Against All Odds, Army, Navy Football Teams Both Thriving

Super Bowl champion and former New York Giant Phil McConkey is feeling a wave of nostalgia these days, thanks to the Navy football team, which along with Army, has accomplished something that hasn’t been done in 79 years.This week, Army and Navy, the storied service academies, are making history. For the first time since 1960, they are simultaneously ranked in the Top 25 of the Associated Press Poll. Each program, which emphasizes service over celebrity, is unbeaten this late in the season for the first time since 1945, the last year Army won the national championship.In the era dominated by the college football transfer portal, NIL deals, and the pursuit of fame and fortune, Army and Navy are succeeding while prioritizing academics and service. Graduating officers is the primary goal. Upon graduation, those attending service academies typically commit to serving a minimum of five years on active duty.Mr. McConkey sees the success of the two teams as refreshing. “I thought NIL would be the death knell for the academies and their sports programs in general,” he told the Sun. “But they’re thriving. I think they’re finding special kids that are really smart and want to be part of something bigger than themselves.”Army, ranked for the first time since 2020, is No. 23, while Navy is ranked 25. Both teams face respectable opponents this week. Army plays East Carolina (3-3) amid the beautiful landscape of West Point on Saturday, while the Midshipmen, ranked for the first time since 2019, play host to Charlotte (3-3).While they won’t meet for nearly two months, the rivalry between the two academies remains as fierce as ever. Army head coach Jeff Monken added some fuel by poking fun at Navy’s success. “Do they still have a football program at that school?” Mr. Monken said on the Pat McAfee Show. Yes, and to a high degree.Mr. McConkey, who began his NFL career at age 27, will be at the Navy game in Annapolis where he lives part-time while his daughter May finishes her senior year at the Naval Academy. “She’s a three-striper, which is a leadership position and three more stripes than I had,” Mr. McConkey said.He attended the Naval Academy and starred for the Midshipmen team that was ranked as high as 11th in 1978 and finished the year 9-3 with a victory over Brigham Young in the inaugural Holiday Bowl where he was the MVP.“This season is replicating my senior year at the Naval Academy where we started 7-0 after we beat Pitt, who won the national championship with Tony Dorsett just two years earlier,” Mr. McConkey said. “We finished the year beating BYU and were 17th in the UPI poll. “For my daughter to experience her senior year like what I did my senior year is pretty cool.”Both teams are for real. Army’s high-powered run-oriented offense has scored 40 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time since 1985, and Army hasn’t trailed at any point this season. The Black Knights lead the nation, averaging 369.8 yards rushing per game, while the defense leads the AAC allowing 267.3 yards per game. Army is led by quarterback Bryson Daily, an emerging Heisman Trophy candidate. Mr. Daily averages 123 yards rushing per game and has scored 23 touchdowns in 22 career games. The senior from Abernathy, Texas, accounted for five touchdowns, four rushing and one passing, to help the Black Knights to a 44-10 win over Alabama-Birmingham last Saturday. The win extends Army’s winning streak to 10 games, the longest in the nation.Stephen Tryon, who attended West Point and retired after a 21-year career in the Army, said it takes someone special to attend the service academies and play sports knowing they’ve made a bigger commitment to their country.“I’m incredibly proud of both teams and the way they’ve adapted and the way they compete,” Mr. Tryon, a high school football star in New Mexico, told the Sun. “It’s just phenomenal. They play football because they love to play the game, but they’ve also taken a commitment to do something different. They’re doing it because they’re warriors and it’s something special to them.”A win Saturday against Charlotte makes Navy bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. That’s the last year they were ranked 20th after an 11-2 season and beating Memphis in the Liberty Bowl.Navy is averaging 465.5 yards per game, including 295.6 yards rushing, which is second-best in the FBS and the best since averaging 360.5 yards rushing in 2019. The Midshipmen, who average 43.6 points per game, are coming off a 34-7 beat down of Air Force, the largest margin of victory over their rivals since 1978. Quarterback Blake Horvath has rushed for 565 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. The junior from Hilliard, Ohio, has also thrown for 771 yards and 7 TDs.Mr. McConkey, one of the heroes on the Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl-winning team, often watches Navy practices. “I saw a little bit of a spark that started last year and you go watch practices this year and they’re just so efficient,” he said. “There’s no wasted motion and there’s so much enthusiasm.”There is a lot of football still to be played. Navy meets Notre Dame on Oct. 26 at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, and four more American Athletic Conference Games remain before the AAC Championship Game on Dec. 6. The annual showdown against Army is on Dec. 14.After a bye week, Army hosts Air Force on Nov. 2 and plays Notre Dame on Nov. 23 at Yankee Stadium. They have AAC games remaining against East Carolina this week, North Texas (Nov. 9) and UTSA (Nov. 30).There’s a possibility Army and Navy could meet in the AAC Championship game and then play again the following week for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.If either or both teams finish the regular season ranked among the top 12, they’ll compete in the expanded College Football Playoffs.“When I think of Army-Navy, I just know those young men are going to put 40-something warriors on the field and go crazy trying to win,” Mr. Tryon said. “Whoever loses is going to be pissed, but at the end of the day they all know they’re on the same team.”Mr. McConkey admitted he’s happy for Army, sort of. “We hate those guys one day a year and we love them the other 364,” he said. “There’s a mutual respect. There’s still a lot of unknowns about the season. But this is great for both programs. It’s great for college football to show it’s not all about money and the easy way out. It’s about courage and commitment and being part of something bigger than yourself and that’s what these programs are about.”

Against All Odds, Army, Navy Football Teams Both Thriving

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