Black Knights Begin Season With Matchup Against Rising Tarleton State Team

The West Point Army Black Knights are coming off their best season in the institution's history, but there are a lot of questions surrounding the team for the upcoming year, which is rapidly approaching.

The Black Knights will open their season on August 29 against the Tarleton State Texans and then will immediately face off with a tough BIG-12 squad: Kansas State Wildcats.

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The Texans are not a team that they should overlook. Even though they have only been a Division I program for a few years, they have already started to find their footing, posting a 10-win year last season.

Last season the Black Knights posted their first 12-win finish ever which led to their first conference title. They made their debut in the American Athletic Conference, AAC, and safe to say they made quite the impression.

However, they are going to be missing two key pieces to their offense, including the heart and soul- Bryson Daily. Daily not only led the team in passing, but rushing as well. He posted over 1,000 yards in the air and an additional 1,600 on the ground.

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Daily ran out of eligibility and that is a big hit to their offensive production. There was hope that Kanye Udoh would be able to lead the pack carrying the ball, but the Knights fell victim to the transfer portal, and he will be suiting up for Arizona State this year.

Udoh was the second leading rusher as he had a breakout season posting an additional 1,000 yards for the Knights on the ground. Between Daily and Udoh the two had 42 of the 48 rushing touchdowns

Tarleton has a few stars that they are going to have to replace, especially as their star wide receiver, Darius Cooper, went to the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. Cooper posted nearly 1,500 yards of offense on the year.

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The first two weeks are going to prove really important for the Black Knights if they hope to make it to the 12-team playoff at the end of the season, and they definitely have their hands full.

Last year they barely missed out as they spent several weeks inside the top-25, but had a tough stretch with losses to both Notre Dame and the Naval Academy. The competition is too tough and if they want to make the playoffs they cannot lose those first two matchups.

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