The last time Army and Navy football were both 4-0, the United States military was coming off a much larger victory.
It was the fall of 1945 and World War II had just ended. The academies were among the best football programs in the country during the wartime years, and in 1945, Army won its second consecutive national championship while Navy finished third in the AP Poll.
This time, the 4-0 starts are all about conference standings, the impact on the Army-Navy game and, just maybe, the College Football Playoff. The annual game may create great patriotism but don’t expect any national unity between the two rivals.
“Here’s hoping they lose every game,” Army head coach Jeff Monken said.
While both schools run a triple-option attack fans are familiar with, their path back to this winning formula has been different.
Navy’s 4-0 record stems from the best offensive start in school history. The Midshipmen scored at least 38 points in the first four games for the first time in 144 years of football. They beat previously unbeaten Memphis 56-44. Second-year head coach Brian Newberry made an offensive coordinator change after one season, bringing in former Mercer head coach Drew Cronic. The result has been a jump from 125th in scoring (17.7 points per game) to ninth (46.0).
“I wanted to be unique and different,” Newberry said. “Nobody in the country is running this offense and I knew that following Drew throughout his career.”
Cronic ran a Wing T hybrid offense at Mercer and Lenoir-Rhyne before that, calling plays as head coach. At Navy, he’s added a lot more option, making it unlike any offense you’ve ever seen. There are constant shifts and motions before the snap. One play against Memphis saw a tight end motion and go onto the line of scrimmage between a center and guard. The offense can hurry up and wait, adjusting based on the defensive look, with headset communication helping.
“I’ve enjoyed learning the option game and seeing how it works together in one system,” Cronic said. “I appreciate these guys at Navy that were already here. (Longtime quarterbacks coach) Ivin Jasper’s the triple option guru.”
Navy is also passing the ball better than it has in decades. While the Midshipmen are 133rd out of 134 teams in pass attempts per game, they’re 108th with 178.8 passing yards per game. That would be the highest for a service academy since Army in 2007.
Cronic credits quarterback Blake Horvath with handling both option and pro-style passing concepts. Horvath had been an option quarterback since seventh grade, but coaches were blown away by his improvement in throwing the ball this offseason, and it’s been evident in games. He’s the first FBS player with seven passing touchdowns and at least seven rushing touchdowns through four games since Lamar Jackson in 2015.
“The way you have to read certain pass progressions, not everything being play-action, and he’s been executing our screen game well,” Cronic said. “We’re asking him to be a hybrid quarterback and do a lot of different things.”
At Army, the Black Knights have moved back under center after spending last season in the shotgun with mixed results. Army was in shotgun 90.1 percent of the time last year and finished 62nd in yards per rush with 1.8 turnovers per game, according to TruMedia. This year, the Black Knights are in the gun only 10.9 percent of the time (second least nationally) and up to fourth in yards per carry with just one turnover in four games.
“Our offensive coordinator Cody Worley always says you have to be better or be different,” Monken said. “We’re not going to be better athletically than our opponents, so we’ve got to do something different. What we’re doing this year again makes us different from most other people.”
Quarterback Bryson Daily said the move back under center makes Army a physically tougher team. Daily hadn’t run option football in high school in Texas, and Army was his only college offer willing to give him a chance at quarterback. He’s seventh nationally with 123 rushing yards per game after finishing with 81.9 yards per game as the starter last year.
“There’s a lot of carryover (from last year’s offense), but the mentality of our offense is the main thing that changed,” Daily said. “Punching people in the mouth, long, sustained drives, that’s easier in this type of offense. We’re keeping everyone pushing the ball and holding it for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. It’s been easier to hold the ball in long durations.”
Army football joined the AAC this year, putting the Black Knights in a conference for the second time after a brief CUSA stint from 1998 to 2004. Both Army and Navy are 3-0 in conference, a dream start for the league.
“They’re national brands,” commissioner Tim Pernetti said. “They stand for something different. They don’t have NIL and don’t participate in the transfer portal. Anyone who’s watched them this year, it’s been terrific for the conference and we’re excited.”
The conference move opens the possibility for Army and Navy to play in consecutive weeks — the AAC championship on Dec. 6 and their normally scheduled game, which is a nonconference matchup the next week. The College Football Playoff determined earlier this year that the committee will not take the normal Army-Navy game into account, which takes place after the CFP releases the Playoff field on Dec. 8.
Previously, in a four-team field, the CFP had a protocol to wait for Army-Navy if it could impact the CFP or New Year’s Six, which nearly happened once. But because of the quick turnaround for the first round in a 12-team bracket, the CFP determined it couldn’t wait. It is technically a possibility Army and Navy could play in the AAC game for a CFP spot, play the next week as normal, and then the winner of the first game plays a CFP game the following week.
Neither team wanted to go down that hypothetical road. But with both teams atop the AAC standings, it’s not hard to think about.
“I’d rather they lose out,” Daily said. “That’s my mentality toward that.”
(Top photo: Danny Wild / Imagn Images)
