Army finalizes 11-game 2020 schedule, adding games vs. UTSA, Citadel

A few weeks ago, amid the abundance of cancellations in college sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Army Black Knights had a football schedule with just five games on it.

But the athletic department at West Point went to work and cobbled together an 11-game schedule, which was finalized and released to the public on Monday.

“We are thrilled to have landed where we have landed,” West Point AD Mike Buddie said in a statement. “Senior Associate Athletic Director Bob Beretta has been doing the heavy lifting since early April. We have arrived at an awesome slate of games. We kept the two Academy games and we are thrilled to have Middle Tennessee State coming up to Michie Stadium on Sept. 5.”

In all, Army will play eight home games, and three of those will be against FCS sides. Their only true road games will be at UTSA and at Tulane. Army will not play any Power 5 opponents.

Army was originally supposed to play a game at Rice on Sept. 12, but the Owls pushed back the start of their season and the game no longer appears on the Black Knights’ schedule. However, there is an open TBD spot listed for Sept. 26 on Army’s website.

And indeed, it seems like both of the Black Knights’ C.I.C. games remain intact — despite Air Force’s season being in limbo after the Mountain West suspended fall sports. Air Force AD Nathan Pine has previously said the Falcons would “explore” contests against Army and Navy. Pine reiterated that in a statement on Monday.

Some of the games on Army’s schedule we already knew about — like MTSU, BYU and Georgia Southern — via reporting or those schools releasing their own statements. But two contests that flew under the radar are games for Army at UTSA and at home vs. the Citadel.

This will be the second straight season that Army faces UTSA, as the Black Knights beat the Roadrunners 31-13 last year in San Antonio.

Army is 7-2 all-time vs. the Citadel — the Military College of South Carolina — but the Black Knights haven’t faced the Bulldogs since 1994. Scheduling Army gives the Citadel a four-game non-conference slate for this fall. The Bulldogs also have games scheduled vs. Clemson, Eastern Kentucky and USF.

“Playing Army and going to West Point will offer our football team a unique opportunity we haven’t had for a while,” Citadel AD Mike Capaccio said in a statement. “I know the team and our fan base will be excited for this match up.”

Here’s Army’s full schedule, as of Aug. 24:

• Sept. 5 vs. Middle Tennessee State
• Sept. 12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
• Sept. 19 vs. BYU (3:30 p.m. EST on CBS)
• Oct. 3 vs. Abilene Christian (FCS)
• Oct. 10 vs. The Citadel (FCS)
• Oct. 17 at UTSA
• Oct. 24 vs. Mercer (FCS)
• Nov. 7 vs. Air Force
• Nov. 14 at Tulane
• Nov. 21 vs. Georgia Southern
• Dec. 12 vs. Navy (in Philadelphia)