Navy edges Army in America's Game at MetLife Stadium

In today's college football landscape that features big money, disloyal and greedy coaches, along with a focus on wins and losses, something felt different at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. There was a feeling of indifference regarding who would come out on top and by how many points. Yes, there was a football game taking place, but it felt more significant than the game of football.

Army played Navy in the 122nd edition of college football's biggest game. The moniker of the matchup is "America's Game," and there is no doubt that this game belongs to America. Happening in the New York City area over 20 years since the 9/11 attacks added a wrinkle to the game as fans looked at these men on the field as the guardians of freedom and protectors here and abroad.

After a shaky start, Navy rebounded to pick up a 17-13 victory over Army on Saturday afternoon in the first Army-Navy game in New Jersey since 2002.

The first quarter ended with Army leading 10-7. The first 15 minutes of play featured both quarterbacks scoring on runs. Christian Anderson faked out everyone, including the television cameras, scoring on a 56-yard run to put the Black Knights on the board. Navy responded with a Tai Lavatai eight-yard run to even the game. Lavatai replaced Xavier Arline, who injured his hamstring earlier in the drive. Cole Talley's 31-yard field goal pushed Army out to the lead.

The second quarter slowed down considerably as both teams suffered penalties and stalled offenses. Anderson continued the uncharacteristic strategy for Army of passing as he finished the half 5-of-7 for 92 yards. Talley kicked his second field goal of the game to stretch Army's lead to 13-7. The Midshipmen was unruly at points of the half, picking up three penalties, including two unsportsmanlike conducts flags, in the first half of play.

Navy (4-8) came out of the locker room strong as a 10-play, 74-yard drive was capped by Lavatai's second touchdown run of the game. The score gave Navy a 14-13 lead with 9:02 left in the third quarter. The score stood there after three quarters of play in East Rutherford.

The Surprise Fake Punt

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Navy performed a fake punt on a fourth-and-one on their 34-yard line. Diego Fadot ran for four yards and gave the Midshipmen a new set of downs. After the game, both head coach Ken Niumatalolo and Fadot told the media that the fake punt was not supposed to happen as there was a miscommunication between Fadot and the long snapper.

"Sometimes it is good to be lucky. A little miscommunication there," said Niumatalolo. "Players have to make plays. I didn't know we were going to do it either. I just looked at coach (Joe) Coniglio. He has been doing our punting and has done a great job. Thank goodness it worked."

Navy's defense put on a show in the second half, holding Army to just three first downs in the second half as they clung to a 17-13 lead late in the fourth quarter. Army (8-4) got the ball on two separate possessions but could not advance the ball, including their final drive that included a questionable Philly Special-like play call on third down that fell incomplete. In the end, Navy kneeled three times as they picked up their first win in the series since 2019.

Lavatai finished with 144 yards of total offense and two rushing touchdowns. In addition to his big fake punt run, Fagot picked up nine tackles while John Marshall finished with eight tackles and a pass breakup.

"They [Army] like to say that they are the last of the hard. Quite frankly, we took that to heart," said Fagot of Navy's defense that held Army to a season-low 232 yards of total offense. "They believe their culture is better than ours. They scored on the opening drive and they thought they were going to keep going their way."

"We aren't going to lay down for them. We consistently kept coming back and coming back, so I don't really know if they are the last of the hard."

Anderson finished with 108 yards in the air and 67 yards on the ground for Army. The Black Knights could only muster 57 yards of offense in the second half, including 41 yards on the ground.

"They [Navy] beat the blocks, they just destroyed blocks," said Army head coach Jeff Monken. "We weren't able to move their guys. They just did a much better job defending us than we did them. We tried a lot of different things, and none of them worked for us."

Army / Navy, What America's Game Really Means

Saturday was not about the win or loss for Army and Navy. The atmosphere among the 82,282 at MetLife Stadium (the most-attended game in MetLife Stadium history) was one of respect and admiration for the men on the field and a look towards their future. Whether you are an Army or Navy fan, this game was about both teams and the quality of people on the field.

That is what mattered on Saturday.