS upset victory of the 2025 season.

Here are the notable storylines from Friday night's matchup.

Army Unable To Overcome Sloppiness, Turnovers

Despite losing major pieces from 2024 on the offensive side of the ball, hope was still high as to what Army's 2025 campaign could produce. Week 1 leaves fans and analysts with many more questions than answers, with three giveaways and two missed field goals overshadowing any of the Black Knights' bright spots. They looked quite disconnected on the offensive side and consistently failed to meet the moment in the game's most crucial spots.

Kicker Dawson Jones' inexperience was the final nail in the coffin, missing a potential game-winning field goal wide right and a go-ahead kick in double overtime wide left. In a game where the Black Knights had more than enough opportunities to secure the win, they were unable to do so time and time again.

Army Struggled In First Test Post-Daily

Losing Heisman contender and superstar quarterback Bryson Daily was always expected to be a major challenge for the Black Knights, and they stumbled in their first chance to dispel that narrative. Senior starting QB DeWayne Coleman was decently efficient through the air with 129 yards on just 12 attempts, but his 4.1 yards per carry on 23 touches was the major point of regression.

Daily's ability to never fully go down was simply not present in Coleman during Army's season opener, and the ripple effect was felt throughout the offense. Star playmaker Noah Short was held to under 4.0 YPC and, while still picking up 78 yards, was far less frequent of a weapon in the passing game than he was at times previously.

Texans' Defensive Front Overperformed Expectations

Army's ground-and-pound offensive scheme was nearly unstoppable throughout their 2024 season and was expected to lead the Black Knights to a major victory on Friday night. Tarleton State's defensive scheme, however, was determined not to let that happen and was quite successful in doing so. On 66 carries, Army was only able to muster 280 rushing yards on just 4.2 yards per carry.

Nine tackles for loss were the story of the game on the defensive side for TSU, with a plethora of players, including Brandon Tolvert and Stephen Woods Jr., recording at least one. They continued to flex their power into the overtime periods, refusing to bend and forcing Army into tough situations that inevitably led to their downfall