The bowls matchups have been set. Around The Corn’s prediction game has been settled (the guests won 38-17 to 36-19).
None of that matters this week, though. It’s Army-Navy week.
It is fitting that college football’s final regular season game is just a day after Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Two service academies that seventy-one years ago on this day prepared for war will again go to war, only this time on the gridiron. In the battle between Army and Navy on the football field, it isn’t about protecting a country. But it may as well be, based on how hard the young men play.
You can essentially throw records out the window in this game. Army may be 2-9, but to Navy they are 0-0. Or, if you want to get technical, they are 49-56-7. That is Army’s record against the Midshipmen all-time.
Navy may as well be 0-0, too. The Midshipmen have already accepted a bid to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on December 29th, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which trophy Navy would rather win if it had to choose between the bowl game and the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
The annual Army-Navy game is kind of like a sibling rivalry. Traditional and passionate, yet sportsmanlike and uniting. Each side would love to beat the other, but at the end of the day a common bond is realized: there is a brotherhood. After four of eligibility, these young men join the same team. They are a family.
To pay homage to this, I have invited Midshipman 4th Class Sean Becker to share his thoughts on this game. In addition to title, he is also my brother.
Sean’s Thoughts: I’m going with the Naval Academy Midshipmen 21, Army Black Knights 16 in a hard fought battle. The Mids claim the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and will begin a run for the next 5 years.
Like Sean, I will also go with the Midshipmen. I think that this will be a very close game, with Army being led by senior quarterback Trent Steelman. Steelman has never beaten Navy, but is part of a rushing attack that leads the nation. If Army can hold onto the ball, it can keep this one close.
Navy also runs a triple-option style, and it will likely have success against an Army defense that looked hapless against Temple last weekend. Assuming Navy also hangs onto the ball, it can win a battle of attrition.
My Pick: 24-19 Navy
Sean also asked me to share a video that he believes is an insight into what the game and the service academies are all about. You can view that video below.
– K. Becks
