The Midshipmen prevailed in Saturday’s Army-Navy game at MetLife Stadium, upsetting the Black Knights, 17-13, in a game that saw far more passes than any college football fan would expect from these two service academies.
Another unexpected moment from the game was Navy’s successful fake punt on 4th-and-1 early in the final quarter when the Midshipmen had a slight 14-13 lead.
And it even came as a surprise to linebacker Diego Fagot, who took the snap and successfully got the first down for his team.
As Navy lined up to punt from its own 34-yard line, punter Riley Riethman was all ready to go. Except the ball didn’t come to him and ended up in Fagot’s hands. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker then took off and stiff-armed a defender to the ground before hurdling over another, as he picked up the first down and then some.
THE FAKE!
A big gamble pays off for Navy. pic.twitter.com/JRZMuNm4nM— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 11, 2021
He grabbed four yards on, unsurprisingly, his only carry of the game.
But the best part of this awesome fake-punt play is that it caught Fagot totally by surprise, and he showed off his lightning fast reflexes while making some moves. As he explained in his post-game interview with CBS, he had no idea the ball was coming to him.
He said:
“No one asked for it. The snapper, he just snapped it to me. I wasn’t expecting it. We weren’t expecting it. I didn’t know it was coming, honestly.”
In addition to Fagot’s reflexes, that was some incredibly fast thinking on his part after what turned out to be a “mistake” on the snap, as Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo later explained to CBS:
“It was a mistake. Sometimes, you gotta get lucky, and players make plays, and he made a great play.”
"It was a mistake." – Ken Niumatalolo confirms the fake punt was an accident.
Hey, whatever works. https://t.co/bHKjjfyeLj pic.twitter.com/tyiJVOEggU
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 11, 2021
A mistake that turned into an awfully memorable play in this long-time rivalry matchup.
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