Army football's Cale Hellums drawing comparisons to Bryson Daily

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Samari Howard received a sideline apology.

Cale Hellums was in a giving mood following Saturday's 56-24 rout of Florida Atlantic , and why not? Army's senior quarterback has a lot of good fortune to spread around.

The parallels between Hellums and Daily are becoming more clear every week. Daily took over as starter as a junior in 2023 and blossomed during a 12-2 senior campaign in 2024, posting a nation-high 32 rushing touchdowns and finishing sixth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Hellums learned much under Daily and became his heir apparent in 2025. Running the same offense and showing the same drive and spirit, Hellums guided Army to a Fenway Bowl victory, and now has the Black Knights (4-2) just two wins from another bowl berth.

And now Hellums and Daily share a line in the Army record books. Hellums rushed for five touchdowns against Florida Atlantic , tying the Academy record set by Daily nearly two years earlier to the day in a five-TD effort against East Carolina in 2024.

"Bryson's a great friend of mine,'' Hellums said. "He was an awesome teammate and someone that I looked up to when I was playing behind him.''

Hellums great in red zone for Army football

Hellums said he had no idea at the time that he had tied Daily's mark with an extra-effort 1-yard score early in the fourth quarter against FAU – he did know he already had four because when he followed fullback Jake Rendina into the end zone from 3 yards out late in the third. He paused in the end zone and counted out 1, 2, 3, 4 on his hand to celebrate.

Of the record-tying tally, "To be able to match that is pretty cool,'' Hellums said. "Definitely the competitor in me wanted to beat it, but I'll send (Daily) a funny text.''

What's also funny and heart-warming was his sideline reaction following the fourth score. On the play previous, split back Samari Howard went into motion, received the short "flip'' pass off the snap and got a hard 2 yards when he needed three. Hellums tried to go over the top on the next play, rolled left off his line and a defender and reached back, stretching the ball over the goal line. It was initially ruled a stop by the officials, but a video review showed Hellums had gotten the score.

In a conversation heard on the sidelines, Hellums apologized to Samari over getting the score (not to worry, because Howard produced the game's first touchdown on a 30-yard pitch play from Hellums just 21 seconds in).

For the most part, Hellums tries to remain even-keeled on the field, but he showed off a "lean at the tape' – much like a sprinter at the finish line – as he completed a 58-yard burst off the left side early in the first quarter, matching a score of equal career-best length a week earlier against Tulane.

This season, Hellums has 13 rushing touchdowns and 719 yards on 129 carries; last season, he had 18 rushing scores, and 1,223 yards on 304 carries. For his career (which includes a few appearances in relief in 2024), Hellums has 31 rushing scores and 1,970 yards on 450 carries.

Hellums had two rushing scores in the opener against Bryant, three in the win at Temple and two against Tulane. Hellums' 25-carry effort against FAU (netting 195 yards) comes a week after posting 38 carries and a career-high 223 yards vs. Tulane, the 11th-best rushing effort in Army history.

"He's certainly playing much better this year than he did a year ago,'' praised Army head coach Jeff Monken. "And, much like Bryson Daily during his junior year, has some games where it was really a struggle and didn't play as well as he would have liked. His senior year (Daily) played much better. ... It comes with experience and comes with the confidence of getting that experience.

"He (Hellums) also knows that he's our quarterback, which is kind of where he was a year ago, even at this point. So I think just that growth and maturity and he's just playing well, taking care of the ball - that's the most important thing that he's done.''