The U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy football teams will face off in their 126th matchup Saturday at this year’s Army-Navy game, a storied rivalry that always bring the fireworks and a competitive flare.
The Navy Midshipmen have jumped out to a 9-2 record, good for third place in the American Conference, while the Army Black Knights are hovering above .500, with a record of 6-5.
Regardless, the winner takes home the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, an accomplishment either side would love to flaunt in spite of the other.
But for either team to win, they’ll have to lean on their strengths.
Here are the keys to the game that will provide a route to victory for the Midshipmen or Black Knights.
Offense
The Midshipmen’s rushing offense is impressive, ranking first in Football Bowl Subdivision college football with an average of 298.4 yards per game. Their passing, however, ranks 132nd, with the team only accruing an average of 136.4 yards per game.
Meanwhile, the Black Knights’ rushing attack isn’t too far off, ranking 5th in college football with an average of 256.9 yards per game. The team accounts for far less passing yards than the Midshipmen, however, only throwing for 78.3 yards per game on average.
Both teams have a record of possessing the ball for long periods of time.
The Black Knights rank No. 1 in time of possession in college football with an average of 35:16 per game, while the Midshipmen rank 17th with an average of 32:20 per game.
It’s likely that whoever dominates the time of possession will hold a distinctive advantage over the other.
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Overall, the Midshipmen have a more experienced, balanced offense, with senior quarterback Blake Horvath — who led the Midshipmen to victory over the Black Knights last year in the Army-Navy game — leading the charge.
Horvath is the first quarterback in Midshipmen history to post back-to-back seasons with 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing.
On the year, Horvath has rushed for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns, and passed for 1,390 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Meanwhile, junior Army quarterback Cale Hellums — who only got the starting job in the sixth game of the season after Dewayne Coleman was sidelined with injuries — has impressed in his short time playing. At 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, Hellums leads his team with 1,078 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He has thrown for 504 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Defense
Neither team has a particularly potent defense.
The Midshipmen’s overall defense ranks 92nd in college football — allowing an average of 398.7 yards per game — and 57th in rushing with an average of 143.2 yards per game.
Meanwhile, the Black Knights have a better overall defense, ranked 56th, but still give up an average of 357 yards per game. Their rushing defense ranks 63rd, allowing 147.1 yards per game.
An interesting wrinkle that will undoubtedly play out during the game — the Black Knights allow opponents to convert third downs 44.9% of the time, ranking 123rd in that category. That porous protection will have to contend with a Navy offense that converts 49.6 of their third downs, which ranks 12th in that category in college football.
What else to watch
Navy racks up a good amount of penalties, averaging 54.8 penalty yards per game, while Army is much more disciplined, netting only 24.1 penalty yards on average per game.
The Midshipmen’s star senior nose guard Landon Robinson, who was named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American by Sports Illustrated and USA Today, has had a monster campaign, totaling 54 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks and seven hurries.
The Black Knights’ senior linebacker Andon Thomas is no slouch either, totaling 96 tackles this year.
Scoreboard
At the end of the day, all that matters for each team is notching more points than the other when the clock strikes triple zeros.
How the Black Knights or Midshipmen accomplish that feat is up to them, but it would appear that controlling the time of possession and running the ball as much as possible will net an advantage over the other.
The Army-Navy game kicks off Saturday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. EST at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, and will be broadcast on CBS.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.