The most storied rivalry in college football writes its newest chapter on Saturday with the 122nd meeting between the Army Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen. “America’s Game” began in 1890, but it eventually became an annual occurrence beginning in 1899. While most of those meetings have taken place in Philadelphia, this year’s game makes a short trip to East Rutherford, New Jersey, inside MetLife Stadium.
While this is not the first time it has been played in East Rutherford — the last was in 2002 — it will be the first time in this new stadium. This contest also comes on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 game, so a venue located in the Tri-State Area is fitting as the memories of many will be on that event from two decades ago.
Navy leads the all-time series 61-53-7, but Army has had the better run of results lately, winning last season’s meeting 15-0 and capturing four of the last five meetings. This recent run of success follows a stretch that saw Navy win 14 straight and 17 of 19 from 1997 to 2015.
And that’s how this series has traditionally gone. The history of this game has rarely seen both teams swapping wins from year to year, but instead winning in spurts. It’s one of the aspects of this rivalry that makes it great. No matter what kind of season either team is having, they’re always capable of beating one another. So even if Army comes into this game with a record of 8-3, and Navy is only 3-8, it doesn’t matter.
In Army-Navy, anything is possible. Well, OK, maybe 50 pass attempts aren’t possible, but just about everything else is.
Army vs. Navy: Need to know
New Jersey has been good to Navy: As mentioned, this is the first game at the new MetLife Stadium, but it’s not the first time this game has been played in East Rutherford, and Navy fans will have good memories. East Rutherford hosted the game in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2002, with the Navy winning every game except 1993.
East Rutherford is one of 10 cities to host the game in its history. The initial meeting in 1890 was in West Point, New York, and the following season was in Annapolis, Maryland. But the game has also been played in Baltimore and Landover, Maryland, and Princeton, New Jersey, as well as New York City. However, the biggest surprise of all that many may not know is the game has also been played in Chicago, Illinois (1926) and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California (1983).
Army has had 22 different ball carriers this season: It’s pretty incredible, honestly. Quarterback Tyhier Tyler leads the team with 113 carries, but he’s one of six quarterbacks to get snaps this season. Fellow QB Christian Anderson has 91 rushes for 525 yards (Tyler has only 470). Jakobi Buchanan leads the team with 11 touchdowns and his 111 carries trail only Tyler.
And I haven’t even mentioned the team’s leading rusher yet. That would be sophomore running back Tyrell Robinson, who has rushed for 582 yards and three touchdowns on 59 carries. Robinson is the true big-play threat in this offense and a player to keep an eye on.
This is Navy’s worst two-year stretch since 2001-02: Even if Navy wins this game to finish 4-8, its record will be only 7-15 since the start of the 2020 season, and it’s been a long time since the program has had consecutive losing seasons. Ken Niumatalolo’s team went 3-10 in 2018 and 5-7 in 2011, but rebounded the following seasons with strong campaigns. That has not been the case this season. The good news is the Midshipmen have won two of their last four games and been competitive in most of their losses.
The last time Navy had consecutive losing seasons was 2001 and 2002. In 2001, the Mids finished 0-10 and replaced coach Charlie Weatherbie with Paul Johnson. Johnson would go 2-10 in his first season before revitalizing the program and going 43-20 over the next five seasons before leaving to take the Georgia Tech job.
How to watch Army vs. Navy live
Date: Saturday, Dec. 11 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: MetLife Stadium — East Rutherford, NJ
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
Watch along: Follow along live on Saturday and subscribe to the Cover 3 Podcast Youtube channel where we break down the Army vs. Navy action with analysis, special guests and more.
Army vs. Navy prediction, picks
As always, the best bet in any game involving service academies is the under. The under has gone 40-9-1 in all games between the academies (including Air Force) since the 2005 season. So definitely bet that. As for the spread, I’m on Navy simply because I don’t expect many points to be scored in this game and the style of play for both teams makes it more difficult for either team to pull away. So even though I’m taking Army to win outright, give me the Midshipmen to cover. That hook is too appealing. Prediction: Navy (+7.5)
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