College football: Army-Navy clash is both teams' bowl game
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How to follow:College football TV, radio, web schedules for 2022
WEST POINT – The Army-Navy football game has long been considered a bowl game for the two programs, with a packed stadium and pageantry before a national audience. It is the one game that players take pride in and will remember forever.
But the final whistle on Saturday, at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, will signal the end of the 2022 season. There will be no official bowl game for either Army (5-6) or Navy (4-7) – the two service academies failed to post the required six wins against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents or equivalent.
“Playing in the postseason is fun,’’ said Army head coach Jeff Monken. “It’s a great reward for the players and it’s a great source of pride when we’ve been able to do that. I’m disappointed we didn’t win enough games this year to do it but that’s our fault.’’
Army beat Football Championship Division (formerly known as Division I-AA) teams Villanova and Colgate but only one of those wins could count toward the six wins.
Army put itself in a hole early, losing as a slight home-field favorite against Texas San Antonio (41-38 in overtime) and Georgia State (31-14). At 1-4, Army rebounded with home wins over Colgate and Louisiana-Monroe but was forced into must-win road games against Air Force and Troy. Despite the best defensive efforts, Army failed to hold slim halftime leads in both, falling 13-7 to Air Force and 10-9 to Troy.
Even with victories over Connecticut and Massachusetts, Army’s only other path was having not enough schools meet the six-win threshold and then getting an exemption which never came.
Long restricted from postseason action by West Point officials, Army has been to 10 bowl games since 1984. Monken rejuvenated a sagging program upon his arrival in 2014, taking the Black Knights to five bowl games and winning four. The 2019 and 2022 misses are the only two since 2016.
Navy has not played in a bowl game since 2019, its first three-year absence since 1997-2002.
Naturally, Monken and his team would like to go out as winners, reach the .500 mark and get revenge for a stinging 17-13 setback to Navy in East Rutherford, N.J., last season.
2021 game:Strong second half lifts Navy past Army, denies Black Knights CIC trophy
2020 game:Army avenges loss to Navy in historic matchup
“There’s nothing we’re thinking about other than this game,’’ Monken said. “This is the most important game in the world to us. So it’s our only focus.’’
“There’s always the emotion, the anxiety, the excitement,’’ said Navy head coach Ken Niumataolo.
As usual, this is a matchup that features triple-option offenses – with the familiarity of one another, the scoring is typically lower. Navy has managed to top 30 points three times in the last 13 meetings and Army has topped 20 points only twice (21 in a 2011 loss and 2016 win) in the last 16 clashes.
“They always seem to be a fist fight in a phone booth,’’ Monken said.
Navy is listed as a 2.5-point favorite, with an over-under of 32.5 points.
“It's the team that executes the best (that wins),’’ Monken said. His mantra all season has been Army’s ability to sustain blocks on offense and beating them on defense as the keys to the contest.
How to follow
The 3 p.m. game will be televised nationally and appear on WCBS-2 in New York, with Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson. There will be a national radio broadcast on Westwood One with John Sadak and Ross Tucker. The Army broadcast can be heard on WBNR (1260-AM), WGHQ (920-AM, 92.5-FM) and WLNA (1420-AM), as well as the Varsity Sports App.
Special threads
As has been the case for the past seven years, both teams will be wearing special commemorative uniforms.
Army, as the home team, will wear dark grey uniforms with gold numbers and grey helmets with the insignia of the 1st Armored Division, the “Iron Soldiers’’ who battled in Europe and North Africa in Operation Torch 80 years ago.
Navy will wear the road whites with blue numbers and a blue helmet, paying tribute to the 54 astronauts from the Naval Academy. The astronaut pin is found on the helmets and gloves. The NASA insignia is on one side of the helmet and a hand-crafted painting of Bruce McCandless on an untethered spacewalk on the other.
Notable
Army averages 304.4 rushing yards per game, second in the nation (to Air Force). Army’s 37 rushing touchdowns is tied for third in the country. Navy’s run defense ranks No. 4, giving up just 85.6 yards per game, and has allowed only six rushing scores. The Midshipmen allow only 3.1 yards per carry and have held their last four foes under 100 rushing yards. Navy’s defense has 32 quarterback sacks. … Quarterback Tyhier Tyler – as one of 19 seniors facing a final game – and junior fullback Jakobi Buchanan each have 24 career touchdown runs, tied for No. 10 in Army history.
“It is one of my biggest honors and biggest privileges to play in this game,’’ Tyler said. “It’s bigger than the 60 minutes we play. … I receive messages from old grads and from active duty personnel.’’
Classic becomes road show
This is the first meeting in Philadelphia since 2019. The 2020 contest was shifted to West Point’s Michie Stadium due to the COVID outbreak and the 2021 game was played at MetLife Stadium. The game shifts to five different cities the next five seasons: 2023 in Foxborough, Mass.; 2024 in Landover, Md.; 2025 in Baltimore; 2026 in East Rutherford; and, 2027 in Philadelphia.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: College football: Army-Navy is both teams' chance to salvage year
