The Game of Honor - Army Navy 2024
For my 200th article on Substack, I wanted it to be something important. The matchup of Army vs Navy is perfect. It’s iconic. It’s tradition. It’s always one of the best games of the year. This time I wanted to go a little deeper and share some information I’ve learned over the years, as well as talking about what are always the best uniforms in college football. Each year the teams chose an iconic moment in their history to celebrate, and turn those into one wear only uniform. This game always hits different and you’ve never seen it, I strongly encourage you to check it out this coming weekend. Coverage starts at noon so find your local CBS station and take it all in. You don’t want to miss a thing. Let’s get into the matchup.
Both Army and Navy were ranked in the top 25 poll for the first time since this familiar TV jingle graced family rooms all over America for the first time in 1960. Think you know what it is? See if you got it right by clicking here. Navy got off to their first undefeated start since 2017 (not 2015 as stated in the article about this back in October) and Army got out to an undefeated start for the first time since 1996. Navy couldn’t sustain it so we were robbed of two of these matchups this year, but Army comes into this with only one loss. Army just joined the American conference this year after being mostly independent and they won. Navy has been in for a few years. Army dismantled Tulane on their homefield and hope to do it again to Navy and make it three in a row on a neutral field.
Navy
We’re going to start with the Midshipmen who come in at 8-3. They were undefeated going into the game against Notre Dame. It did not go well and they never recovered. But there is still a lot of be excited about here. As we talked about before, these teams run all game. But Navy quarterback Blake Horvath had a pretty good year in the air compared to what we’ve seen in the past. It’s also helpful that Navy didn’t have to go through three QBs in a season like they had prior. Horvath threw for 1,154 yards for 11 touchdowns and only four picks. He led the team in rushing with 895 rushing yards, a long of 90 yards, and 13 TDs. Navy fullback Alex Tecza has 700 combined total yards and nine total touchdowns.
Receivers don’t get a lot of run in this offense. As a reminder, both teams run the simple but hard to defend triple option with a heavy ground attack. The leading receiver this year for Navy is actually a running back. That would be Eli Heidenreich. 36 catches, 597 yards, 16.6 yards per carry, and five touchdowns. His season long 74 yard score was when he was lined up on the outside and he took it the distance on a screen. So he’s fast both as a runner and receiver. Navy always has a reliable middle linebacker and this time it’s Collin Ramos. He leads the team in tackles with 110. Another linebacker I want to mention is Kyle Jacob because he has three interceptions which is second on the team. Army won’t throw a lot either, but Jacob has been roaming the middle of the field making QBs pay all year long.
Navy as a school has a tradition of team captains like most do, but the take it a step further by naming the Captain of Captains. Not this year, but a football player has been that in the past, that was receiver Mychal Cooper in 2022. This year it’s actually a Massachusetts native, lacrosse player Jackson Bonitz from Shrewsbury. The job of the Captain of Captains is to be a voice of the student athlete body and work with other captains on how they can improve. Navy also has two Heisman winners in their history. Roger Staubach is still the last player from a non-power school to win the award back in 1963. He served in part in Vietnam before playing ten years for the Dallas Cowboys. He was also the second Navy player in four years to win during that time, the other was Joe Bellino. The theme of the uniform this year will celebrate the Jolly Roger, the skull and crossbones symbol. The motto Fear the Bones will appear on the uniform along with their callsign, Victory. Pictures don’t really do it justice, the video will give you goosebumps which you can watch here.
Army
The Black Knights come in 12-1 and once again, they are dominating the time of possession category in the country. Quarterback Bryson Daily has taken the mantle of Captain America and for good reason. He enters the game just under 1500 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns, that’s second in the nation behind Ashton Jeanty. But he isn’t the only 1,000 yard rusher on the team. Running back Kanye Udoh has also passed that mark and has punched it in himself 10 times. His burst is incredible. The passing game isn’t much to write home about. The last few years they have tried to throw more, but not this season. If it isn’t broken don’t fix it. The one loss again was against Notre Dame and like Navy, there was nothing that went right for them that game. Army has multiple players on defense with more than one interception. Casey Larkin and Jayden Mayes lead the way with three while Andon Thomas, Max DiDomenico, Justin Weaver, and Donovan Platt each have two. Daily ran for four touchdowns against Tulane and ran for five earlier in the year against Eastern Carolina.
Head coach Todd Monkin is now in his 11th year at West Point. He uses this as an opportunity to serve his country since he never had a chance to prior. He’s done some great work. The coaches all live in an area close to the West Point campus. All of the houses are right next to each other and there is one set aside for the head coach. Coach Monkin sometimes has to console players who don’t get the assignment they wanted on Branch Night, when the graduates find out what they will be doing and where. Daily for example is an engineering major, and wanted and got chosen for infantry. There is even an elementary school on the campus and the coaches children all walk there together. At every game day, the barracks are empty as all 4300 cadets are required to attend every home game. Each company has a mascot so select cadets show up to the games in consume which can vary from a donkey, a dragon, and more. Random but cool fact, you need security clearance to go to an Army game.
This year Army’s uniform will celebrate the 101st Airborne’s Rendezvous with Destiny at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. The Screaming Eagles were called in on the toughest missions and never turned down a challenge. The 88th anniversary of turning down the Germans order to surrender was a pivotal moment when they responded with “Nuts!” which in this case meant not happening. Same as before, the video can be seen here.
The 125th Meeting
I was so disappointed that I wasn’t able to go last year when the game was played in New England. It was way too cold and the ticket prices were off the charts. But if you ever get a chance to go, do it. Just be ready to bundle up. This year the game heads to Navy territory in Maryland, but this time in the NFL home of Washington. The build up to the game will have feature stories, the march in, the “prisoner exchange” when cadets randomly selected to study at the rival academy get to return to their school, and a whole lot more. The chaplain who says a few words before the start always has everybody ready to run through a wall.
The Commander and Chief Trophy will go to the winner of this game and goes to the academy (Army, Navy, Airforce) with the most wins against each other. Army is looking to keep it and make another trip to the White House. At the end of each game, the alma maters of both schools are sang and winning team gets to sing second. Both schools will say no matter how well they do all year, if they lose this game the season is considered a failure. My prediction as always is for a great physical football game, but I’m giving the nod to the Black Knights on this. I think they have the edge but in this rivalry, we’ve seen that anything can happen. Army at one point lost 14 of these games in a row, they want to stick it to Navy as many times as they can. Pride, honor, bragging rights, and the right to sing second. There is always a lot on the line in what’s become known as America’s Game.