What to watch in the 125th Army-Navy football game

Washington (CNN) — It’s the most unique rivalry game in college sports and one of the signature events of the college football season: Army vs. Navy.

Kicking off at 3 p.m. ET Saturday from Northwest Field in Landover, Maryland, the clash between the nation’s service academies is a staple of the final month of the college football season and marks the traditional end point of the regular season. It’s a game of pomp and circumstance, celebrating the athletes on the field that will go on to serve their country and a poignant moment of remembrance of all the soldiers and sailors around the world watching the game.

“It’s an opportunity for us to put a spotlight on these young men that are going to serve and lead our military (and it’s) really important to put our best foot forward in this game,” Navy head coach Brian Newberry told CNN this week. “The intangibles are on full display, and these two teams, they’re going to fight to a better end. And to me, there’s no better rivalry in the country. It’s not a rivalry that’s separated by a river or state line or conference foes. It’s a rivalry that’s rooted in a deep amount of respect. And so, it’s a special day.”

The Army Black Knights come into the game sporting an 11-1 record, looking to win 12 games for the first time in school history having already won their first conference championship. Navy, meanwhile, started off the season on fire but has cooled off in the final weeks of the season for an 8-3 record. The Midshipmen will be looking to avenge two consecutive defeats in the rivalry and win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy – which goes to the military service academy with the best record against the other academies – for the first time since 2019.

Here are five things to watch from Saturday’s game at the home of the Washington Commanders.

Army’s rushing attack

As is tradition, this game will be decided on the ground. Both teams feature running attacks that are a throwback to a bygone era of football, but it’s Army’s triple-option offense that is the main show.

The triple-option, run out of Army’s flexbone formation with a quarterback under center and three offensive backs lined up behind him, requires the quarterback to read what the defensive line is doing and then make one of three decisions. The QB can hand the ball off to a back to run up the middle, take the ball to either side of the field to run it himself, or to pitch the ball at the last second to one of the other backs for a toss play.

The dynamic rushing attack, which uses misdirection and some of the more creative play designs in college football, has led Army to its most successful season in years – including its first conference championship in school history.

The Black Knights boast the nation’s top running attack, averaging 314 yards per game – nearly 50 yards more than the second-place Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Quarterback Bryson Daily leads the team with 1,519 yards on the ground and has scored 29 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for the most in college football this year.

For Navy’s 79th-ranked defense, it represents a tough challenge but one for which head coach Brian Newberry thinks they’re ready.

“It’s gonna be a challenge to defend him, and we’ve defended him well in the past, and having two weeks to get ready for them and seeing some similar things from our offense,” he said. “It’s a little bit different, us preparing for them than it is for other people. And so, it’s gonna be a great challenge.”

Bryson Daily looking to cement his legacy

For Army, it all starts with their quarterback.

Daily, a tough Texan who is a senior this season, runs like a battering ram through defenses and is tough to bring down once he gets to the second level. After winning the American Athletic Conference last week, he’s feeling as good as he’s playing.

“I’m extremely confident right now, and that comes from the trust I have with people around me,” he told CNN earlier this week. “You know, the other guys on offense, how well the defense is playing – that brings extreme confidence. You know, my trust and relationship with (quarterbacks) Coach (Cody) Worley, you know that helps too, but when you have the five guys I have blocking in front of you, it’s pretty easy to be confident.”

Daily’s stat lines – in addition to his yards on the ground and the heaps of touchdowns, he’s ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing yardage and in the top 5 for average rushing yards per game – largely speak for themselves. The added bit that he brings to his squad is a level of leadership and grit that comes from making this season personal.

After a 9-4 season in his freshman year, the Black Knights went 6-6 each of the past two years. Heading into his senior season, Daily said he and the rest of the senior class made it a personal mission to “right the ship.”

When he takes the field on Saturday, it’s all about channeling that emotion.

“All that goes through my head is, you know, playing for the guy next to me, and I think that’s the mentality of the whole team,” Daily told CNN. “And if you’re playing for the guy next to you, you don’t feel anything, you don’t feel pain, you don’t feel tired, because all you’re worried about is playing your absolute hardest for the guy next to you so you don’t let them down. And if that’s your mindset, then it’s very easy to play hard. It’s very easy to play intense, because you’re playing for your brother that you love.”

Navy seniors looking to win CIC trophy

It’s not only personal for the Army seniors – their counterparts on the Navy sideline are looking to win their first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and need to beat their biggest rivals to do it.

The trophy, known to each team as the CIC, is given to the service academy with the best record against the other service academies. Both Army and Navy have already beaten the Air Force Academy this season and Saturday’s game will determine who gets the opportunity to have a lifetime of bragging rights.

After years of dominating the rivalry and the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy – Navy won the CIC 10 times between 2003 and 2015 – the Midshipmen are five years removed from their last triumph. It hangs heavy over the heads of seniors like fullback Daba Fofana.

“This game means everything to me, especially this year not having won a CIC since I’ve been here and we’re in a position to do it,” he told CNN. “It means a ton to just be able to have the opportunity to do that, even just for my brothers, because of the love I have for them, they deserve a CIC.”

Two winning teams bringing an extra spotlight to the rivalry

Navy is back to its usual standard of success in Newberry’s second year at the helm, having come on lean years since the 2019 season and that CIC win. Longtime head coach Ken Niumatalolo oversaw three straight losing seasons before the school decided not to retain him following the 2022 season.

Newberry took over before the 2023 season and started this season with six straight wins, bringing Navy back into the Top 25 rankings for the first time in years. Behind quarterback Blake Horvath – who is expected to be fully healthy and ready to play on Saturday after some injury woes in the second half of the season – the Midshipmen are hoping to match their top rivals yard-for-yard on the ground.

Unlike Army, Navy has had two weeks to prepare for the game and Newberry is expecting his defense – led by senior linebacker Colin Ramos – to be ready for the nation’s top running attack.

“This is, since I’ve been here, this is the most complete, talented Army football team that we’ve seen offensively, up front: big, physical, well-coached offensive line (and) the quarterback’s a special player,” Newberry said.

Army, meanwhile, is looking for a chance to make school history with its 12th win of the season. It would be the first time West Point has reached that mark in school history and put a cherry on top of a historic season for the program.

The 19 wins between the teams this season are the most combined victories in the rivalry’s 125-year history. The already heightened atmosphere is expected to be even more intense as the game returns to the nation’s capital for the first time since 2011.

“It’s important to play with emotion … but not let the emotion play with you,” Newberry said of the intensity on the field during the game. “And so you have to be able to drown out the noise and focus on doing your job one play at a time.”

President-elect Donald Trump set to be in attendance

Incoming President-elect Donald Trump will attend the game for the fifth time, adding an extra level of stateliness to an occasion already rife with tradition.

While the sitting president typically is tasked with conducting the coin toss before the game when in attendance, it’s unclear if Trump will take up this task as president-elect; when he attended the game as president-elect in 2016, he did not take up that duty.

Vice President-elect JD Vance will also be in attendance and made headlines Friday by inviting Daniel Penny, a former Marine, to attend with him in the presidential suite. Penny was widely embraced by right-wing political figures after being charged with fatally choking Jordan Neely earlier this year, and many of them celebrated his acquittal on Monday.

Trump previously commented on the case, telling Fox News, “It’s an awfully tough case, I think.” Vance expressed his support for Penny on Monday, posting to X, “thank God justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.”

How to watch

Time: 3 p.m. ET

TV: CBS in the United States, globally on the American Forces Network.

Streaming: Paramount+

Radio: Westwood One stations

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.