The Army – Navy game. The last game of the year in College Football at Wannamakeabet.com before the Bowl Season kicks in. It’s always this way. And we wouldn’t want to change a thing. Army comes into Lincoln Financial Field in Philly as the more successful of the two teams. They have a 9-2 record and a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl against Houston.
Navy, which was the dominant force in the rivalry until two years ago, comes in at 3-9, with two of its three victories coming in September. Although Army has a ways to go before coming close to the winning streak Navy built between 2002 and 2015, it will be impressive nonetheless if it can put together its third straight win in the rivalry.
Preview
Although the balance of power in the rivalry has shifted, the way they’ll try and win Saturday’s game hasn’t changed a lick.
Both Army and Navy rely on run-heavy option based offenses to get down the field, which means we could witness a few methodical double-digit play drives in Philadelphia without a single pass play.
Army is clearly the better of the two sides, and it relies on the duo of Darnell Woolfolk and Kelvin Hopkins Jr. to do the majority of its work on the ground. Woolfolk ran for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Hopkins scampered for 783 yards and 10 touchdowns in Army’s first 11 games.
About Navy
Navy is led by 1,000-yard rusher Malcolm Perry and Zach Abey, who leads the Midshipmen with 14 rushing touchdowns.
Just like their counterparts, the Midshipmen don’t have a dynamic passing game, as their leading passer, Garret Lewis, has thrown for 398 yards, but they are capable of completing a long pass or two if need be. Most of the key players mentioned above have plenty of history in the rivalry and were the top performers in the contest a year ago, which Army won in a snow filled thriller 14-13.
In addition to trying to stop Army from winning a third consecutive game, Navy is driven by finishing a poor season on a high note and sending Abey and the rest of the senior class off with a victory.
But given the way they have played this season, it’s hard to pick the Midshipmen in Saturday’s game given they have lost six games this year by double digits. They did, however, play well recently, as they knocked off Tulsa before losing by a point to Tulane. On the other side of the field, Army is coming off a layoff that dates back to November 17, and it hasn’t played a FBS opponent since knocking off Air Force November 3.
That said, we still think Army is in a different class this year and should win and cover the number en route to a low scoring victory.