However, unlike last year’s 31-13 win by Navy, this year’s game was close. Navy won 17-16 in a nail-biter that went down to the last few minutes.

While Navy jumped out to an early lead, Army responded right away and continued to score, appearing to have an opportunity to run away with it early.

But Navy battled back, regained the lead late and held onto a win despite some late-game drama and fumble scares. Navy boosted their record on the season to 10-2, dropping Army’s record to 6-6.

Both teams struggled with turnovers. They also ran the ball — a lot.

The teams were also very evenly matched.

Army quarterback Cale Hellums threw for 82 yards and one interception, while Navy’s Blake Horvath also threw for exactly 82 yards, along with one touchdown and one interception.

Both quarterbacks also ran just over 100 yards and scored a rushing touchdown.

Navy’s star wide receiver Eli Heidenreich posted 72 yards and a touchdown, while Army receiver Noah Short ended the night with 51 yards receiving.

The biggest difference was in each team’s rushing game, however, with Navy running for 190 yards and Army rushing for only 120.

Here’s a breakdown of the game.

First half

Army won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball after the second half.

Right out of the gate, Navy established their run game, which ranks first in college football in average rush yards per game.

Heidenreich ran for about a 7-yard gain early.

Horvath ripped off a gain of around 14 yards.

That rhythm continued. The ground game kept cooking and Army defense was unable to get Navy off the field during the first drive.

Eventually, Horvath rushed for a 5-yard touchdown and the extra point was good.

Navy led 7-0 — but not for long.

Once Army offense took the field, Hellums ripped off a 26-yard run on the opening drive to let everyone know that he and his team — which ranks fifth in college football in average rush yards per game — came to play.

Army continued to pound the ball and didn’t flinch early when facing a fourth down, which they went for and converted.

Hellums ended up rushing for a touchdown and Army tied the game at seven each.

Army defense grew stouter on Navy’s second drive, forcing them to punt around the 12-minute mark of the second quarter.

Army continued to pound the run game, gaining small-yard chunks here and there.

But Navy defense hung tough.

On a third down, however, Hellums threw to Short for 21 yards, placing the ball at Navy’s 31-yard line.

Hellums then ripped off another roughly 11-yard run and continued to gain first downs.

Army found itself facing a fourth-and-2 near the red zone and elected to go for it.

They managed to get the first down.

Despite the conversion, Navy defense was able to bend and not break, holding Army to a field goal.

The score was 10-7.

Army faced some long yardage situations on the next drive but continued to pull the rabbit out of the hat.

A third-and-16? No problem.

Horvath found Heidenreich for a 21-yard completion.

Things were appearing to go Navy’s way when Horvath fumbled near Army’s 35-yard line.

Army took over.

Hellums then threw to Army wide receiver Brady Anderson for about 24 yards and Army was at about the Navy’s 31-yard line in the waning minutes of the second quarter.

Army took a shot at the end zone, expecting a pass interference call after some contact between players in the end zone, but no penalty was called.

With several seconds left, Army nailed a field goal to put themselves up 13-7.

Second half

Hellums threw to Short for a roughly 29-yard pickup on the first snap of the third quarter.

Soon, facing a third-and-8 after Navy’s solid defense, Army was forced to punt.

Several plays later, before Navy could really get anything going, Horvath launched a poor throw, which bounced off a Navy receiver into the hands of Army cornerback Justin Weaver.

For a minute, it appeared Weaver ran the ball in for a pick six, but after further review, his knee was confirmed down after the interception, so Army would have to earn the six points the old-fashioned way.

Army attempted to capitalize on the turnover but was stopped, having to settle for a field goal on fourth-and-12.

It was 16-7 with Army leading.

Navy got back to their bread and butter, running a handful of times with the ball in Horvath’s hands.

They picked up a series of first downs and Horvath scampered for a 37-yard run.

Army defense adjusted, however, shoring up run holes and pass coverage, and Navy was forced to settle for a field goal.

It was 16-10 with Army up, a one-possession game.

Navy was within striking distance.

On the next drive, Hellums and Army continued to run the ball.

But on a crucial third down, a penalty knocked them back from third-and-3 to a third-and-8.

Hellums then dropped back to throw and was rocked by Navy’s defense, which strip-sacked him and came up with possession of the ball.

But Navy couldn’t convert the opportunity to points and after a failed third down conversion, they sent the ball back toward Army once again.

Army tried to march down the field to grab a few more points to make it a two-possession game, but Hellums committed a costly mistake, throwing an interception.

Navy, seizing the momentum, ran the ball all the way down to Army’s goal line.

Horvath attempted to rush the ball in for a touchdown and fumbled the ball.

Army gained possession momentarily, but the ball eventually bounced back into Navy’s hands, and Navy retained possession, escaping calamity.

Brutally for Army, Navy went for it on fourth down shortly after and Horvath threw a seed to Heidenreich in the end zone, putting Navy up 17-16.

Army regained possession but was unable to make anything of it and was forced to punt the ball back to Navy.

As the clock was winding down, Navy only needed to gain a few more first downs to put the game away.

All Army could hope for was a turnover.

For a moment, it seemed their prayers were answered.

Horvath rushed and was nailed by Army’s Kalib Fortner. Horvath fumbled the ball up into the air, but miraculously, he caught his own fumble and returned to the ground, marking the play dead.

What looked to be a ghastly error ended up being merely a close call.

Navy got the first down it needed shortly after and clinched its victory for another year.

After the game, Navy coach Brian Newberry praised his team and Horvath’s plays.

The coach told reporters on the sideline that Horvath was a warrior, finding a way to win the game despite not playing his best.

“What a game,” Newbery said. “Our guys found a way.”

In 1943, the AP Top 20 college football rankings were littered with the usual names — Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas. Yet hovering at the No. 2 spot is a team long-forgotten, even by most football fanatics: the U.S. Navy’s Iowa Pre-Flight team.

During WWII, military training camps fielded their own teams, writes The New York Times. The war had shuttered many university programs as service-aged men swelled the ranks of the military.

As service academies like West Point and Annapolis benefited from the influx of talent, so, too, did the training camp teams.

Older players, some of them former professionals from the likes of the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, suited up for teams like Great Lakes Navy, Del Monte Pre-Flight and March Field. By 1943, four of those teams were in the AP Top 10, beating out storied football programs.

Among the standouts was Iowa Pre-Flight’s fullback, Dick Todd, a four-year veteran of the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) who would go on to play for the team four more years after the war. The team’s halfback Frank Maznicki had played for the Chicago Bears a year prior, and college athletes who had previously played for schools such as Marquette, Michigan State, Iowa, Pittsburg and Illinois also suited up.

The team was so stacked that Perry Schwartz, an end for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1938 to 1942, never started a game.

While based at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Navy’s Iowa Pre-Flight was a separate team from the university’s own Hawkeyes squad.

Known as the Seahawks, the team was coached by former Missouri coach Lt. Don Faurot, originator of the Split-T formation. Bud Wilkinson, who went on to become a coaching legend at Oklahoma, was his assistant, according to the New York Times.

Late in the 1943 college season only two teams remained undefeated: Iowa Pre-Flight and Notre Dame. And as their November matchup loomed, the eyes of a weary nation focused, just for a moment, on a battle playing out stateside.

On Nov. 20, 1943, as Col. David Shoup was reporting on Tarawa, “Casualties many; percentage of dead not known; combat efficiency: We are winning,” No. 1 Notre Dame was suiting up to play the second-ranked Iowa Pre-Flight team.

Although a weaker schedule, injuries and the last-minute transfer of six players, including its starting quarterback, Jack Williams, to other bases had the undefeated Seahawks heading into the game against the Fighting Irish a 20-point underdog, Notre Dame head coach, Frank Leahy, was rightfully skeptical.

“Even though recent personnel changes have ruined the Seahawk line-up,” reads a 1943 New York Times article, “Frank Leahy sees nothing except fiendish specters of defeat.”

In addition, the pair of undefeated teams would also solve, wrote famed sportswriter Allison Danzig, “whether a top-flight college football team is in the same class with a crack professional club.”

“The laboratory will be the Notre Dame stadium,” Danzig continued. “The guinea pigs will be the Fighting Irish and the Seahawks of the Iowa Navy Pre-Flight School.”

From the jump, Notre Dame fought from behind against what Danzig termed “a thunderous onslaught [from] a combination of former professional and Big Ten college players.”

In the opening two quarters, the Seahawks took a 7-0 lead over the undefeated Fighting Irish, with seven first downs to the latter’s two.

The score evened after a 65-yard touchdown run from the opening kickoff, but from there the game stalled until the fourth quarter when the Seahawks, despite its quarterback suffering from a broken jaw, cashed in on a Notre Dame fumble.

A missed kick, however, put the game back within Notre Dame’s reach and they quickly capitalized on it, with Creighton Miller, one of the “chief artisans” of the victory, sneaking in from the Seahawk’s 6-yard line for a tying touchdown.

Kicker Fred Earley knocked in the extra point, sealing a 14-13 victory for Notre Dame.

“Any doubts as to the majestic stature of the Notre Dame football team of 1943 melted today in the crucible of one of the great gridiron games of this or any other season,” Danzig concluded.

Yet Notre Dame’s storied season would suffer a defeat in its final game at the hands of another service team, the Great Lakes Bluejackets.

The Bluejackets would ultimately finish No. 6 in the AP rankings for the season, due to its two previous losses. Notre Dame, with its one, hung on to its No. 1 ranking and eked out a national championship.

Iowa Pre-Flight would finish second in the rankings and by the end of 1945, all service teams were disbanded.

The team has been largely forgotten, but perhaps that’s fitting for the men, writes Danzig, who played “for the sheer enjoyment of taking and giving someone a physical going-over.”

The 2025 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.

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.

However, less than a dozen cadets or midshipmen who played for their school have gone on to receive the nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.

Six midshipmen who lettered in varsity football have received the honor, while five cadets from West Point — who played, albeit minor roles, on their teams — would go on the receive the award.

Four of those came prior to World War II, including three — Navy’s Allen Buchanan, Jonas Ingram and Frederick McNair Jr. — from the same Vera Cruz campaign in Mexico in 1914. (Ingram held the distinction of being the only player to score a touchdown during the 1906 Army-Navy game.) The fourth, presented to Carlton Hutchins in 1938, was a rare peacetime award.

Hutchins played for Navy from 1922 to 1925 and was awarded the peacetime Medal of Honor for remaining at the controls of his damaged PBY-2 seaplane during a tactical exercise and, according to his citation, “endeavoring to bring the damaged plane to a safe landing and to afford an opportunity for his crew to escape by parachutes.”

Here are some of the players from this storied rivalry who would go on to earn the Medal of Honor.

Rear Adm. Richard Antrim

Richard Antrim played football for the Navy’s Midshipmen football team from 1927 to 1930 before graduating the following spring. Taken prisoner by the Japanese after the 1942 Battle of Java Sea, he was held as a POW in the city of Macassar in the Dutch East Indies. During this time, according to his citation, then-Cmdr. Antrim:

“Acting instantly on behalf of a naval officer who was subjected to a vicious clubbing by a frenzied Japanese guard venting his insane wrath upon the helpless prisoner, Comdr. (then Lt.) Antrim boldly intervened, attempting to quiet the guard and finally persuading him to discuss the charges against the officer. With the entire Japanese force assembled and making extraordinary preparations for the threatened beating, and with the tension heightened by 2,700 Allied prisoners rapidly closing in, Comdr. Antrim courageously appealed to the fanatic enemy, risking his own life in a desperate effort to mitigate the punishment. When the other had been beaten unconscious by 15 blows of a hawser and was repeatedly kicked by three soldiers to a point beyond which he could not survive, Comdr. Antrim gallantly stepped forward and indicated to the perplexed guards that he would take the remainder of the punishment, throwing the Japanese completely off balance in their amazement and eliciting a roar of acclaim from the suddenly inspired Allied prisoners.”

Antrim survived the war and was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman on Jan. 30, 1947.

Lt. Col. Harold Bauer

Harold Bauer, a three-year letterman at quarterback for Navy from 1927 to 1929, engaged an entire of Japanese squadron, alone, while out on patrol as a Marine aviator at Guadalcanal during WWII.

On Oct. 3, 1942, after an over-water ferry flight of more than 600 miles, Bauer sighted a squadron of enemy planes attacking the USS McFarland. Undeterred by the enemy’s show of strength, Bauer managed to shoot down four enemy planes and left a fifth one “smoking badly,” according to his citation. Bauer continued to engage with the enemy until his fuel ran out.

On Nov. 14, 1942, Bauer was forced to abandon his Wildcat fighter after shooting down two more enemy aircraft. He was seen in a life raft by other American pilots, according to the State Department, but was never found despite several days of rescue attempts. Bauer was initially listed as missing, but when the war ended, he was declared killed in action.

On May 25, 1946, the Medal of Honor was presented to Bauer’s widow and their son, Bill, by Maj. Gen. Field Harris at Camp Miramar, California.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur

The Army’s five recipients famously include Douglas MacArthur, who, while a cadet, served as the team manager during West Point’s 4-5 season in 1899.

Graduating in 1903, MacArthur saw combat in World War I — nominated for the Medal of Honor twice during the Great War and received four Silver Stars and two Distinguished Service Crosses.

His service during WWII would give rise to his legend, and he was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions defending the Philippines during the Second World War.

Lt. Col. Robert Cole

Robert Cole played for the Black Knights for all four years at West Point, graduating with the Class of 1939. As a paratrooper in World War II, Cole was among the first Americans to touch French soil, jumping into Normandy on D-Day as the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 502d Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division Regiment.

On the fifth day of fighting, Cole and his men, tasked with securing the last four bridges into the French town of Carentan, came under heavy fire from fortified German positions.

For over an hour Cole and his men were pinned down, sustaining numerous casualties from the enemy, a mere 150 yards away. Cole, observing “this almost hopeless situation,” issued his men to assault the enemy positions with fixed bayonets.

“With utter disregard for his own safety and completely ignoring the enemy fire,” reads his citation, Cole “rose to his feet in front of his battalion and with drawn pistol shouted to his men to follow him in the assault. Catching up a fallen man’s rifle and bayonet, he charged on and led the remnants of his battalion across the bullet-swept open ground and into the enemy position.

“His heroic and valiant action in so inspiring his men resulted in the complete establishment of our bridgehead across the Douve River.”

Cole would subsequently be killed on Sept. 18, 1944, during the second day of Operation Market Garden, the Allied invasion of the Netherlands.

Cole’s widow and 2-year-old son looked on as his mother accepted his posthumous award on the Fort Sam Houston parade ground just a few weeks after his death.

Lt. Col. Leon Vance Jr.

Leon Vance Jr., playing only one year of football in his freshman year, graduated in the Class of 1939 alongside Cole.

A command pilot with the 489th Bomber Group, Vance was flying with 66 Squadron lead crew on a pre-D-Day raid on the French coast when his plane was subject to a severe bombardment by the Germans. The flak instantly killed his pilot, wounded several members of his crew and took out three engines.

Vance, in shock, continued to lead his formation coaxing his B-24, “Missori Sue,” over the target and bombed it successfully.

Only then did Vance realize that his foot was attached to his leg by a few strands of intact tendons. Despite this and only one faltering engine left running, Vance successfully guided his B-24 back to the English coast.

After two months in hospital, Vance joined other badly injured personnel being evacuated stateside aboard a Douglas C-54 Skymaster.

Tragically, however, on July 26, 1944, the transport plane vanished somewhere on the Iceland-to-Newfoundland leg of its transatlantic flight. His body was never recovered.

On Oct. 11, 1946, Maj. Gen. James P. Hodges presented Vance’s daughter, Sharon, with her father’s Medal of Honor. She was just 3 years old at the time of the ceremony.

First Lt. Samuel Coursen

While never lettering, Samuel Coursen played football at West Point for his first three years. After graduating with the Class of 1949, Coursen was subsequently assigned to Company C, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, during the outbreak of the Korean War.

While leading his platoon in an assault on Hill 174 in Kaesong, North Korea, on Oct. 12, 1950, Coursen and his men came under heavy enemy small-arms fire. During the assault, one of his soldiers moved into what he believed to be an unoccupied emplacement, only to swiftly realize it was a well-camouflaged enemy shelter.

Seeing his soldier in distress, Coursen, according to his citation:

“rushed to the man’s aid and, without regard for his personal safety, engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat in an effort to protect his wounded comrade until he himself was killed. When his body was recovered after the battle, seven enemy dead were found in the emplacement. As the result of 1st Lt. Coursen’s violent struggle several of the enemies’ heads had been crushed with his rifle. His aggressive and intrepid actions saved the life of the wounded man, eliminated the main position of the enemy roadblock, and greatly inspired the men in his command.”

On June 21, 1951, Coursen’s 14-month-old son, Samuel, Jr., was presented with his father’s Medal of Honor award in a Pentagon ceremony.

First Lt. Frank Reasoner

This Marine-turned-cadet-turned Marine again has perhaps one of the more unique stories within the Army-Navy rivalry.

Shortly before his 18th birthday, Frank Reasoner enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he would serve for a year before his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1958. Reasoner never played varsity football, but he did participate in the 150-pound football team — dubbed Sprint Football today — a full-contact, full-speed intercollegiate varsity sport that has been played by the likes of Jimmy Carter while he was attending the Naval Academy.

Reasoner graduated with the class of 1962 before returning to the Marine Corps as a second lieutenant, then first lieutenant following a promotion in subsequent years.

Assigned to Company A, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division (Rein) FMF, Reasoner was leading his platoon deep into enemy territory near Da Nang, Vietnam, on July 12, 1965, when he and his men came under intense enemy fire.

Pinned down by an estimated 50 to 100 Viet Cong troops, Reasoner continuously exposed himself to enemy fire in attempt to provide cover fire for his men.

After the wounding of one of his Marines, 22-year-old James Shockley, Reasoner leapt to tend to his injuries. Despite the wounded Marine’s pleas to stay away, Reasoner, according to the State Department, “pushed forward toward Shockley” before being hit at least once.

Shockley survived the firefight. Reasoner did not.

On Jan. 31, 1967, Reasoner’s widow received the Medal of Honor on his behalf from Navy Secretary Paul H. Nitze during a ceremony at the Pentagon.

The first game, played on the Plain at West Point on Nov. 29, 1890, set the tone for the rivalry, with both teams meting out heavy punishment.

Navy’s captain, Red Emrich, was knocked unconscious twice during the game but continued to play, while Army quarterback, Kirby Walker, was also knocked unconscious twice and had to be carried off the field.

From there the intensity of the rivalry grew, coming to a head during the 1893 game. After the achingly low score of 6-4, the stands erupted into several bloody melees. To make matters worse, an incident between a rear admiral and a brigadier general nearly led to a duel after the Navy victory.

Amid the hubbub, Cleveland stepped in and banned the contest indefinitely, and for the next five years the rivalry was defused.

However, in 1897 Roosevelt deftly sought to bring back the match. In a letter to the Secretary of War Russell Alger under President William McKinley, Roosevelt wrote, “I should like very much to revive the football games between Annapolis and West Point.”

Roosevelt said that “if the authorities of both institutions agreed to take measures to prevent any excesses such as betting and the like, and to prevent any manifestations of an improper character — if as I say all this were done — and it certainly could be done without difficulty — then I don’t see why it would not be a good thing to have a game this year.” Alger and McKinley concurred, and the series resumed in 1899.

World War I would interrupt the rivalry twice — the games were suspended in 1917 and 1918. However, during World War II, the game itself interrupted the war. In 1944, after No. 1-ranked Army beat No. 2-ranked Navy 23-7, Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik received a telegram from the Pacific: “The greatest of all Army teams—STOP—We have stopped the war to celebrate your magnificent success.” It was signed “MacArthur.”

So this year give thanks to the Man in the Arena — and whoever you’re pulling for, make sure to guard your goat, guard your mule.

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.

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.

A soldier and a sailor, who previously had to rely on friends for rides and borrowing others’ cars, are now car owners after receiving vehicles from the United Services Automobile Association on the eve of Saturday’s 125th annual Army-Navy Game.

The financial company presented a Chevy Malibu and Chevy Equinox to Army Spc. Caleb Dooley and Navy Seaman Matthew Walker, respectively, on Friday at the National Mall as part of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recycled Rides program.

Special guests and Washington Commander’s royalty Joe Theismann and Robert Griffin III joined the festivities, with the Capitol’s Statue of Freedom in the background, delivering speeches about their support of USAA and commitment to honoring the U.S. military.

Dooley, a single father to a 1-year-old, had been borrowing a car for the past year. He was excited for the new wheels.

“It means the world,” Dooley said. “It’s going to take me from daily maintenance costs to taking that cost and putting it aside for my son.”

He said the first thing he planned to do with the car was drive home for Christmas dinner on Sunday with his unit, Eleven Bravo.

And as far as the outcome of Saturday’s game?

“Army’s gonna win, hands down,” Dooley said. “Army’s on a different level this year.”

Walker, on the other hand, was pulling for Navy.

Walker, a cyber warfare technician who’s only been serving for a year, was equally thrilled to learn he’d won the car sweepstakes. He found out when he was in his room and could hardly believe it.

The first order of business, he said, was to give his friend, who’s been supplying Walker with rides over the last year, a ride to the airport.

Griffin III, a Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl champion, and Theismann, also a Super Bowl champ and Heisman runner-up, attended the car unveiling as ambassadors of football and the services.

The military is close to Griffin III’s heart, he said, having grown up the son of Army parents who combined for 34 years of service. The experience taught him about sacrifice, he told Military Times.

He recalled watching his father leave for a deployment on his 12th birthday, forcing Griffin III to be the man of the house and take care of his sisters and mother, not knowing whether his father would come home alive.

“I lived that, I experienced that, I know what that feels like,” Griffin III said. “I know what these military kids are going through, I know what the families are going through.”

He said he cherished the opportunity to team up with USAA and viewed the Army-Navy game as a moment for the country to collectively thank the men and women who serve.

“It’s not just another game,” Griffin III said. “Our military members don’t get enough love, they don’t get enough compassion, they don’t get enough thank-you’s.”

He spoke of service members’ sacrifice of choosing American families over their own.

Theismann echoed the same sentiment.

Despite Americans worshipping at the altar of football, he said, the real heroes are the men and women who serve.

“These two teams are America’s team,” Theismann said. “I think it just represents young leaders in this country who are willing to make a sacrifice of their lives.”

The game between the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and U.S. Naval Academy kicks off Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The game will be broadcast by CBS. The victor will bring home the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, awarded to the winner of the annual rivalry game.

Navy went on a six-win run at the start of the season, but it was their offensive performance that plagued them in their three losses since then. The team only managed to score 14 points or less in those games. The Naval Academy finished third in the American Athletic Conference, behind Tulane University and conference champion Army.

The Midshipmen are currently 8-3 and out of contention for the College Football Playoffs, but they’re still playing for a lot. After this rivalry game, Navy will play a 6-6 Oklahoma Sooners team in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 27.

The team hasn’t beaten Army in three years, and a victory against their archrival would be huge, especially since the Black Knights just won their first conference championship, making them the No. 1 team in the American Athletic Conference. Experts have also ranked the 11-1 Army team as the No. 1 rushing offense in the country and the 11th defense.

If the spoils of victory are to be had, these players are the key to winning the game for the Navy Midshipmen.

Blake Horvath, No. 11

When Horvath missed the final seven games of his 2023 sophomore season with a thumb injury, things were looking dour. The Midshipmen finished 5-7 for their fourth consecutive losing season.

What a difference a year makes.

Horvath has steered the Navy Midshipmen to their first winning season in 5 years, and he’s putting together an impressive junior campaign.

He’s thrown for 1,154 yards, 11 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions this season and has notched 895 rushing yards with 133 carries and 13 tuddies on the ground. He already finds himself in rarefied air, sitting squarely in third place for most touchdown passes in the school’s history, needing only two more to set the all-time school record.

His historic campaign could continue Saturday if he’s able to light it up and down his school’s eternal nemesis.

Drew Cronic

The first-year Navy offensive coordinator will have his hands full Saturday, but if the season so far is any indication, Cronic looks to be up to the task.

His Wing-T offense, merged with a triple option scheme, has worked wonders for the Midshipmen. And he’s gotten his team to fully buy into his approach.

In a Sept. 18 interview on Glenn Clark Radio, Horvath praised Cronic for implementing an innovative system and creating a winning team culture, according to PressBoxOnline.

If the Midshipmen can walk the tightrope and strike a perfect balance between a passing attack and their signature rushing game, they’ll be celebrating when the clock strikes triple zeros.

Eli Heidenreich, No. 22

The Navy football team likes to run against their opponent. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they’ve got a versatile running back who’s also the team leader in receiving yards at 597, with 36 receptions and five touchdowns. But that’s Eli Heidenreich, the Swiss Army Knife of the team.

Especially in Cronic’s unique scheme, which toggles seamlessly between running plays and passing plays, the junior is the engine that makes everything click. In an Oct. 5 matchup with Air Force, Heidenreich ran for 100 yards and caught five passes for 101 yards, helping his team secure a 34-7 victory.

Case in point.

If Heidenreich can lean on his versatility and play like he’s been playing all year, it might be enough to unlock the whole offense and put the Midshipmen over the edge.

Riley Riethman, No. 90

In close games, field position is everything. The difference between your opponent starting out on the five-yard line instead of the 35-yard line is that they have to work harder to score. So if your punter can kick darts, you’re sitting pretty.

Enter Riley Riethman. According to the Navy, Riethman holds the Navy punting record for career average (43.7 yards) and single-season average (44.8 in 2023).

If the Navy wants to beat the Army, he’ll have to cinch those laces tight and get that leg loose, because the Midshipmen don’t want to give the Black Knights any more opportunities than necessary.

The defense

All it has to do is hold up and, like the age-old gridiron adage says, make more plays than the other team.

While the Army’s defense is statistically better, the Navy has key defensive players who can be game-wreckers.

Senior cornerback Dashaun Peele has already demonstrated his ability to take over a game. He’s recorded 39 tackles this year, with two sacks, and four interceptions. In the matchup against Charlotte, he had two pick-sixes, one for 61 yards and the other for 84 yards. He’s only the 2nd AAC player ever to record such a stat in one game.

And then there’s Colin Ramos, the senior linebacker and co-captain, who’s having a monster season, recording 110 tackles with three sacks and one forced fumble. He was recently named to the American Athletic All-Conference first team.

Set the tone for the defense and make enough plays against the Army offense and the Navy Midshipmen will go home smiling.