The Navy Midshipmen have jumped out to a 9-2 record, good for third place in the American Conference, while the Army Black Knights are hovering above .500, with a record of 6-5.

Regardless, the winner takes home the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, an accomplishment either side would love to flaunt in spite of the other.

But for either team to win, they’ll have to lean on their strengths.

Here are the keys to the game that will provide a route to victory for the Midshipmen or Black Knights.

Offense

The Midshipmen’s rushing offense is impressive, ranking first in Football Bowl Subdivision college football with an average of 298.4 yards per game. Their passing, however, ranks 132nd, with the team only accruing an average of 136.4 yards per game.

Meanwhile, the Black Knights’ rushing attack isn’t too far off, ranking 5th in college football with an average of 256.9 yards per game. The team accounts for far less passing yards than the Midshipmen, however, only throwing for 78.3 yards per game on average.

Both teams have a record of possessing the ball for long periods of time.

The Black Knights rank No. 1 in time of possession in college football with an average of 35:16 per game, while the Midshipmen rank 17th with an average of 32:20 per game.

It’s likely that whoever dominates the time of possession will hold a distinctive advantage over the other.

Overall, the Midshipmen have a more experienced, balanced offense, with senior quarterback Blake Horvath — who led the Midshipmen to victory over the Black Knights last year in the Army-Navy game — leading the charge.

Horvath is the first quarterback in Midshipmen history to post back-to-back seasons with 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing.

On the year, Horvath has rushed for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns, and passed for 1,390 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

Meanwhile, junior Army quarterback Cale Hellums — who only got the starting job in the sixth game of the season after Dewayne Coleman was sidelined with injuries — has impressed in his short time playing. At 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, Hellums leads his team with 1,078 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He has thrown for 504 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Defense

Neither team has a particularly potent defense.

The Midshipmen’s overall defense ranks 92nd in college football — allowing an average of 398.7 yards per game — and 57th in rushing with an average of 143.2 yards per game.

Meanwhile, the Black Knights have a better overall defense, ranked 56th, but still give up an average of 357 yards per game. Their rushing defense ranks 63rd, allowing 147.1 yards per game.

An interesting wrinkle that will undoubtedly play out during the game — the Black Knights allow opponents to convert third downs 44.9% of the time, ranking 123rd in that category. That porous protection will have to contend with a Navy offense that converts 49.6 of their third downs, which ranks 12th in that category in college football.

What else to watch

Navy racks up a good amount of penalties, averaging 54.8 penalty yards per game, while Army is much more disciplined, netting only 24.1 penalty yards on average per game.

The Midshipmen’s star senior nose guard Landon Robinson, who was named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American by Sports Illustrated and USA Today, has had a monster campaign, totaling 54 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks and seven hurries.

The Black Knights’ senior linebacker Andon Thomas is no slouch either, totaling 96 tackles this year.

Scoreboard

At the end of the day, all that matters for each team is notching more points than the other when the clock strikes triple zeros.

How the Black Knights or Midshipmen accomplish that feat is up to them, but it would appear that controlling the time of possession and running the ball as much as possible will net an advantage over the other.

The Army-Navy game kicks off Saturday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. EST at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be broadcast on CBS.

Amid this backdrop came the game of the century that, albeit briefly, delivered a respite from the far-flung battles across the globe and drew attention back to a good, old-fashioned American football rivalry.

“The Army-Navy game symbolized the continuation of peacetime rivalries in a time of national crisis,” author Randy Roberts wrote in “A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation at War.”

“In a very real sense, it stood for exactly what Americans most desired, a return to the normality of American life.”

Yet the matchup almost didn’t happen. A little less than three years earlier, when the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor plunged the U.S. into World War II, there were calls from politicians and those within the military for Americans to set aside peacetime frivolities, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“You can’t train a man to be a fighter by having him play football and baseball,” said Cmdr. James Joseph “Gene” Tunney, the Navy’s director of physical training and boxing’s former heavyweight champion. College football, he said, “has no place in war or preparing for war.”

Others disagreed.

“The British are going all out for sports as a morale builder, despite their proximity to the Luftwaffe and robot bombs,” Rep. Samuel A. Weiss, D-Penn, said in 1944. “Why, they have scheduled sixty-five sports events over there, thirteen of them major events expected to draw between 65,000 and 125,000 people. Our government realizes that if the British feel the need for public sports events so keenly, we certainly ought to do the same thing when we’re practically out of danger here.”

Cmdr. Thomas J. Hamilton, the head of the Navy’s Pre-flight and Physical Training program and a former head coach at Annapolis, felt similarly to Weiss, and, since he had the ear of much of the military brass, managed to shoehorn collegiate sports back on the menu.

The war itself had been a boon to both of the service academies’ football programs.

According to SB Nation, a dismal 1-7-1 record in 1940 prompted the United Press to describe the U.S. Military Academy Cadets as “a national calamity,” and military officials seriously considered mothballing the football team.

However, due to the war, the widespread influx of young men into the ranks of the U.S. military meant a swell of talent.

Further still, West Point, determined to snap its five-game losing streak against the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen, hired Earl “Red” Blaik in 1941, who was, according to SB Nation, “spartan and abstemious by nature.” His most profane epithet was a blistering “Geez, Katy.”

Yet his soft-spoken manner belied spectacular football acumen. His insistence on clean fundamentals and timing earned him the title of “that metronomic drill devil,” but his team was the better for it.

Interest in the game, originally set for Dec. 2, 1944, at the Naval Academy’s 12,000-seat stadium, swelled, with the rivalry matchup relocating to the 66,000-seat Municipal Stadium in Baltimore just a mere two weeks before kickoff. Tickets sales went toward war bonds and sold out in 24 hours, raising $58.6 million for the war.

One of the country’s preeminent sports writers at the time, Grantland Rice, wrote that it would be “one of the best and most important football games ever played.”

Army entered the contest with an undefeated 8-0 record, while Navy, coached by Cmdr. Oscar Hagberg, who had just returned from a Pacific submarine command, came in at 6-2.

Led by running backs Felix “Doc” Blanchard and Glen Davis — known as Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, respectively — Army had decimated their opponents throughout the 1944 season, outscoring them 481-28. In fact, their last defeat had come in 1943 — at the hands of the Midshipmen.

Not to miss out on the spectacle was that of Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, Gen. Hap Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, and Adm. Ernest King, chief of naval operations.

And, while not televised — that would come the following year when Army was ranked No. 1 and Navy No. 2 — the eyes and ears of millions of Americans at home and abroad turned their attention from the battlefield to the gridiron.

“Win for all the soldiers scattered throughout the world,” came the pregame telegram from Army Gen. Robert Eichelberger, a former West Point superintendent stationed in the South Pacific.

Both teams entered the field that day in spectacular fashion, with the Navy contingent sailing across the Chesapeake Bay to arrive at the field, while the Army men were carried in on troopships escorted by Navy destroyers.

Winning the toss and electing to kick off, the Cadets struggled to get anything going offensively in the first quarter. So too did the Midshipmen. However, the defensive slog, noted New York Times sportswriter Allison Danzig, meted out “unusual ferocity of the give and take.”

By the end of the third quarter it was a mere 9-7 with Army in the lead after a safety. The game finally broke up in the fourth quarter with Army scoring two more touchdowns to win 23-7 against their archrival.

Despite throwing five interceptions and fumbling the ball three times, Army kept control, outgaining the Midshipmen 181-71 on the ground with Navy only completing 14 of 24 passes for 98 yards.

“It’s just about the best Army team that I have ever seen,” said Hagberg between bites of a post-game ham sandwich. “Our offense just couldn’t get going. They whipped us, and that’s just about all there is to it.”

“I think it was just a case of the No. 1 team in the country beating the No. 2 team in the country,” Blaik stoically stated in the aftermath.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme allied commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, was much less impassive in his praise, famously wiring Blaik: “The greatest of all Army teams. … We have stopped to war to celebrate your magnificent success.”

The Under Armour-made football jerseys and helmets include elements that honor the USS Chesapeake, USS Congress, USS Constellation, USS President, USS United States and USS Constitution, the only remaining frigate of them all and the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat.

The font for the jersey’s wordmark and numbers are inspired by the “Act to Provide Naval Armament” document that authorized the invention of the first fleet.

The Navy’s original frigates are also represented through six ropes woven into the sleeves and collars of the uniform, with 250 knots that embody the service’s anniversary.

The Under Armour logo on the uniform is also adorned with copper, a nod to the chemical element that was pivotal in the construction of the six frigates, which were draped in copper to protect the wooden hulls from marine damage.

The USS Constitution, which was undefeated in battle, utilized 12,000 feet of copper for its lower hull and thousands of copper nails to extend its life at sea.

The stone-colored pants of the this year’s uniform recall the uniform of sailors during the time of the original frigates and are emblazoned with six ropes for the six frigates and 126 knots for the 126th Army-Navy game.

The copper-colored helmet is intricately detailed with a sketch of the USS Constitution on one side and “USN” on the other side.

Splitting the helmet down the middle is a wooden plank displaying six ropes with 126 knots, again in commemoration of the 126th Army-Navy game.

A hype video that accompanied the uniform release page depicts the USS Constitution firing its cannons alongside the other five original frigates, with intermittent clips of a Navy Midshipmen football player donning the new uniform.

The Army-Navy game will be held Saturday, Dec. 13, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be broadcast on CBS. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST.

In its 10th season collaborating with Nike, the Army football program alongside the U.S. Military Academy’s Department of History and War Studies have unveiled its latest specialty uniform, 1775, for the Army-Navy game.

The uniform, from helmet to cleats, features details reflecting the history and traditions that have been the hallmark of the service for 250 years.

To celebrate the Army’s birth, the service academy is traveling back to 1775 to honor the ordinary citizens who “rendered extraordinary sacrifices for the nation,” according to the West Point uniform website.

Marbled white uniforms with their numbers stitched in purple honor “those who served and never returned,” according to West Point Athletics, and serve as a “symbol of strength of American democracy.” The purple stitching represents both the Military Badge for Merit that was issued by George Washington during the American Revolution and present-day sacrifices of soldiers, Gold Star Families and Purple Heart veterans wounded in service.

Emblazoned on the front of the Nike-made jersey is the West Point seal surrounded by a chain, representing the 65-ton iron barrier that stretched across the Hudson River at West Point, securing the entire river valley for the patriots. The “Great Chain” was one of the most significant engineering feats of the American Revolution and was a lifeline to Washington’s nascent Continental Army.

“The river,” writes Hudson Valley Magazine, “separated the northeast from the rest of the country. If the British took control of the river, the head would be cut off from the body, and both sides knew what would follow.”

The easily identifiable typography on the uniforms mirrors the style of the U.S. Constitution, which the players, upon graduation and commissioning, will swear to uphold in a compact that has “guided our nation throughout its vaunted history,” writes the West Point website.

The helmet features 1775, the year the Army was founded, on the back alongside the Army Seal, which “serves as a constant reminder that this team’s players represent more than just the [U.S. Military] Academy when they step on the field,” according to the Army’s website.

Etched atop the helmet is the espontoon, a spear point symbolizing the Army’s role as the tip of the spear for the nation’s military might.

In 2024, the school chose to honor the 101st Airborne Division, highlighting the unit’s service during its role in the Battle of the Bulge and the Defense of Bastogne during World War II.

Units honored with past West Point football uniforms include:

• 2016: 82nd Airborne Division
• 2017: 10th Mountain Division
• 2018: 1st Infantry Division
• 2019: 1st Cavalry Division
• 2020: 25th Infantry Division
• 2021: U.S. Army Special Forces Command
• 2022: 1st Armored Division
• 2023: 3rd Infantry Division
• 2024: 101st Airborne Division

The Army-Navy game will be held Saturday, Dec. 13, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be broadcast on CBS. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST.

Starting Jan. 2, interested racers may register their intent to participate in the new Armed Forces Series Challenge, an undertaking that involves completing five service-led races: the Coast Guard Marathon, the Air Force Marathon, the Army Ten-Miler, the Marine Corps Marathon and the Space Force T-Minus 10-Miler.

After completing their final race, participants are awarded a special Armed Forces Series Challenge medal.

The races, which are open to the public and held annually between April and December, can be completed across multiple years, giving marathoners an extended window to achieve the feat.

However, only those races starting in 2024 count toward the series, Jill Huffman, the Air Force Marathon interim-race director, confirmed to Military Times. That means those who previously competed in the various runs need to re-lace their shoes to cross the finish line.

“It is a clean slate,” she said, adding that while virtual options had been created during the COVID-19 pandemic, for this challenge the runs must be completed in person.

In addition to registering for the challenge, runners must still sign up for each event separately. Although the dates are subject to change, the upcoming races for 2024 are slated as follows:

• The Coast Guard Marathon — Sunday, April 7.
• The Air Force Marathon — Saturday, Sept. 21.
• The Army Ten-Miler — Sunday, Oct. 13.
• The Marine Corps Marathon — Sunday, Oct. 27.
• The Space Force T-Minus 10-Miler — Saturday, Dec. 14.

“Each branch of the armed forces has a unique character and distinguished tradition that is exemplified by their corresponding service-level running events,” Alex Hetherington, the Marine Corps Marathon director, said in a statement. “This is your opportunity to run with purpose, finish with pride and earn the distinction of receiving the Armed Forces Series Challenge medal.”

If the U.S. Military Academy at West Point prevails, the cadets will seize the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy outright and notch a 6-6 season thanks to a late-in-the-year winning streak sparked by their shock 23-3 victory over a nationally ranked Air Force squad on Nov. 4. If the U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen win, their 6-6 mark under new head coach Brian Newberry would be a form of redemption for the team’s seniors, who risk becoming the first cohort of Navy football players to endure four consecutive losing seasons since 2002.

Military Times picked six key people whose decisions and performances will likely play a critical role in the game’s outcome.

1. Army offensive coordinator Drew Thatcher

This year was supposed to mark the demise of Army West Point’s signature triple option offense, thanks to NCAA rule changes that outlawed its customary perimeter and downfield chop blocks, which strike defenders below the waist. Replacing the under-center option was the shotgun-based spread option offense.

Although Thatcher’s offense remained run-first throughout the early portion of the season, it marked a huge cultural shift for a football program that once rated a 2017 Washington Post article about how it “almost never passes.”

But that changed Nov. 18, when the Black Knights hosted a 7-4 Coastal Carolina team in its most recent game.

Army’s erstwhile under-center option returned with a vengeance that day — Army piled up some 365 rushing yards against an unprepared Coastal Carolina squad. The cadets barely bothered with the air, only attempting two passes.

In some ways, Thatcher has already impacted Saturday’s game — the Midshipmen had to prepare for both the spread option and traditional under-center flexbone option, rather than focusing on defending only one scheme.

Navy defensive coordinator P.J. Volker told reporters Nov. 30 that he’s preparing the Mids’ defense for just “about anything” as a result.

We’ll see how the Black Knights line up on their first possession.

2 & 3. Navy inside linebackers Will Harbour and Colin Ramos

Middle linebackers are traditionally considered the brains — and soul — of a defensive front, and Navy has two game changers in senior Will Harbour (also a team captain) and junior Colin Ramos.

The midshipmen, both of whom received All-American Athletic Conference honors this week, have combined for 170 tackles and 15.5 tackles this year.

Should Army West Point try to throw Navy off by using multiple offensive schemes, Harbour and Ramos will play a critical role in coordinating the defense’s response — and in ensuring their teammates remained disciplined in their assignments against the triple option.

4. Army quarterback Bryson Daily

It may be cliché to include the quarterback in a “players to watch” list, but Army’s junior quarterback from Texas has been a steady and reliable performer for most of the year, save for Army’s 62-0 loss to LSU, which Daily missed with an injury.

In addition to being the key decision maker in any option offense (whether in the shotgun or in the traditional flexbone), Daily has shown the ability to take over key games.

When the Black Knights traveled to Denver to battle Air Force on Nov. 4, Daily logged a career-high in rushing attempts (36) and yards (170) as his two touchdowns and a smattering of field goals proved the difference against the Falcons. Will he put together a similar performance on Saturday?

5. Navy slotback Eli Heidenreich

In his sophomore season, Heidenreich has quietly become one of the Navy offense’s most potent threats. He leads the team with 326 receiving yards, which he’s amassed on a mere 15 catches — make no mistakes, Heidenreich is a potent home-run threat for the Navy offense.

Heidenreich’s explosiveness can change a game on a dime. His 69-yard touchdown catch on a seam route against Charlotte on Oct. 14 broke a nearly three-quarter deadlock and catalyzed the Mids’ 14-0 road victory. The slotback also ripped off big plays against South Florida and Eastern Carolina.

If Army’s defense overcommits to stopping the run — Navy’s bread-and-butter — then watch out for Heidenreich to make a potentially game-changing play.

6. Army kicker Quinn Maretzki

This list wouldn’t be complete without discussing the player who had the biggest impact on 2022′s Army-Navy matchup. Last year, Maretzki nailed a 37-yard field goal to send the rivalry into overtime for the first time ever, and then the Hawaii native slid a 39-yarder inside the right upright to win the game in

He’s remained reliable this year in his senior season, making 11 of his 13 field goal attempts and all of his extra points. His career long kick came in September against UT-San Antonio, when he made a 45-yard field goal.

Saturday evening on the field at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the players and cheerleaders participating in the annual Army-Navy football game will walk to the side of the losing team and together sing that academy’s alma mater. Next, they will trudge across the field to the victor’s side to do the same thing.

Then, and only then, will one side celebrate and the other go off to seek solace in their defeat.

The moment, repeated year after year, says so much in such a short amount of time. It speaks to honor, tradition, compassion, civility, and unity – values that bind together those who play and those who support them.

It also represents an ideal that we once recognized was essential to our American experience –the rough and tumble reality of a democracy in action — tackling, fighting and scoring points against the opposition, but ultimately being united in our shared vision of what really matters.

The moment is even more poignant, of course, because these young men and women will soon be commissioned as officers in the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Some will perform great acts of heroism. Some may make the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. All will serve.

In performing their duty, they will be supported by the values that were sharpened – just as steel sharpens steel — in the halls, classrooms, parade grounds and playing fields of West Point and Annapolis.

But what about the rest of us who don’t wear the uniform but seek to be good citizens in a turbulent world. Are values such as courage, integrity, commitment, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism relevant to the rest of us?

At times it feels as if these traditional civic values have been replaced by one long argument that shows no sign of ending. It’s as if we’ve lost the ability to converse and engage each other in a respectful and civil manner.

Thankfully, many Americans seem to recognize that this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Earlier this year, a survey conducted by Ipsos for the Medal of Honor Foundation found that 71% of respondents believe society is not emphasizing values enough. Similarly, 79% believe strong values and character are important to all Americans and a whopping 87% agreed society would be a better place if we possessed stronger values.

The survey was released around the time that we were reminded of a real-life example of what happens when these values are put into action. Paris Davis was an Army Captain and Green Beret near Bong Son, Republic of Vietnam on June 17-18, 1965, when his unit was ambushed. He was severely wounded but time and time again, he returned to the battlefield to evacuate other wounded men under direct artillery fire and push back the enemy.

Davis was nominated twice for the Medal of Honor, and twice the paperwork went missing – “lost” his supporters were told. But they refused to give up until the President pinned the Medal of Honor around his neck in March. His bravery in 1965 and his subsequent civility reminded us that America can and must remember its heroes.

Most of people will never be faced with life-and-death moments like Paris Davis. But every day we each deal with situations when we have choices to make; choices big and small that define who we are.

By teaching the importance and meaning of these core values and providing real life examples of how they can be lived, we can make a positive difference in the lives of our families, our communities and our nation. Values can be taught. This takes commitment and a sense of boldness – the same qualities that those young men from the service academies will show on Saturday and beyond.

The stakes are high – nothing less than the future of the country – and the timing could not be more critical. Let’s get to work.

Britt Slabinski received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and is the president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which operates a Character Development Program. Thomas Mundell is the president and chief executive officer of The National Medal of Honor Leadership and Education Center, which offers leadership training centered on the values of the Medal of Honor.

They run the gamut from boring “Go Army, Beat Navy” clips to incredibly elaborate works of cinema. In fact, last year, an Army video recreated the infamous door scene from “Titanic,” but instead of Rose letting Jack slip into the deep blue abyss, it was the Army that let the Navy drown.

Here’s a roundup of some of this year’s spirit videos.

1. Bringing in the cavalry

2. The fat chance

3. The throwback

4. Flipping channels

5. The history lesson

6. The rhyming game

7. The goat is dead

He had a family legacy of service in the Marine Corps, including an uncle and a cousin who were killed in action. He had grown up seeing the iconic images of the wars in the Middle East, with Marines bearing rifles, doing tough work.

But for the former U.S. Naval Academy football team offensive guard, there also was the yearning for a challenge. The sense that he could use his experience in a combative sport for a greater purpose.

“The Marine Corps brand is not welcoming, which is perhaps the most charming thing about it,” said West, who is currently stationed at Marine Barracks Washington. “They’re not interested in you. It’s, ‘Can you keep up?’”

Each year, a strikingly large portion of the Naval Academy’s football team decides to answer that question and pursue the Marine officer route.

Since 2014, 46% of the players have become Marines, according to academy spokesman Scott Strasemeier. That’s compared to only 25% to 30% of Naval Academy midshipmen overall.

In November, 10 out of the 25 football players in the Class of 2024 received Marine Corps assignments, according to Strasemeier.

West, a 2017 Naval Academy graduate, said the football players, himself included, tend to be drawn to the higher physical and other standards of the Marine Corps, though he noted has great respect for the Navy and the people who join the service.

Football’s high-contact nature has something in common with the Marine ethos, West said — in particular the infantry, where several of his teammates ended up.

“I don’t want to compare football to real-life combat operations, but if you’re a football player who’s trained to think that way and use your skills in that way, it turns out a lot of the Marine Corps’ mission is hands-on, imposing your will on someone directly,” West said.

The message then-Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo had for his players also aligned with Marine Corps culture, according to West: Be disciplined, be detail-oriented, and find a way to win.

In West’s view, the team’s legacy of Marine Corps service is another reason many of the players are inspired to trade in their cleats for eagle, globe and anchor pins.

There was 1st Lt. Ronald Winchester, who was killed in Iraq in September 2004. There was 2nd Lt. J.P. Blecksmith, killed in Iraq in November 2004.

There was Brian Stann, who earned the Silver Star Medal for the valor he showed as a second lieutenant in Iraq in May 2005.

There was retired Capt. Bryce McDonald, who returned to the team as a coach after surviving an improvised explosive device flipping his Humvee in Iraq in 2006, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

Four of the team’s current staff members are Naval Academy grads who became Marines, according to Strasemeier.

The large number of future Marines on the team is sometimes obvious at a glance, West said.

On Nov. 19, 2016, days before the football team played East Carolina University, the academy’s seniors received their service assignments. That meant West and other soon-to-be Marines had to get their heads shaved, as a traditional rite of passage.

When the dress-uniform-clad midshipmen arrived in North Carolina, half of them were sporting freshly razor-shorn heads.

The intimidation factor was high, West recalled.

“The ECU fans were amused to see midshipmen players arriving in uniform but became a little bit unsettled at the sight of the Marine selects with bald heads offloading the buses,” West said.

The Midshipmen beat East Carolina that day, 66–31.

Nearly 200 midshipmen from the sea service school are set to make the trek from the academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to Foxborough, Massachusetts, ahead of the 124th Army-Navy game on Dec. 9.

The roughly 450-mile journey will cross through seven states and begin the Tuesday before the game, Midshipman Andrew Bacilek, the ball run commander, told Military Times. He and other midshipmen, largely from the academy’s 13th Company, are set to endure frigid temperatures as they take turns dashing with the pigskin up to New England.

“We’re not stopping just because it’s a little bit longer,” said Bacilek, who is set to make his third ball run this year.

Although the Army-Navy game has been held multiple times outside of its traditional location in Philadelphia, this matchup is believed to mark the furthest run for the midshipmen since the tradition began in the 1980s. They did not reportedly jog cross country to Pasadena, California when the game was played there in 1983.

The runners this year again will split the course, with each taking various 8-to-12-mile legs until their scheduled arrival at Gillette Stadium on the morning of game day.

“We’re also the ones driving and navigating and running things behind the scenes, which is something I’d say we take pride in,” said Midshipman Will McCrate, executive officer of the ball run.

He, Bacilek and other company leaders needed to think through the logistical challenges of racing along a route the group has not attempted before, including coordinating vans to follow the runners with supplies and connecting with local police and fire stations in the various towns they pass through.

“What drew me to want to participate in this in a leadership role is this is such a unique event,” said McCrate, who emphasized the camaraderie the ball run builds.

Whether the midshipmen can sustain cheers of ‘Go Navy’ and ‘Beat Army’ through the multi-day marathon remains to be seen.