The streak is over after Army beat Navy for the first time since 2001 on Saturday in Baltimore. The outpouring of emotion on the field after the win showed just how much ending the 14 year run of victories by the Midshipmen over the Black Knights meant to anyone and everyone associated with Army in attendance.
Here is a look back at the three keys to Army beating Midshipmen:
1) Win the rushing battle – Pass
Coming into this one the Black Knights had the No. 2 ranked rushing attack in the country at 328,9 yards per game, while Navy had the No. 3 ranked rushing attack in the country at 327.5 yards per game. Neither school was quite able to match those season average numbers on Saturday, but Army got much closer to the yardage total than Navy did and controlled the game as a result.
The Black Knights rolled on the ground for a total of 316 yards and three touchdowns on 70 carries. It was a monumental rushing output as Army focused on using the fullbacks to wear down a Navy defense that was playing for the eighth week in a row. Andy Davidson had 87 yards and two scores on 28 carries, while Kell Walker contributed another 94 yards on 16 carries of his own. It was not perfect, Army lost three fumbles that allowed Navy to get back into the game, but the rushing assault was a thing of beauty when it was working right on Saturday.
2) Control time of possession – Pass
Army could hardly have dreamed of better time of possession number than the ones they put up last weekend. The Black Knights held the ball for 40 minutes and 32 seconds, holding a better than 20 minute time of possession edge over a Navy squad that had the ball for 19 minutes and 28 seconds of the contest.
Army was able to put up such a ridiculous disparity in terms of time of possession when looking at two triple-option teams by simply gaining so many more first downs than Navy. The final total of first downs was 23 to eight in favor of Army, but at one point in the contest that metric was in the Black Knights favor 14 to one. Army wore down Navy on defense while taking away running options for Navy on offense and forcing the Mids to either turn the ball over or punt it away.
3) Better special teams play – Fail
The Black Knights really didn’t have a whole lot to do on special teams, but what works was done was meh at best and bad at worst. The coverage units were fine, limiting a potentially explosive Navy return game to marginal yardage, but the Black Knights own return game was not a factor at all. Jeff Monken turned down a 32-yard field goal attempt because he has no faith in his kickers, while J.D. Mote had two punts on the day that combined to go for just 55 yards. Whatever happens in the bowl game against North Texas, special teams HAS to be an area of focus in the offseason.
I humbly submit that one of the game-clinching plays for Army was when the defense rushed (blitzed) all four of its linebackers on Navy’s first down play in its final possession which resulted in a sack from which Navy could not recover and so it had to punt with 4 minutes left in the game and Army ran out the clock. Jay Batemen took a hell of risk in dialing up that play because had Navy played a run, the outcome of the game may well have been different.