College Football Stories

Today’s edition of our bowl season countdown involves two games. Since it is Army/Navy week, we will highlight a bowl game for both the Black Knights and the Midshipmen. It is during this time of the college football season that we are reminded how important traditions are. One of the greatest of these traditions is the “under” in the betting total between service academies. Since 2006, the under has hit in 17 out of the 19 Army-Navy games. As of Dec. 9th, 2025, the total for this year’s game between the two rivals is set at 39.5 points.

The primary reason that the under typically hits in these games is because of the other great service academy tradition: the triple option offense. Both squads run the option, albeit in different ways these days. This scheme causes fits for many of the Midshipmen and Black Knights’ opponents, both in preparation and execution. Army and Navy are so familiar with it that they typically defend it better than most. Add in the clock-draining nature of the option offense and the defensive intensity that is ever-present in rivalry games, and you’ve got yourself a 13-9 game with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

While beating one another is the single most important thing each year for these two rivals, competing in a bowl game is also a big deal. Army has been to 11 bowl games in their history, and seven of those have come since 2010. Navy has gone bowling 25 times, and has a 13-11-1 record in those match-ups. The two teams have already been selected to bowls for the 2025 season. The Black Knights will go to the Fenway Bowl to play UConn while the Midshipmen will take on Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl.

2018 Armed Forces Bowl

One of the more interesting games that the Black Knights have ever played was in the 1988 Sun Bowl against Alabama. Army lost a tight one to the Tide 29-28, despite running for more than 350 yards against an Alabama defense led by Derrick Thomas. Eight years later, Army played the Yellowhammer state’s other football power, Auburn. The Black Knights fought hard once again but came up short against the Terry Bowden-led Tigers, 32-29.

One of the more impressive bowl wins for Army was in the 2018 Armed Forces Bowl against Houston. Jeff Monken’s Black Knights rolled into Fort Worth, Texas, at 10-2, fresh off a rivalry victory against Navy. The Cougars were 8-4, and had lost three out of their last four games. Army was looking to win their ninth game in a row after narrowly losing in overtime in late September to playoff participant Oklahoma.

First Half

From the start, Army was in control of this game. After forcing a punt on Houston’s first possession of the ball game, the Black Knights marched on a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, chewing up almost eight minutes of clock. The drive was highlighted by two big runs by running back Jordan Asberry and capped by a 1-yard score by quarterback Kelvin Hopkins, Jr.

After another defensive stand and Cougars punt, Hopkins improvised on a run play and took the ball 77-yards to the house. Army ended the first quarter up 14-0 on Houston. Things would start to spiral out of control for the Cougars on their next offensive snap. After Houston QB Clayton Tune was forced out of the pocket, Black Knights’ linebacker James Nautical caused him to fumble. The ball bounced into the hands of defensive back Cameron Jones who returned it 25-yards for a score. Army was up by three scores just fifteen seconds into the second period.

The Cougars finally got on the scoreboard on the next drive, as Tune engineered a 77-yard touchdown drive in under three minutes. The 3-yard toss to tight end Romello Brooker ended the shutout and made it a 21-7 game early in the second quarter. The joy of the Houston faithful was short-lived, however, as Army QB Hopkins hit receiver Kjetil Cline in stride on a play-action pass for 54-yards to get the ball down to the one. Hopkins did the honors himself on the following play, and the Black Knights went up 28-7.

Houston lost 22 yards on their next three plays due to sacks and penalties and were forced to punt from their own 3-yard line. Army’s Akyah Miranda broke off a near 40-yard return to set up the Knights’ offense inside the Cougar 10-yard line. Three plays later, Hopkins scored his third rushing touchdown of the afternoon. Houston made quick work on their next possession, going only 5 yards in 6 plays before punting the ball back to Army. Eight plays and 69-nice-yards later, a giant nail was put into Houston’s coffin as RB Artice Hobbs scored to put Army up 42-7 going into halftime.

Second Half

It would only get worse in the second half for Houston. Army scored on their first possession of the third quarter, another Hopkins rushing touchdown. After finally forcing an Army mistake and recovering a fumble, Houston promptly went four-and-out deep in their own territory. The Black Knights scored on their next two possessions to extend the lead to 63-7 with 10 and a half minutes left in the game. Back-up QB Cam Thomas came in for a hobbled Hopkins and led multiple scoring drives, including a 15-yard passing touchdown to Asberry.

The final score was 70-14 in favor of Army. The Black Knights rushed for 507 yards on 58 carries. Hopkins was the leading rusher with 170 yards and 5 rushing TD’s. Four other Army backs rushed for at least 59 yards, while the passing attack was a perfect 4/4 for 85 yards and one touchdown. The Army defense was suffocating, holding Houston to 320 total yards on 73 plays. That averages to under four and a half yards per play. The Cougars fumbled four times, losing two of those. Army was 7 for 7 on third down while Houston went a combined 5 for 16 on third and fourth downs. The victory over the Cougars marked four straight bowl victories for the Black Knights.

2024 Armed Forces Bowl

Navy’s first ever bowl appearance was a 14-14 tie with the Washington Huskies in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1924. Some 31 years later, the Midshipmen beat the Ole Miss Rebels 21-0 in the Sugar Bowl to earn their first bowl victory. Between 1924 and 1996, Navy went to just nine bowl games. From 2003 to 2019, the Midshipmen appeared in 15 bowls. Coming into the 2025 Bowl Season, Navy has won six of its’ last seven bowl match-ups.

In the 1981 Liberty Bowl, the Midshipmen took Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State down to the wire after battling back from multiple double-digit deficits. The Buckeyes held on 31-28 after recovering an onside kick attempt from Navy. Navy is the only service academy to have played in the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl.

One of the most memorable bowl games for any service academy in recent memory was the 2024 Armed Forces Bowl with the Midshipmen taking on the Oklahoma Sooners. In their first season in the SEC, the Sooners underachieved with a 6-6 record. The highlight of OU’s season came at home in Norman on November 23rd. The Sooners upset 7th-ranked Alabama 24-3, ending the Crimson Tide’s playoff chances.

Navy was 9-3, having one of their best seasons ever. New play-caller Drew Cronic and quarterback Blake Horvath were reinventing the offensive philosophy in Annapolis with the “Sling-T”. The Midshipmen had just thumped their arch-rival Army 31-13. This game had all the makings of a service academy upset and a Power 4 letdown.

First Half

Early on, this game did not look like an instant classic; it looked like another power conference blowout of a group of five team. The Sooners scored on each of their first two drives of the game. Running back Gavin Sawchuk had a 21-yard rushing touchdown while QB Michael Hawkins hit wide receiver Zion Kearney for a 56-yard scoring strike. The next two drives for each team saw the ball turned over on downs three times and one punt. Oklahoma even converted on a fake punt.

Down 14-0 midway through the second quarter, the Midshipmen finally showed some signs of life. On third-and-one from the 36-yard line, Horvath hit TE Cody Howard for a 21-yard pass play after a fake QB sneak. Three plays later, fullback Alex Tecza ran 11-yards into the end zone to get the Mids on the board, 14-7.

The teams traded punts on each of their next offensive touches, and with under two minutes remaining in the half, Oklahoma took over at their own 7-yard line. Back-to-back third-down conversions gave the Sooners a promising start to the drive, but ultimately a sack of Michael Hawkins killed any scoring chances. The two squads went into halftime with OU leading 14-7.

Second Half

The third quarter started off with punts after stalled drives by both teams. The fireworks returned at the 4:26 mark, when Horvath took it himself on a read option 95-yards for the game-tying touchdown. On Oklahoma’s next play from scrimmage, Hawkins fumbled after a hit from Navy LB Colin Ramos. The ball was recovered by cornerback Andrew Duhart and the Mids took over deep in Sooners territory.

There was not much time to celebrate on the Navy sideline. After going three-and-out, the Midshipmen’s Nathan Kirkwood missed a 38-yard chip shot field goal with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Sooners returned the favor. After driving 46-yards and holding the ball for over five minutes, Sooners kicker Zach Schmit missed a 52-yarder wide to the right. During this drive, a 56-yard Hawkins touchdown run was negated by a holding penalty.

The Midshipmen took over at their own 34-yard line with 12 minutes remaining. Horvath led Navy 66-yards into the end zone over 12 plays while draining over seven and half minutes off the clock. Midshipmen WR Eli Heidenreich had 31 yards rushing and receiving on the drive. Horvath added 16 yards on the ground, including a 6-yard rushing score to give the Mids their first lead of the day, 21-14.

With four and a half minutes remaining, OU took over at their own 25-yard line. Hawkins and Co. picked up one first down, and then were forced to punt. The Sooners defense did their job, and forced a three-and-out from the Midshipmen. Oklahoma got one more opportunity with just under 2 minutes left in the game.

Hawkins led a 13-play scoring drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass to TE Jake Roberts with six seconds remaining. OU head coach Brent Venables elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win instead of sending the game to overtime. Though it was the right decision to go for two, the play execution was poor. The OU receivers were well covered, and Hawkins was sacked. Navy recovered the on-side kick attempt and the Midshipmen came out victorious, 21-20.

In his second season at the helm, Navy head coach Brian Newberry capped off a 10-win season by taking down an SEC team and college football blue blood. Navy also won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy by beating Air Force and Army. The Mids have followed up an impressive 2024 by going 9-2 in 2025 heading into the Army-Navy game. Navy was 7-1 in American Conference play, narrowly missing out on a conference championship appearance. If Navy beats the Black Knights this Saturday they will secure the CIC Trophy for the second season in a row.