What can you watch in the 125th Army-Navy football game?

Washington
CNN
—

It is the most unique rivalry game in college sports and one of the signature events of the college football season: Army vs. Navy.

The clash between the nations' service academies, which kicks off Saturday at 3:00 PM ET from Northwest Field in Landover, Maryland, is a staple of the final month of the college football season and marks the traditional end point of the regular season. It is a game of pageantry, celebrating the athletes on the field who will go on to serve their country, and a poignant moment of remembrance for all the soldiers and sailors around the world watching the game.

It's an opportunity for us to shine a spotlight on these young men who are going to serve and lead our military (and it's) very important to put our best foot forward in this game, Navy head coach Brian Newberry told CNN this week. The intangibles are on full display, and these two teams will fight for a better ending. And for me, there is no better rivalry in the country. It is not a rivalry separated by a river, a state line or conference enemies. It's a rivalry rooted in a great deal of respect. And so it is a special day.

The Army Black Knights come into the game with an 11-1 record and are looking to win 12 games for the first time in school history, having already won their first conference championship. Navy, meanwhile, started the season on fire but has cooled off in the final weeks of the season for an 8-3 record. The Midshipmen will look to avenge two consecutive defeats in the rivalry and win the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy, which goes to the military service academy for the first time since 2019 with the best record against the other academies.

Here are five things to watch during Saturday's game at the home of the Washington Commanders.

Traditionally, this match is decided on the field. Both teams have running attacks that hark back to a bygone era of football, but that's true The army's three-pronged attack is the main show.

The triple option, without Army's flexbone formation with a quarterback under center and three offensive backs behind him, requires the quarterback to read what the defensive line is doing and then make one of three decisions. The QB can hand the ball to a back to run up the middle, take the ball to either side of the field to let him run himself, or throw the ball to one of the other backs at the last second for a toss game.

The dynamic, rushing attack, which utilizes deception and some of the more creative play designs in college football, has led Army to its most successful season in years, including the first conference championship in school history.

The Black Knights boast the best running attack in the countryaveraged 314 yards per game, nearly 50 yards more than the second-place Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Quarterback Bryson Daily leads the team with 1,519 yards on the ground and has scored 29 rushing touchdowns, which is the most in college football this year.

For Navy's 79th-ranked defense, it represents a tough challenge, but one that head coach Brian Newberry believes they are ready for.

It's going to be a challenge to defend him, and we've defended him well in the past, and we have two weeks to prepare for it and see similar things in our offense, he said. It's a little different: we prepare for them than we prepare for other people. And so it becomes a big challenge.

For army, it all starts with their quarterback.

Daily, a tough Texan who will be a senior this season, runs through defenses like a battering ram and is difficult to bring down once he reaches the second level. After winning the American Athletic Conference last week, he feels just as good when he plays.

“I have a lot of self-confidence right now, and that comes from the trust I have in the people around me,” he told CNN earlier this week. You know, the other guys on offense, how well the defense plays, it gives you extreme confidence. You know, my trust and relationship with (quarterbacks) Coach (Cody) Worley, you know that helps too, but when you have the five guys that I blocked for you, it's pretty easy to be confident.

The stats of the day, in addition to his yards on the ground and sheer amount of touchdowns — he's in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards and top 5 in average rushing yards per game — largely speak for themselves. The extra he brings to his squad is a level of leadership and perseverance that comes from making this season personal.

After a 9-4 season in his freshman year, the Black Knights went 6-6 each of the last two years. Heading into his senior season, Daily said he and the rest of the senior class made it a personal mission to right the ship.

When he takes the field on Saturday, it will be all about channeling that emotion.

The only thing going through my mind is playing for the guy next to me, and I think that's the mentality of the whole team, Daily told CNN. And when you play for the man next to you, you don't feel anything, you don't feel pain, you don't feel tired, because all you worry about is giving your best for the man next to you so you don't disappoints. And if that's your mentality, then it's very easy to play hard. It's very easy to play intensely because you're playing for your brother that you love.

It's not just personal for the military's seniors; their counterparts on the Navy sidelines want to win their first Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy and must defeat their biggest rivals to do so.

The trophy, known to each team as the CIC, is awarded to the service academy with the best record against the other service academies. Both Army and Navy have already defeated the Air Force Academy this season and Saturday's match will determine who gets the chance to claim a lifetime of bragging rights.

After dominating the rivalry for years and winning the Commander-in-Chiefs trophy, Navy has won the CIC 10 times between 2003 and 2015, and the Midshipmen are five years removed from their last victory. It hangs heavily over the heads of seniors like fullback Daba Fofana.

This game means the world to me, especially because I haven't won CIC this year since I've been here and been in a position to do it, he told CNN. It means a lot to just have the opportunity to do that, even just for my brothers, because of the love I have for them, they deserve a CIC.

The Navy is back to its usual level of success in Newberry's second year at the helm, after lean years since the 2019 season and that CIC win. Longtime head coach Ken Niumatalolo oversaw three consecutive losing seasons before the school decided not to retain him beyond the 2022 season.

Newberry took over before the 2023 season and started this season with six straight wins, pushing Navy back into the Top 25 for the first time in years. Behind quarterback Blake Horvath, who is expected to be fully healthy and ready to play on Saturday after some injury woes in the second half of the season, the Midshipmen hope to match their top rivals yard for yard on the ground.

Unlike Army, Navy has had two weeks to prepare for the game and Newberry expects its defense led by senior linebacker Colin Ramos to be ready for the nation's top offense.

This is, since I've been here, the most complete, talented Army football team we've seen offensively up front: big, physical, well-coached offensive line (and) the quarterbacks a special player, Newberry said.

Army, meanwhile, is looking for a chance to make school history with its 12th win of the season. It would be the first time West Point has reached that point in school history and would be a cherry on top of a historic season for the program.

The 19 wins between the teams this season are the most combined wins in the rivalry's 125-year history. The already heightened atmosphere is expected to be even more intense as the game returns to the nation's capital for the first time since 2011.

It's important to play with emotion, but not let the emotion get to you, Newberry said of the intensity on the field during the game. And so you have to be able to drown out the noise and focus on doing your job, one piece at a time.

President-elect Donald Trump will attend the game for the fifth time, adding an extra level of stateliness to an occasion already steeped in tradition.

While the incumbent president is typically tasked with administering the coin toss during the game, it is unclear whether Trump will take on this task as president-elect; When he attended the game as president-elect in 2016, he did not take on that task.

Vice President-elect JD Vance will also be in attendance and made headlines Friday by inviting Daniel Penny, a former Marine, to join him in the presidential suite. Penny was widely embraced by right-wing political figures after he was accused of fatally choking Jordan Neely earlier this year, and many of them celebrated his acquittal on Monday.

Trump previously commented on the case, telling Fox News: “It's an incredibly difficult case, I think. Vance on Monday he expressed his support for Penny by posting on X, thank goodness justice has been done in this case. It was a scandal that Penny was ever prosecuted at all.

Time: 3:00 PM ET

TV: CBS in the United States, worldwide on the American Forces Network.

Streaming: Paramount+

Radio: Westwood One stations