The 125th Army-Navy Game will kick off at 3 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 14. on CBS.
Here’s what you need to know:
Where Is the Army-Navy Game Being Played?
For just the second time in the game’s history, it will be held just outside the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. The game will be played at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders. The last and only previous time the game was held there was in 2011, when Navy beat Army 27-21.
Who Leads the All-Time Series of the Army-Navy Game?
Navy leads the series 62-55-7, including a record 14-game winning streak from 2002 to 2015. Army has won four of the next five meetings, its best run since the early 1990s. After alternating wins for a few years, Army enters on a two-game winning streak against Navy.
What Happened During Last Year’s Army-Navy Game?
Army won 17-11 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, before an announced sellout crowd of 65,878. The game came down to a play at the goal line in the final seconds. Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai was stopped inches from the end zone on fourth down with time running out. Army built a 10-0 lead at halftime. Quarterback Bryson Daily threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Riley, and Quinn Maretzki added a 47-yard field goal.
Army seemed to put the game away with a 44-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that made it 17-3. However, Lavatai engineered a comeback, connecting with Jayden Umbarger for a 14-yard touchdown that made it 17-9 with 2:47 to play. After forcing Army to punt, Navy got the ball back at its own 36-yard line with 1:39 to go. Lavatai marched the Mids to the 1, but couldn’t punch in the winning score.
What Do I Need to Know About Army and Navy This Year?
Navy has put together its best season since the 2019 team finished 11-2. The Mids currently sit 8-3 and went 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference. They will face Oklahoma in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, at noon on Friday, Dec. 27.
Army, meanwhile, is 10-1 and finished first in the AAC at 8-0. It is ranked 19th in the country after defeating Tulane 35-14 in the AAC championship game and will face Marshall in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, at 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29.
Navy, which brought in Drew Cronic as its new offensive coordinator this season, found tremendous success early in the season running what Cronic dubbed a “millennial version” of the Wing-T offense. After back-to-back impressive wins against Bucknell and Temple to open the season, games in which Navy scored 49 and 38 points, respectively, Navy passed its first big test with flying colors.
The Mids hosted Memphis, the preseason favorite to win the American, and scored a 56-44 upset victory. Quarterback Blake Horvath accounted for more than 400 yards of offense himself, rushing for 211 yards and four touchdowns while passing for 192 yards and two other scores.
Navy continued its hot streak with easy wins over UAB, Air Force and Charlotte. The Mids were 6-0 and ranked No. 24 by the Associated Press heading into its game against Notre Dame at East Rutherford, New Jersey. There, the Mids suffered a crushing defeat, 51-14.
It started a stretch in which Navy lost three of four games, and Horvath was in and out of the lineup with injury issues. However, Navy righted the ship in its latest game as backup quarterback Braxton Woodson led Navy to five second-half touchdowns in a 34-20 win at East Carolina.
Army started off the season just as hot as Navy but never cooled down. With Daily back leading the Black Knights, they won their first nine games before their own blowout loss to Notre Dame, 49-14 on Nov. 23. Army bounced back to beat UTSA 29-24 before beating Tulane for the conference championship.
Daily was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He enters Saturday’s game with 877 passing yards with eight touchdowns and one interception, along with 1,480 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns.
What about the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy?
This game will decide who wins the trophy outright. Navy beat Air Force 34-7 on Oct. 5, and Army beat the Falcons 20-3 on Nov. 2. Army is looking to win the trophy for the second straight year. Navy last won it in 2019.
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