Army Lt. Christopher Molaro from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, reacts as he watches the Army-Navy game at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. (Joe Raedle/Getty)
We’ll answer the question in advance, because somebody’s going to ask it and some die-hard college football fan is going to roll his eyes over it: “What happens if they tie?”
Short answer: Overtime. It’s never happened in the Army-Navy game. It’s only existed in big-time college ball since 1996 — a relative drop in the bucket for a century-plus-old rivalry.
For those who only watch one game a year, and it’s this one, the rules are: Each team gets a chance to score from the opponent’s 25-yard-line. If the game’s still tied, they go again. Still tied? Keep going, but no more extra points — conversion attempts only.
The last Army-Navy deadlock at the end of regulation came in 1981, a 3-3 affair in Philadelphia. They’ve tied seven times overall; if it happens today (and, really, if you thought the crowd was loud before …), it would be the first tie between the schools with both in double digits since 1948’s 21-21 deadlock, also in Philadelphia. The famous 1926 game at Chicago’s Soldier Field, in front of 110,000 fans, also ended at 21 apiece.
It’s already 21-21 with more than a quarter left to go.
