In a game that no one could watch, the Army Black Knights nearly pulled their biggest win in a generation. This game was the catalyst for Army the rest of the way in 2018, as they won 11 games for the first time in program history.
Boomer Sooner
Coming into their September 22nd match-up with Army, the 2018 Oklahoma Sooners were ranked No. 5 in the country. Head coach Lincoln Riley was one of the hottest coaching names in the country and considered a play-calling savant and quarterback guru. The Sooners offense was led by future Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick QB Kyler Murray. In the backfield, the Sooners had two running backs that would each account for over 1,000 all-purpose yards. OU had future NFL wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, along with first-team All-Big 12 tight end Grant Calcaterra.
The OU offense averaged over 48 points per game that season, and scored 34 in a loss against Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. But on September 22nd, 2018, none of that mattered to head coach Jeff Monken and the Black Knights.
The Game
Army came into Norman, Oklahoma with a 2-1 record. The Black Knights started the year with a disappointing 34-14 road loss against Duke before rebounding with home victories over Liberty and Hawaii. Oklahoma was a four-touchdown favorite over the Black Knights. The game was set for a 6:05 PM CDT kickoff on…pay-per-view?
Due to contractual obligations to the regional Fox Sports syndicate, this game was only (legally) available to watch on pay-per-view for prices ranging from $35 to $55. However, over 80,000 fans inside of Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium did witness an all-time upset bid fall just short.
First Half
The game started out just like everyone imagined. Murray and the Sooners offense gained large chunks of yardage on the ground and through the air and scored easily. OU had the extreme talent advantage and would overpower the try-hard service academy. Thanks for coming out and thanks for your service to our country, but we’ll handle this football thing. Once Army’s offense got their hands on the ball, however, that narrative quickly shifted. The Black Knights would go on a 16 play, 75-yard touchdown drive that used nine and half minutes of game clock. It turns out, this Grand Ole Army team was in Norman looking for a fight.
Army converted four short yardage third and fourth-down attempts to keep the drive alive. QB Kelvin Hopkins and running back Kell Walker accounted for 46 yards on the drive. With just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, fullback Connor Slomka punched it in from a yard out to get Army its’ first points of the game.
The Black Knights took an early round haymaker from the Sooners but got off the ropes and responded with a few body-blows of their own; they were going to be in this fight all night.
Murray and the Sooners responded immediately, going 65 yards in 6 plays to take the lead 14-7. As would become customary for the Army defense, OU would hit a few explosive plays on this drive. Murray hit Lee Morris for 38 yards on the first play of the possession, before rushing for 16 yards two plays later. The Sooners found the end zone when Murray connected with CeeDee Lamb on a beautiful back shoulder throw from 11 yards.
The Black Knights second drive of the game mirrored their first: 16 plays, 75 yards, with a time of possession of eight minutes and 54 seconds. The biggest play of the drive was on Army’s first pass attempt of the game. Facing a fourth and long from the OU 37, Hopkins hit Kell Walker for 13 huge yards to extend the drive. Five plays later, Hopkins took it in himself from 5 yards out to tie the game back up.
The next Sooners possession was a four-play drive that took less than two minutes. After several long passes to WR A.D. Miller and Calcaterra set up a first down from inside Army territory, Murray did the rest himself on a 33-yard run to the end zone.
Army would pick up a few first downs on the next drive before the Sooners’ defense finally stiffened and forced the first punt of the game for either team. After a few empty possessions by each squad, they went into the locker room at halftime with OU leading 21-14.
Second Half
Oklahoma forced a three-and out and a punt on the Black Knights’ first drive of the third quarter, but joy was short-lived as Murray was intercepted on the ensuing Sooners possession. Army proceeded to go on a 19 play, 85-yard drive that took almost eleven minutes off the clock. During the drive, the Knights converted two third-down and long attempts, along with a fourth-and one inside the OU 25-yard line. Andy Davidson ran it in from the three-yard line to square this game up at 21 each.
Oklahoma, clearly wanting to establish a physical ground attack late in the game, gave RB Trey Sermon eight carries the following drive. Sermon ran well but was stuffed short of the goal line on fourth down early in the fourth quarter. The Black Knights got the ball near their own goal line, and held onto it for another ten minutes, going 65 yards on 17 plays.
Unfortunately, with 2:25 remaining in the game, Hopkins was pressured, his pass tipped at the line of scrimmage into the waiting hands of Sooners defensive lineman Kenneth Mann. OU took over and moved downfield quickly, setting up kicker Austin Seibert for a potential game-winning chip shot field goal with seconds remaining in regulation. Seibert’s kicked sailed left, and the Crimson and Cream-clad faithful got free football in Norman.
Overtime
After Army won the toss and chose to play defense first, Murray and company wasted no time finding the end zone. CeeDee Lamb’s 11-yard touchdown reception was his second score of the night. On the ensuing Army possession, Hopkins was intercepted by Sooners defensive back Parnell Motley on fourth and long and Oklahoma survived.
Army possessed the football for almost 45 minutes in this game. To no one’s surprise, they out-gained the Sooners on the ground 339 to 190. What was shocking was the Black Knights converting 17 of 26 third and fourth down attempts. The Sooners defense could not get Army off the field. Offensively, Murray was nearly perfect, going 11 of 15 for 165 yards through the air, with 3 TDs and 1 INT. He added another 71 yards and a score on the ground.
In a game that Riley referred to as a “dog fight”, Oklahoma’s high-powered offense ran just 40 total plays compared to Army’s 87. Nine different players recorded a rush attempt for Army, with Hopkins, Walker, and Woolfolk carrying the heaviest load. Upon leaving the field, Army’s team was greeted with an emphatic standing ovation from the home crowd. Even the understandingly frustrated Sooners fans appreciated that effort from the Black Knights.
Moving Forward
Both squads were incredibly successful for the rest of the 2018 campaign. The Sooners went 12-2, avenged their only regular season loss with a win over Texas in the Big 12 championship game, and made the College Football Playoff. The Sooners would have four players named All-Americans, including Heisman Trophy-winner Murray.
Army would not lose another game the rest of the season, finishing 11-2. The Black Knights won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy by defeating Air Force 17-14 and Navy 17-10. They went on to throttle the Houston Cougars 70-14 in the Armed Forces Bowl for their third consecutive bowl victory. The Black Knights finished ranked 19th in the AP Poll, their first ranked finish since 1996.
Near Miss in the Big House
The next year, on September 7th, 2019, the Black Knights took No. 7 Michigan to the brink in double overtime in the Big House, ultimately falling 24-21. Ultimately, that season was disastrous for the Black Knights, who finished 5-8 and lost to both Air Force and Navy. Taking a Power 5 blue blood down to the wire in back-to-back seasons was a reminder to the college football world that service academies are not to be taken lightly.
Navy Ends the Streak
While Army nearly knocked off two top-ten teams on the road, Navy’s victory over Notre Dame in 2007 is more widely known around the college football universe. Navy had lost 43 straight to the Fighting Irish, with the Midshipmen’s last win coming in 1963. But on November 3rd, 2007, Navy took down Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime.
The Mids ended the longest losing streak of one team over another in college football history. Navy hadn’t beaten the Irish on the gridiron since Roger Staubach was their signal caller. The most shocking thing about this win for the Midshipmen is that it should not have been a shock at all. After all, this was 2007, the Year of the Upset.
Notre Dame was absolutely dreadful in 2007. The Fighting Irish entered the contest against Navy at 1-7 and would finish 3-9. They lost 38-0 to both Michigan and USC and had not scored more than 20 points in a game all season. A week after the loss to the Mids, Notre Dame lost to Air Force 41-24. If Army had remained on the schedule, the Irish might have canceled the rest of the season.
Paul Johnson’s Midshipmen came into the match-up at 4-4, averaging 342 rushing yards and 35 points per game. Johnson and soon-to-be-head coach Ken Niumatalolo were in the midst of building a consistent winner in Annapolis, and Weis was a dead man walking in South Bend.
Aftermath
Navy won every remaining regular season game, beating Army and winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. They lost 35-32 in the Poinsettia Bowl to Kyle Wittingham’s Utah Utes to finish 8-5. Prior to the bowl game, Paul Johnson was hired away to Georgia Tech, where he went 82-61 from 2008 to 2018. Niumatalolo took over the reins in Annapolis, leading the Mids to incredible success over the next decade, including 3 double-digit win seasons.
Weis survived the horrid 2007 season but was fired after posting consecutive 6-6 regular seasons in 2008 and 2009. The Irish would hire Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly, who would become the winningest coach in Notre Dame history.
Closing Thoughts
Service academies have always had difficult restrictions on the types of players that they can get into their programs. As college football pushes further into the era of super conferences and pay-for-play, conventional wisdom would tell you the academies should be left behind in the dust. Although it is still too early to tell what will happen long-term, the results from the 2024 season would disagree with that sentiment.
Army went 12-2 and won the American Athletic Conference in their first season in the league. Navy went 10-3 and beat Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Black Knights moved into the AP Top 25 in mid-October and remained there through season’s end. Navy was ranked for several weeks ahead of a match-up against future national runner-up Notre Dame. Jeff Monken and Navy head coach Brian Newberry are proving that old school traits like toughness, discipline, and camaraderie will still win a lot of football games.
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