ARMY/NAVY GAME IN BALTIMORE, MD
The city of Baltimore has had the opportunity to host one of the great college football traditions on six different occasions; most recently in 2016 and like many more to come.
Though the two teams are no longer part of the national title conversation, when you think of the great college football rivalries of all time, you can’t help but think about the Army/Navy game. It is the season-ending game for the country’s two largest service academies. It is played on the second Saturday of December when all other major college teams have completed their regular season. For any true college football fan, it is must-see TV.
Athlon Sports in 2013 ranked Army/Navy the best rivalry in college football; exceeding such great match-ups as Ohio State/Michigan, Florida/Florida State, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Texas/Oklahoma and Alabama/Auburn:
“Go ahead and try to attend this game without experiencing a surge of patriotism. If the Super Hornets’ flyover doesn’t get you, the Army paratroopers will. If you miss the parades of Cadets and Midshipmen, then the non-stop spirit videos on the big board will stir your senses. By game’s end, no matter what the score, America wins. That may seem hokey to some, but they haven’t been there. Trust us, Army-Navy is college football in its purest state. Today, that’s something worth celebrating. Fans of the teams thirst for victory, and so do the players, who are truly playing for their fellow students. Afterward, they rejoin their classmates in preparation for military service, not an NFL career. For 364 days of the year, Army and Navy are on the same team. For three hours on a chilled December afternoon, they represent every soldier or sailor who has ever donned a uniform, walked a post or sailed into the dark of night. The football has been pretty good over the years, too. Five Heisman winners have participated in the rivalry, and dozens of Hall of Famers have taken the field representing the academies. Though Navy has dominated the scoreboard over the past decade, the game remains a huge draw and a still thrills fans across the country. Most important, it pits future military and government leaders against each other as they fight for their Academies and provide the country with an afternoon of prideful competition.” (Braden Gall, Athlon Sports, 11/25/13)
Tex Coulter, Glenn Davis, Roger Staubach, Napoleon McCallum, Keenan Reynolds and Mike Wahle are among those from the game who went on to play in the NFL.
by Rick Benson
ARMY/NAVY GAMES IN BALTIMORE
NOV. 29, 1924: ARMY 12, NAVY 0
A crowd of 80,000; the largest ever to watch a football game in Baltimore---including President Calvin Coolidge---jammed Municipal Stadium on an overcast day to watch the Cadets and their captain, Edgar Garbisch, sink Navy. Garbisch, a senior who’d played four years for Washington & Jefferson before attending West Point, drop-kicked four field goals (34, 44, 19 and 30 yards), recovered a fumble and had two of the Cadets’ six interceptions. Army finished 5-1-2; Navy, 2-6. Two years later, Navy Head Coach Bill Ingram would lead the Middies to a National Title.
DEC. 2, 1944: ARMY 23, NAVY 7
The Army/Navy game’s second installment in Charm City was undoubtedly the most significant in the entire 117 year history of the rivalry. With National Title implications on the line, late touchdown runs by All-Americans Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis led undefeated Army, the nation’s No. 1 team, past No. 2 Navy. Though averaging 60 points a game, the Cadets led only 9-7 in the fourth quarter before pulling away in front of 70,000 bone-chilled fans; each of whom purchased a war bond to secure a game ticket. Many war veterans, a number of them on crutches, attended the game, which had been moved from Annapolis to Municipal Stadium two weeks earlier. Blanchard and Davis would go on to win Heisman Trophies before completing their military commitments. Davis served in the Korean War and then played a few years with the Los Angeles Rams. Blanchard retired from the military after flying 113 combat missions in Vietnam. After the passing of his wife of 42 years, Blanchard married the widow of Baltimore Colts great Alan Ameche.
DEC. 2, 2000: NAVY 30, ARMY 28
Fifty-six years after they met here for the national championship, Army and Navy staggered in with a combined record of 1-19. In an exciting if error-filled contest, the Midshipmen — aided by two questionable calls by officials — withstood a furious rally by Army to win their first game of the season. Defensive end Brad Wimsatt scored on an Army fumble in the third quarter. Navy’s Brian Broadwater passed for one touchdown and ran for another before a then-record crowd of 70,685 at what was then called PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium).
DEC. 1, 2007: NAVY 38, ARMY 3
The 35-point victory gave Navy an unprecedented sixth straight win over Army (3-9). Reggie Campbell gained 227 total yards, including a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Joey Bullen kicked a 51-yard field goal, the second-longest in school history. An announced 70,610 at M&T Bank Stadium witnessed the fourth-most lopsided game in the series. Navy (8-4) advanced to the Poinsettia Bowl, where it lost to Utah.
DEC. 13, 2014: NAVY 17, ARMY 10
College Game Day crew broadcast from the Inner Harbor; giving the game some additional well-deserved national exposure. The Black Knights looked like they had new life under first-year head coach Jeff Monken, but it was not quite enough to pull out the victory against the Midshipmen; making it 13 in a row in the series for Navy. Army took an early lead when they blocked a Navy punt for a touchdown. It was their first defensive or special teams touchdown against Navy since 2001 — the last time they beat the Midshipmen.
Navy was able to recover later in the first half, scoring their first touchdown with 18 seconds to play in the second quarter. Keenan Reynolds found Jamir Tillman for the nine-yard score, tying the game up before halftime. The Midshipmen took the lead on a long field goal in the third quarter, and essentially sealed it on Reynolds' one-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run.
DEC. 10, 2016: ARMY 21, NAVY 17
Riding a 14-game winning streak into the 117th meeting between the academies, Navy decided to adorn their helmets with 14 stars. The Cadets already had more than enough motivation to snap their losing streak and did just that by downing the Midshipmen. Newly elected President Donald Trump was in attendance and the game, covered by CBS, was the final broadcast in the legendary career of play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist. Ahmad Bradshaw’s 9-yard touchdown run with six minutes to play, after Navy had stormed back from a 14-0 deficit to take its first lead, held up as the decisive score. Navy sophomore quarterback Zach Abey broke off a 41-yard touchdown run to give the Midshipmen a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Army won in spite of four turnovers (Navy had three) and capped their best season since 1996 with a bowl win over North Texas.
