Army stumbles. Navy capitalizes. Mix in snow. Repeat. A simple formula, sure, but the Arctic conditions and stingy defenses in Philadelphia are keeping both the Black Knights and Mids from doing anything too complicated. In the first quarter, Navy followed an Army fumble with Quinton Singleton’s 58-yard run, setting up a field goal. In the second, Navy followed an Army personal-foul penalty with a 39-yard touchdown run by Noah Copeland, leading to a 10-0 lead. Later, the Army offense stalled and forced the Black Knights to punt from deep within their own territory. The next play, quarterback Keenan Reynolds watched…
A heavy wind, some snow and a pair of tough defenses added up to make the first quarter of Saturday’s Army-Navy game practically offense-free. Except one play. Following a fumble from Army quarterback A.J. Schurr caused by Navy’s Brendon Clements, Midshipman Quinton Singleton took a handoff up the middle and looked up to see … nothing. Navy blockers cleared out the middle of the Black Knights front, and 58 yards later, only Chris Carnegie’s last-grasp tackle stopped a Navy touchdown. Army’s defense snapped back, and Navy’s offense faltered at the goal line, leaving Nick Sloan to kick a 20-yard field…
March-ons are complete (check back soon for more photos). Cadets and mids are in their respective corners. The predicted “wintry mix” hasn’t shown up, replaced instead by on-again, off-again light snow. The hype is over. Well, almost — here’s the Navy’s top officer, Adm. Jon Greenert, offering his perspective from Philadelphia. OK, now the hype is over. Three quick hits as Army and Navy fans settle in: 1. In case of pass, break glass: The Mids and Black Knights finished near the top of major-college football when it comes to the ground game thanks to their use of run-heavy triple…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-PeboD5aZQ&feature=youtu.be[/youtube] Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert has a game-day message. (Meghann Myers / Staff) Your spirit spot made quite a splash this year. Whose idea was that? Well, my public affairs officer, [Capt.] Danny Hernandez, thought, “Hey, maybe we could do this.” The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy happens to be Mike. I thought it was a cute video, and Geico thought it was OK, so we did it. Really, kudos go out to Chief Julianne Metzger and Chief Peter Lawler — they were the videographers. They took all of that and made that a…
If you’re only going to read one Army-Navy preview this year … read this one, from our good friends at USA Today. But if you’ve got the bandwidth for a second preview, or you prefer your service-academy football with a side of spirit spots, read on for a few things you need to know as kickoff comes ever closer. The basics: 114th Army-Navy game, Saturday, 3 p.m. Eastern, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia. TV: CBS (Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson have the call). Pregame: Live pregame fare begins at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network (Do you get it? Find out here)…
Three years ago, Katie McHugh — daughter of one soldier, sister of another — got a text from her younger sister. “Kelly,” it said, “you need to come home now.” Let McHugh tell you the rest of the story from that day in May 2010 — how she feared the worst for her brother, who’d deployed to Iraq, only to find out her father, Col. John M. McHugh, 46, had died in a suicide-bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on what was supposed to be a two-week visit. He left behind a wife, five children and, at the time, one grandchild.…
The Army’s top general and the Navy’s top admiral took their turns in front of the cameras for the traditional Army-Navy game spirit spots. One officer played it straight, the other wore a foam warship on his head. Judge for yourself: Army [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42shRnCMPN4[/youtube] Pro: It’s safe to say Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno’s straightforward, heartfelt delivery is the best public-speaking performance given by a four-star general while flanked by a mule and a guy in a knight outfit so far this year. Con: The general has comedy chops — maybe not a performance pedigree at the level of…
If you missed our first batch of Army-Navy spirit spots — inspired by Justin Timberlake, phone and insurance commercials, and David Hasselhoff, in rough order of artistic reputation — click here. Last week’s quartet did not include the winners of the game’s official contest, which were named Monday on the game’s official blog. Here’s the Army winner, sent in by Maj. Randall Stillinger of the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, featuring a joint operation gone horribly, humorously wrong: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1eiKDGu6J8[/youtube] The Navy winner, sent in by James Smith, plays on the Mids’ win streak and incorporates a children’s TV callback: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW16jqRsq0Y[/youtube] Both…
When the Midshipmen take the field for the 2013 Army-Navy football game, their uniforms will showcase a history as storied as the Annapolis-West Point rivalry itself. The Nike Pro Combat uniform starts with a burlap-patterned base layer emblazoned with “Don’t Give Up the Ship.” The saying was the last command of Capt. James Lawrence, commander of the frigate Chesapeake, who died of wounds from small arms fire during the War of 1812. Unfortunately, Chesapeake ended up falling to the British. But not long after Lawrence’s death, Commodore Oliver Perry would fly a flag reading “Don’t give up the ship.” This…
