Raw emotion, pride, tradition, and history will trump five star recruits and name brand power programs on Saturday as the Army-Navy game will take college football fans back to a more genuine era. “America’s Game” is less about branding, TV eyeballs, and committees voting on “game control”, and more about pageantry personified. What the game lacks in NFL talent and playoff-caliber drama, it more than makes up for that with pure passion that is second to none in any sport. The Army-Navy Game is still considered the most “pure” rivalry in college football.
“America’s Game” is still held in such high esteem that it is become the final game of the college football regular season each year with the day all to itself. This year the game will be played at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL Baltimore Ravens. If anyone doubts the significance of the Army-Navy game consider that ESPN College GameDay will be on hand on Saturday for the first time ever in the history of the series. CBS will televise the game itself at 3 PM ET. CBS has paid to extend the rights to the Army-Navy game through 2018.
There was a time when the Army-Navy Game was for all of the marbles in college football. Both teams were once national powers and ranked with Notre Dame as the premier programs in the country during the 1940’s and 50’s. Nowadays, Navy is a perennial bowl team although rarely ranked in the top 25 while Army has fallen far behind and is in catchup mode with recent investments in facility upgrades that should have been done a generation ago.
The Army-Navy game originated in 1890 and has been played a total of 114 times. The series has been played continuously since 1930. Navy is in the midst of a record setting 12 game winning streak against Army and leads the all-time series with a record of 58-49-7.
While the game itself is entertaining enough, “The Long Gray Line” of the Army Cadets marching into the stadium is must see TV and is countered by the entrance of the blue clad Navy Midshipmen with their famed white hats. Of course, nobody from the academies sits during the game and there is a perpetual roar going on through all four quarters. The Army mule and Navy goat are among the most iconic mascots in all of sports.
In a series full of memories and big games perhaps the most famous Army-Navy Game took place in 1963 at the urging of Jacqueline Kennedy just a couple of weeks after her husband, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. The academies were going to cancel the game before the President’s widow intervened. Future NFL Hall of Famer and Dallas Cowboy Roger Staubach led the Midshipmen to a 21-15 win and Cotton Bowl berth. The 1963 game was the first to ever use instant replay during a TV broadcast and Staubach went on to win the Heisman Trophy. It could be said that the 1963 matchup was the beginning of the end as far as Army and Navy playing high stakes football. But still, the fire that burns within the players, coaches, and fans for this series keeps raging.
Heading into this week’s game, bowl-bound Navy is 6-5 while Army is 4-7. Both teams have strong option rushing attacks. Navy has a defense that is bad while Army’s is truly awful. Navy QB Keenan Reynolds is the man to watch in this matchup as he boasts a team high 1,082 yards rushing with 5.3 yards per carry with 20 TD’s.
Army first-year head coach Jeff Monken has been charged with turning the tide of this historic series. Even Navy players and alums have stated that it is important to the nation for Army to play good football. Saturday provides the chance for the Cadets to announce their return to glory in America’s Game.
