Tag: Army-Navy

The best images from Army’s sixth win over Navy in eight years

Army stuffed Navy on fourth and goal to seal its sixth rivalry victory in the past eight years.

The Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen 17-11 on Saturday to claim the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy as the best service academy football team in 2023.

Army, who had won five of the previous seven editions of the classic rivalry, dominated the first half. The Black Knights scored 10 points and held Navy scoreless, taking a multi-possession lead into the break. The Midshipmen put together one solid drive deep into Army territory early in the first half, but starting quarterback Xavier Arline forced a risky throw that ended up in the hands of Army defensive back Max DiDomenico for an interception.

Navy didn’t score any points until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when they kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it a 10-3 game. Tai Lavatai, who replaced Arline at quarterback, did provide the Navy offense with a little more juice, as he threw for 179 yards on 26 attempts for the game.

Then, disaster struck. Lavatai was stripped in the pocket by Army linebacker Kalib Fortner, who recovered his own fumble and raced 44 yards back to the end zone to make it a 17-3 game with less than five minutes left.

Miraculously, however, Navy still made it a game. Lavatai marched his offense down the field, picking apart soft Army coverage for a 59-yard touchdown drive. After an Army punt, the Midshipmen had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes.

Lavatai again picked up yardage in chunks as the Black Knights surrendered easy completions. Once the Midshipmen got into the red zone, however, Army stiffened. On Navy’s final goal-to-go sequence, they had two incompletions and a short throw down to the 2-yard line. The Midshipmen tried to run a quarterback sneak on the final play, but Army stopped them inches from the goal line to seal victory.

Here are the best images from Army’s rivalry victory.

8 up-close photos of this year’s awesome Army-Navy game alternate uniforms

It’s the Silent Service against the Dogface Soldiers in the 2023 Army-Navy game at the home of the New England Patriots.

The 2023 Army-Navy game is here. And with it – in addition to all the pregame pageantry, in-game mastery of the triple-option, and the reliable Service Academy under bet – comes awesome uniforms.

Each academy has done an excellent job at putting a unique spin on these uniforms over the years, making them singular and special. Often, they honor a specific group within the Army for the Black Knights, or within the Navy or Marines for the Midshipmen. That group could be a career path, or even a historic unit. Last year, Navy paid homage to its history with NASA, while Army honored some of its World War II veterans.

This year, Navy is giving a nod to the “Silent Service” with its simple and sleek submarine-themed uniforms, while Army is honoring the “Dogface Soldiers” of the 3rd Infantry Division, who played a crucial role during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Both teams enter this game at 5-6. Army can win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy outright with a win, while Navy – having lost to Air Force earlier this year – would force a three-way split with a victory. A win for the Mids would, however, give first-year head coach Brian Newberry his first victory in the series.

Ahead of this year’s game in Foxborough, here’s a closer look at those super cool uniforms.

 

Army unveils some awesome ‘Dogface Soldiers’ uniforms for the 2023 Army-Navy game

These Army uniforms are NICE.

We’ve already seen the Navy’s sleek submarine-themed uniforms for the 2023 Army-Navy game, and now we’ve got some awesome threads for Army, honoring the 3rd Infantry Division.

The uniforms were revealed on Tuesday, and here’s the history behind them, per Army: “The 3rd Infantry Division’s success hinged upon its ability to seize and maintain the initiative against a determined adversary in harsh and unforgiving terrain. The Dogface Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division accomplished this feat through clear application of the U.S. Army’s characteristics of the offensive: surprise, concentration, audacity, and tempo.”

Check these out:

Navy unveils sleek submarine-themed uniforms for Army-Navy game

You’ll never hear them coming.

The annual Army-Navy game is always must-see. The pageantry and spectacle of the affair goes way beyond the play on the field. Each season, the academies roll out new and themed uniforms for the rivalry game, usually dedicated to a specific unit, battle or platform.

MORE: Navy Football’s aviation themed uniforms for Army-Navy blow Army’s out of the water

This year, the U.S. Naval Academy went with a nod to the “Silent Service,” wearing uniforms for the submarine community.

The all blue uniforms have contrasting white lettering and numbers to replicate sub numbering, and there’s no extraneous logos or patches to stay stealthy.

 

They’re simple, but they’re cool. Plus, any release video that can incorporate sonar pings is already a step ahead.

Army set to join AAC as a football only member in 2024

Army joins Navy as football-only members of the AAC starting in 2024.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) has found a replacement for the departing SMU Mustangs starting in 2024. The Army Black Knights will be joining the conference as football-only members beginning next season.

This will end a 19-year run as an Independent. The Black Knights were last part of a conference with Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. Army already holds a victory over a future conference foe this season. They defeated UTSA on Sept. 15, 37-29.

Army Rice
Charlotte South Florida
East Carolina Temple
Florida Atlantic Tulane
Memphis Tulsa
Navy UAb
North Texas UTSA

Army is currently 2-5 with four straight losses to Syracuse, Boston College, Troy, and LSU.

According to the report from The Athletic, the annual Army-Navy game will remain a nonconference matchup played after the AAC title game. Since Navy is part of the AAC, if they were the top two teams in the conference, they would play in back-to-back weeks per ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

The betting guide to Army-Navy: Consider the first-half over

And maybe think about the Navy moneyline too?

College football’s regular season officially concludes Saturday when Army meets Navy in Philadelphia for the annual rivalry game. The Black Knights and Midshipmen own this date in college football – typically the second Saturday in December – as no other FBS game is being played. Conference championships have been decided and bowl games have been booked. All that’s left is to settle a battle between the Mids and Cadets at a neutral site, surrounded by pageantry, pomp and a bit of hate.

Neither Army nor Navy is bowl-eligible this year, so, for the seniors on these teams, this will be the last college football game they ever play in before going off to serve in the military. The players at Army and Navy don’t get fifth, or sixth or seventh seasons of eligibility. They don’t get to transfer for their final year of college ball. For a lot of them, this is the biggest stage they’ll ever play on, and that all-out effort often gives the game some special moments.

Saturday’s game – which kicks off at 3 p.m. on CBS – marks the 123rd meeting between Army and Navy, and the 90th time the game has been played in Philadelphia. Navy leads the all-time series 62-53-7, but the teams have exchanged victories in each of the past four years.

Navy is set to wear uniforms honoring the academy’s history of producing astronauts, and Army is sporting some unique threads too.

It should be an entertaining game for fans and bettors alike.

The spread has moved both ways at various sportsbooks in recent days. As of Thursday morning, BetMGM and DraftKings had Navy favored by 2.5 points.

It has become increasingly popular among bettors to put money on the under in games between two Service Academy teams. And it’s hard to argue the math behind it. Since 2005, the under in games played between Army, Navy and Air Force has hit 83% of the time, and it’s a perfect 10-0 in the last 10 games, according to Bet Labs.

A big reason why this happens is that the three FBS Service Academies know each other so well. They largely recruit the same players and play incredibly similar styles of offense. These are also, arguably, the most important games on their respective schedules. So, there’s a ton of preparation that goes into these games for the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, and it can often result in low-scoring defensive battles. These triple-option-heavy teams also rarely pass, which can make for some results that don’t light up the scoreboard.

However, it seems like oddsmakers might be wising up to this. A lot of books set the over-under for the Army-Navy game at around 32.5 points, which is incredibly low. In fact, it is the lowest point total set for a game between the Midshipmen and Black Knights since 2005.

But instead of putting money down on the final score over-under, a smart bet could be to bet the over for the first half. Here’s why:

  • BetMGM and DraftKings have both set the first half over-under at 16 points.
  • In the nine games played between teams coached by Army’s Jeff Monken and Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo, the average first half scoring total is exactly 16 points.
  • In those nine games, the scoring total in the first half has been higher than 16 points five times. And in the past five meetings between Army and Navy, the first half total has gone over 16 three times. One of the times it didn’t was in 2020, when the game was played in a cloud of fog at West Point.
  • In Navy’s last four games, the Mids are scoring an average of 10.7 points in the first half while allowing 14.25. If that holds true in this game, that hits the first half over.
  • In four of Army’s last five games – I excluded the Black Knights’ win over UMass because, well, UMass is terrible – the Black Knights are scoring and average of 10.7 points in opening halves while allowing 7.5 points. Again, if that holds, that’ll hit the over.

So, the math and averages tell us that Army and Navy should combine to score more than 16 combined points in the first half. Both BetMGM and DraftKings opened the odds on the first half over hitting at -110.

One other bet to consider: Navy (ML)

The Mids beat Army last season, and one could argue that this Black Knights team isn’t as good as that one. Also, Navy should feel pretty good going into this game, having beaten UCF in its regular season finale.

Moreover, Navy has had three weeks without games to prepare for Army. Under Niumatalolo, when the Mids have at least three weeks to prepare for the Black Knights, they are 4-0. Navy is also 11-2 against Army at Lincoln Financial Field.

And while Navy has just four wins this season, they did play the 26th toughest schedule in FBS based on opponent winning percentage. Army, based on Sports-Reference’s strength of schedule statistic, played the 102nd toughest schedule in the country.

[mm-video type=video id=01gkpzqccf30xydns6de playlist_id=none player_id=01f1jz39sevw828w2p image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gkpzqccf30xydns6de/01gkpzqccf30xydns6de-7b72b8c775cdf6e4d21de33438b3b3fa.jpg]

[listicle id=1991517]

12 up-close photos of this year’s awesome Army-Navy game alternate uniforms

The Army-Navy game alternate uniforms never disappoint.

It’s bowl game time for most of the college football world, but before we get to that, the 123rd Army-Navy game is set for Saturday (3 p.m. ET, CBS) as the lone FBS game in Week 15.

This game is always fun and often full of surprises — like when the two schools actually pass the ball — but one element of it that seldom disappoints is the uniforms. For this year’s edition, both Army and Navy have two stand-out alternate uniforms.

Navy is rolling with some awesome space-themed looks, which celebrate the 54 graduates who have been to space, while Army is honoring the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division during World War II.

Ahead of the 2022 Army-Navy game, here’s an up-close look at both teams’ alternate uniforms and the respective hype videos introducing them.

The NASA threads Navy will wear vs. Army might be college football’s coolest alternate uniforms

Astronaut U, y’all.

A handful of programs in the sport have tried to claim ownership of being college football’s unofficial outer space team.

Purdue, Rice, UCF and Air Force have all trotted out space-themed uniforms over the years. The Air Force Academy has its connection with the Space Force, Rice and UCF have longstanding relationships with NASA, and at least 47 Purdue graduates have gone to space – including Neil Armstrong – leading the Boilermakers to wear uniforms honoring the moon landing in 2019.

But here’s the thing: No other institution of higher education in America has produced more astronauts than the United States Naval Academy. So, if any college football program has a claim to the “Astronaut U” tag, it’s the one in Annapolis, Maryland. They’ve sent 54 Midshipmen to space.

Navy pulled further ahead in college football’s space race on Monday, unveiling incredibly awesome NASA-themed uniforms for its annual clash with Army.

The uniforms were created in a collaboration with Under Armour and are extremely detailed.

On the right shoulder is NASA’s “meatball logo,” which was on the space suit that 1958 Navy graduate and astronaut Bruce McCandless II wore in 1985 when he took the first untethered spacewalk in history. The helmet the Mids will wear against Army feature hand-crafted paintings of McCandless floating in space with Earth in the background. The other side of the helmet has the classic block red NASA logo. Written on the back of the helmet is, “From the sea to the stars.”

The uniform’s letters and numbers are in the Helvetica font because its one that NASA has used for decades.

First adopted in 1963, the astronaut pin is featured on the pants and gloves the Mids will wear. It’s given to astronauts after they complete basic training. Navy will wear all-white cleats with tiny shiny dots to mimic moon boots.

On the left shoulder on the front of the jersey is a patch for the USS Enterprise – the world’s first nuclear aircraft carrier – which tracked the first American orbital spaceflight, Friendship 7. McCandless and William McCool (a 1983 Navy graduate) both served on the Enterprise.

Alan Shepard – Naval Academy Class of 1945 – was the first American in space and was one of NASA’s first seven astronauts. The most recent Navy graduate to go to space is Kayla Barron. The 2010 graduate was a cross country and track and field athlete for the Mids.

The 123rd Army-Navy game kicks off at 3 p.m. in Philadelphia on Dec. 10. Navy won last season 17-13.

While Air Force has already won the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy this season, the winner of Army-Navy will crown the best FBS Service Academy team that is not currently on NCAA probation for recruiting violations.

Featured image courtesy of Navy Athletics.

[mm-video type=video id=01g3xw0wzsvxxz7hzcs0 playlist_id=none player_id=01evcfkb10bw5a3nky image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g3xw0wzsvxxz7hzcs0/01g3xw0wzsvxxz7hzcs0-9d9f8ce305f0e277ce2dde5927243109.jpg]

[vertical-gallery id=1984911]

Watch: President Trump arrives at Army-Navy game

President Trump handled the coin toss at the Army-Navy game at West Point

President Donald J. Trump is at the Army-Navy game, which is being held at West Point due to COVID-19 restrictions.

He received cheers upon arrival and took the field and handled the honor of tossing the coin before the annual contest.

The President handled the coin toss.