All-American Muscle: Hellums, 82nd Airborne Spirit Power Army’s 56-24 Destruction of FAU

J.J. Pavlick | West Point, NY | October 17, 2026 |

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Long before the thermometer at Michie Stadium plummeted to a biting 47 degrees before the wind chill, the tone for Saturday afternoon had already been structurally encoded into the Army Black Knights‘ uniforms.

The players took the turf sporting custom helmet decals honoring the legendary 82nd Airborne Division, matching the tactical insignia on the coaches’ headsets. Known globally as the “All-American” division because its original ranks spanned all 48 states, the Fort Bragg-based parachute assault infantry specializes in dropping into hostile territory and seizing absolute control.

Rather than settling for a standard, trading-punches football game, Army weaponized its triple-option identity to choke out the Florida Atlantic Owls in a 56-24 blowout. It was a clinical demolition that proved when these Black Knights (4-2, 3-1 American) stop beating themselves, they are a structurally terrifying matchup for anyone in the American Athletic Conference.

Choking Out the Owls Early

Florida Atlantic won the coin toss and chose to test Army’s defense first—a tactical mistake that was punished instantly. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, an overlapping zone drop allowed Jack Bousum to tip a Veltkamp throw into the hands of Elijah Walton. One snap later, the execution was flawless. Samari Howard took an interior pitch, turned the corner, and gashed the Owls for a 30-yard touchdown run, burning just 22 seconds off the stadium clock.

“That’s starting fast,” Hellums recalled. “It kind of boosted us right away. It gave us a sense of confidence.”

The Owls tried to fight back through the air, hitting Kelby Valsin and Easton Messer on deep post routes that targeted a young interior linebacker unit. True freshman Deion Miller was isolated on the coverage lapse, a reality Monken acknowledged after the game.

“He’s a true freshman playing high school ball a year ago, so he’s gonna make some mistakes,” Monken said. “We got to keep getting him coached up so that down the line, next Friday night and in games to come, he’s better positioned.”

But individual coverage errors matter very little when an offense is churning out eight yards per carry. Hellums answered the Owls’ passing game with a crushing counter-attack. Faced with an aggressive, overloaded look on third down, Hellums kept the ball on an option keeper, read his blocks downfield, and gashed Florida Atlantic for a career-long 58-yard house call.

“They got on a 4-1 front and blitzed about six or seven guys,” Hellums noted. “They didn’t have an edge defender, and I was able to get outside on the edge and take it.”

The Second-Quarter Suffocation Clinic

If the first quarter was a localized, high-scoring track meet, the second frame was a masterclass in structural execution and schematic suffocation. The Black Knights completely manipulated the game clock, imposing their will with a grueling 12-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard plunge by Hellums. It was the beginning of an unyielding interior push by an offensive line that ultimately cleared the path for 479 total rushing yards.

When forced into high-leverage situations, the front line performed flawlessly. On a critical fourth-and-2 from the Owls’ 43-yard line, Hellums weaponized the physical return of Godspower Nwawuihe to move the chains. Shortly after, extended by a defensive facemask penalty, Hellums capitalized on the systematic wear-and-tear on the FAU front, punching in a 2-yard score with 1:18 remaining in the half.

The operational collapse for Florida Atlantic escalated immediately on the ensuing kickoff. Stroman Bridges forced a brutal fumble on the return, handing the ball back to the offense at the Owls’ 28-yard line with maximum leverage. Hellums milked the remaining clock down to 25 seconds before plunging in from 3 yards out, cementing a devastating 21-0 second-quarter shutout and a 35-14 halftime lead—marking the program’s highest-scoring half since September 2023.

“Being able to score on every drive in the first half obviously put us in pretty good position,” head coach Jeff Monken noted. “After it got to where they had 14 points, I thought our guys really, really knuckled down and did a good job. Early on, I felt like it might be one of those games where both teams are just going to score, reminding me of a Wake Forest game a few years ago that ended up 70 to 56. Fortunately, our defense regrouped.”

Beyond the offensive explosion, the elements at Michie Stadium acted as a definitive structural barrier for the Owls’ special teams unit. Florida Atlantic kicker Morgan Suarez—who entered the weekend boasting a 60-yard field goal earlier in the campaign—was completely neutralized by a howling wind roaring straight out of the north. The unique wind patterns created a localized backstop effect, forcing a 50-yard attempt to fall short.

“When that ball gets up there, it kind of just gets—there’s almost like a backstop,” Monken explained. “And that’s what happened. The guy hit the upright and hit the crossbar in the same game. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before, but I’m glad they didn’t go in. Being able to get no points on a drive where they’re in scoring position is a big stop.”

Interior Traumatic Blunt Force and the Pile Jump

The opening sequence of the second half served as a structural death sentence for Florida Atlantic’s defensive front. Just 1:34 into the third frame, fullback Jake Rendina took an interior handoff, manipulated a collapsing standard front, and exploded past the second level for a career-long, 61-yard touchdown run that amplified the margin to 42-14.

“They kind of got into a different front than what they were in most of the game,” center Brady Small explained regarding the blocking adjustment on the breakthrough. “We made an adjustment, blocked our guys well, Jake broke a tackle, and then he was off. The offensive line loves Jake. He’s one of us, so we were sprinting down there to go celebrate with him once he got in the end zone.”

Monken noted the psychological burden that rapid score placed on the opposing sideline. “Getting another touchdown, pushing it to 42, really created probably a lot of anxiety on their part, just realizing they were going to have to score on about every drive if they were going to have a chance to catch us.”

Florida Atlantic tried to engineer a counter-narrative, grinding out an exhausting 18-play drive deep into the red zone. However, the Black Knights’ defensive line insulated the interior under maximum distress. Defensive end Victor Afolabi delivered a crushing third-down sack of Veltkamp, forcing the Owls to settle for a 41-yard field goal and halting Army’s 28 unanswered points.

“We got some pressure on four-man pressures, which was big,” Monken said on dialing up the heat without overcommitting coverage assets. “When he held on to the ball on a longer developing route or wanted to go to another read, those are the times we were able to make a counter move. It was good to see Victor get in there. He’s a 10.9-second 100-meter guy in high school, so he has a lot of ability but is really raw and not experienced playing football at this level. The game slows down for him the more he plays.”

Hellums delivered his historic exclamation point early in the fourth quarter. Capitalizing on a failed FAU onside kick, Hellums converted a tough fourth-and-2 keeper before completing a 2-yard pass to Howard—Army’s lone completion of the afternoon, marking their lowest completion total in a year. Hellums then jumped the pile from 1 yard out, surviving a booth review to secure his career-high fifth rushing touchdown.

The score tied the Army single-game record, set by program icons Bryson Daily, Kelvin Hopkins Jr., and Carlton Jones, and marked Hellums’ 10th career multi-touchdown performance.

“To be able to play quarterback behind those guys on the offensive line, it’s such a privilege and an honor,” Hellums stated. “Bryson’s a great friend of mine and an awesome teammate. I didn’t know that was the record, but being able to match it is pretty cool. Definitely the competitor in me wanted to beat it, but I’ll send him a funny text.”

Jeff Monken on Hellums Improvement

Monken praised the vast maturity of his senior quarterback following the record-tying afternoon, noting the contrast between his current execution and past developmental struggles. “He’s certainly playing much better this year than he did a year ago,” Monken shared. “Much like Bryson Daily during his junior year, he had some games where it was really a struggle. This senior year, he’s playing much better. It comes with experience and the confidence that comes with it. He also knows that he’s our quarterback. He’s not in a fight to prove he deserves to be the starting quarterback, which is kind of where he was a year ago. He’s taking care of that entire unit out there.”

Securing the Perimeter and Institutional Standards

With the scoreboard reading 49-24 late in the fourth quarter, Florida Atlantic mounted a frantic, high-tempo drive into Army territory seeking to close the gap. The threat was decisively neutralized when Nick Buchys recovered an Owls fumble at the Army 20-yard line with 3:45 remaining, completely shutting down the backdoor push.

“Taking each drive individually and focusing on everybody doing their 1/11th is what gets those stops,” defensive back Julian Marshall observed regarding the secondary’s assignment discipline under fatigue. “Within the plan, we talk about not giving up big plays. Limiting the big plays that happen on the field was the main focus today.”

Though the point margin reflected a comfortable rout, Monken remained focused on late-game operational regressions. He addressed an undisciplined 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that compromised team composition down the stretch.

“I was really disappointed with and embarrassed by that,” Monken stated bluntly, holding his team to an exacting standard. “That’s the fifth game of six that we’ve had one of those, and I’m about beside myself with that. It doesn’t show poise and mental toughness, and that’s something we really take pride in. We let our guard down a little bit on defense. They threw four verticals into a coverage they shouldn’t have been able to run that route into and scored a touchdown. Late in the game, they hit that post route again where we should be right there to at least make a play.”

Monken also evaluated the roster’s fundamental tackling progression, noting that while physical metrics have improved since an erratic performance against Louisiana Tech, execution must be consistently clean to survive upcoming conference stretches.

“Nothing to me is more agonizing than seeing guys on the ground in our jersey, and their guy’s not on the ground—he’s still running with the football,” Monken noted. “We had some missed tackles, but probably not as many as we had a couple of weeks ago. We’re certainly playing blocks better. We got off of some blocks on their run game today and made some tackles at level one and level two. I think our guys on defense, halfway through the season, though we didn’t have a lot of experience going into the season, are playing more loose and more free and faster. That just lends itself to guys on defense making more plays.”

To close out the afternoon, backup quarterback Bryson Luter entered the backfield rotation. Operating behind a fresh offensive line pairing, the sophomore signal-caller manipulated the interior of the defense before finding a seam and exploding downfield for a 69-yard touchdown run—the first score of his collegiate career—to put the final stamp on the 56-24 blowout.

“I’m super proud of Bryson,” center Brady Small added from the locker room. “Going in in the fourth quarter is not easy. We also changed the O-line, so I’m really proud of the offensive linemen that went in there and were able to block up whatever front they gave them. Bryson Luter made a great run and broke a tackle, and he was off to the races.”

The emergence of backup depth remains a vital long-term asset for Monken as he manages a highly thin injury report through the mid-season grind.

“Keep your fingers crossed,” Monken concluded on managing roster attrition. “Guys without experience… sometimes it’s an adventure when they go trotting out there. It’s good for them to get experience because at some point they’re going to play. We had guys like Julian Porter, who wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the year, but he’s earned it. Elijah Walton has played really well. Getting guys in and giving them opportunities to play, like David Tom Rogers, will help in the long run. I’m confident we’ve got to get better. There’s a place for Bryson to play more, and we’ll intend to use him more as the season goes along.”

With the victory, the Black Knights verified their dominance at their institutional home, advancing their record to 14-4 over their last 18 contests at Michie Stadium. More importantly, they honored the 82nd Airborne Division with the precise style of football the unit demands: aggressive, disciplined, and entirely overwhelming from the opening drop.