Although Army began competing in intercollegiate football in 1890,[1] the school's official record book considers the "modern era" to have begun in 1944. Records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent, and they are generally not included in these lists.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
Since 1944, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[2] The Black Knights have played in six bowl games since then, allowing the players to accumulate statistics for an extra game in those seasons.
The American has held a conference championship game since 2015, giving Army the potential for an extra game should it qualify in a given season.
However, values on these lists are often smaller than the values seen on other programs' lists for several reasons:
Like the other service academies (with the Air Force and Naval Academies also playing FBS football), West Point is a four-year undergraduate program that normally does not redshirt players. This means that for a player to play for four years, he must be good enough to see the field as a true freshman. Relatively few players are prepared to do this, which depresses career records.
In the modern era, the Black Knights have traditionally run an option offense that emphasizes running, including by the quarterbacks. However, Army ran a pro-style offense in the 1970s and the early 2000s,[3] and passing and receiving records tend to belong to players from those eras.
These lists are updated through Army's game against Rice on August 30, 2019.