Army and Navy have combined to win 19 of their 23 games this season and have become important college football teams again. For the first time since 2017, both military academies are heading to a bowl game.
However, players and coaches aren’t focused on that — not with the 125th Army-Navy game coming up on Saturday.
“It’s a game and a season really all of its own,” Army coach Jeff Monken said Tuesday. “We’ve had a good year. You make it a great year by winning this game coming up on Saturday. Frankly, that’s just the way it goes around here.”
Monken’s Black Knights are ranked 19th in the country after defeating Tulane to win the American Athletic Conference. They have an 11-1 record, undefeated in their first season in the AAC, with their only loss to College Football Playoff-bound Notre Dame. Marshall awaits them in the Independence Bowl.
Navy will play Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl to end its first winning season since 2019. Still, the Midshipmen are not thinking about the Sooners right now.
“Oklahoma’s not on our mind right now because it’s all Army-Navy,” linebacker Colin Ramos said. “This is our No. 1 goal, and then after that, we’ll have about a week and a half, two weeks — whatever it is — to prepare. Right now, it’s Army-Navy.”
Ramos said that beating Army would mean more to Navy than their previous eight victories. Fellow senior captain Daba Fofana feels the importance when he sees how intense every practice is leading up to this game.
“It’s definitely amped up,” Fofana said. “We put a lot of emphasis on it naturally, but our mentality to deal with the big stage and just to play like we do, it’s another game. We’ve played this since we were young kids.”
Monken, in his 11th year at West Point, never shies away from talking about the Army-Navy game every day of the year. He ends some conversations with the phrase, “Beat Navy.”
Army would love to beat Marshall too, but standout quarterback Bryson Daily is proud of how he and his teammates have stayed focused in recent months. He expects the same for this big game.
“You come here to play in this game: the biggest stage possible, millions of people watching and a sold-out NFL stadium,” said Daily, whose 29 touchdowns are tied for the most in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision with Boise State Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty. “Records don’t matter. Rankings don’t matter. All that goes out the window for the Army-Navy Game.”
Army is a 6 1/2-point favorite for the game at the Washington Commanders’ stadium in Landover, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Despite all the success this season, athletic director Mike Buddie still feels nervous about this weekend.
“Thrilled that we’ve had the season that we’ve had, but the beauty of this game is this is the one that matters,” Buddie said. “They know that this is a big game, and our guys know this is a big game. We’re hoping we can stay focused the way we’ve been able to do so far and make Saturday really special, but it won’t be easy.”
Navy coach Brian Newberry called this “the most complete, well-rounded Army football team, the best Army football team” he has seen since he arrived in Annapolis in 2019 as defensive coordinator.
After a few games he would like to change, including a heavy loss to Notre Dame, this is still a must-win chance to claim the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which has recently gone to Army and Air Force.
“Winning the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, this game, is our most important goal in our program,” Newberry said. Facing a talented SEC team like Oklahoma in a bowl game in Texas is important, too, but he added without hesitation, “We’ll worry about that on Monday.”
