The future Army’s football program was on full display Saturday at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston.
Powered by two long touchdowns by rarely-used freshman fullback Godspower Nwawuihe, the Black Knights handily defeated UConn 41-16 to finish what was, at best, an inconsistent season with a winning 7-6 record. The victory also gave Army coach Jeff Monken his sixth bowl-game victory in seven games in his 12-year run at West Point.
The points scored were the most by Army during the season, eclipsing 38 scored against North Texas in an overtime loss in September. Army ran for 368 yards on 56 carries. The Black Knights played in nine one-score games, the most of any FBS team this season, losing five of them and entered the game near the bottom of offensive scoring among FBS teams with about 20 points per game.
“It was an incredible experience for our players and it was a great crowd for a cold winter day in Boston,” said a clearly overjoyed Monken. “I am proud of our players, they played hard and tough and played all the way to the end. It epitomized what we hoped what Army football will be. We are proud to represent West Point and represent the United States Army and a lot of the soldiers watching around the world.
“Our team did a great job of responding to difficult loss (a 17-16 loss to Navy) a couple of weeks ago. The magnitude of that game and the emotional toll it takes whether you win or lose and for these guys to respond the way they did, I am really proud of them.”
More importantly than the final score, though, might be the impressive play of several underclassmen who rose to the occasion Saturday and gave the Army faithful a glimpse of what might be to come in 2026 and beyond.
First and foremost was the emergence of Nwawuihe, who was named the game’s most valuable offensive player. First, Nwawuihe broke free for a 43-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give the Black Knights a 14-7 lead and followed that up with a 70-yard, tackle-breaking touchdown run early in the third quarter to put the Black Knights ahead 20-10.
Nwawuihe, who started the year as the fifth-string quarterback before being moved to fullback, finished the game with 171 yards on 12 carries after playing in only three games during the regular season and raking up just 25 yards on nine carries. He did not play in the Navy game two weeks ago.
But, Nwawuihe was not alone. Junior Jake Redina ran for 87 yards on 14 carries, by far his best performance of the season. And, of course, workhorse junior quarterback Cale Hellums, who Monken said at halftime woke up Saturday morning with a 101-degree fever, ran for 45 yards on 15 carries, scored two touchdowns and completed seven of eight passes including a touchdown.
Hellums, who was not the starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, finished the year with 18 running scores, second only in Army history to the 32 by Bryson Daily last season.
Junior Carson Smith ran for 49 yards on nine carries and scored Army’s last touchdown with 1:20 left.
Noah Short finished off his stellar West Point career with one of his best games. The senior slotback caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Hellums to tie the score at 7-7 in the first quarter. He also ran for 15 yards on five carries. With his performance against the Huskies, Short becomes the first Black Knight ever to rush and catch for more than 1,000 yards each in his career.
“Noah is a very talented player,” Monken said, noting that Short started his career on defense before moving to offense in his sophomore year. “Tonight, we got a chance to see him break some tackles. I am proud of him and happy for him. It is hard to believe that we played football for 125 years and he is the first guy to do that.”
To be fully transparent, UConn, which finished the season at 9-4, played without a number of starters, including quarterback Joe Fagnano, who completed 284 passes for 3,441 yards and 28 touchdowns with just one interception, and two starting linebackers. All-American receiver Skyler Bell, who had 101 receptions for 1,276 yards and 13 touchdowns during the season, inexplicably played just one series before opting out of the game and starting running back Cam Edwards was taken out of the game in the third quarter after rushing for 108 yards and one touchdown.
Even still, the Army defense played a strong game. The Black Knights limited the Huskies to just 84 passing yards and only 177 rushing yards and had one sack. Senior linebacker and co-captain Kalib Fortner, who led the team with six tackles, was named the game’s defensive most valuable player.
