Army-Navy Capsule Preview

December 8, 2021 by Staff

The 122nd meeting of Army and Navy will take place in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Saturday. Four previous editions of this rivalry have taken place in East Rutherford, but this will be the first at MetLife Stadium which replaced Giants Stadium in 2010. All of the previous games at East Rutherford took place between 1989 and 2002 with Navy winning 3 of those - the last two by substantial routs of 39-7 and 58-12.

Army comes in to this year's game with the better record at 8-3, while Navy stumbles in at 3-8 and a combined 6-15 over the past two seasons.

Due to Covid, last year's game was moved to Michie Stadium at West Point where it hadn't been played since 1943. In fact, that was the last year that either team had hosted the rivalry.

The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is not up for grabs as Army already secured retention of the hardware by virtue of its win over Air Force earlier this season, and the Falcons' win over Navy. Army defeated both Air Force and and Navy a year ago to wrest the trophy from Navy.

These teams are both ranked among the top 7 nationally in rushing. Even so, the Black Knights have a huge advantage as they churn up 301.73 yards per game to 229.18 for the Midshipmen.

With both teams guaranteed to depend on the run, it's also important to note that Army ranks 11th nationally in rushing defense while Navy ranks 39th.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a pass. Army has the nation's fewest pass attempts (85) and Navy has the fewest completions (44).

Army has won 4 of the last 5 meetings after dropping 14 straight. Jeff Monken is 4-3 vs. Navy after losing his first two, while Ken Niumatalolo is 9-4 vs. Army after starting his tenure with 8 consecutive wins over the Black Knights.

When: 3pm ET
TV: CBS
Series: 61-53-7, Navy
Last year: Army, 15-0
Line: Army (-8)
Computer: Army (-8.69)