Army and Navy are set to clash once again in one of the most anticipated matchups of each college football season, this year in Baltimore as the storied service academies enter the 126th chapter into their legendary rivalry. The Midshipmen lead the all-time series with a 63-55-7 record against the Black Knights as we enter this year’s much-anticipated game.
Both teams are headed to bowl games afterwards, with Army facing UConn in the Fenway Bowl and Navy playing Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl, but before they enter the postseason, they will face off for bragging rights at M&T Bank Stadium. It’s the culmination of a strong year for both programs, but players on both sides know success for the season is often defined by the outcome of the Army-Navy Game.
Army comes in at 6-5, shaking off a slow start to win five of their last seven games to get above .500 heading into its finale with Navy. The Black Knights have found some good form defensively in the back half of the season, allowing 24 points or fewer in six of the last seven games, and their offense has found some footing under first-year starter Cale Hellums.
2025 Army vs. Navy Game uniforms: Black Knights, Midshipmen will honor 250 years of service in 126th meeting
Robby Kalland
On the other side, Navy has a chance to make some program history, as a win would give it back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time ever. The Midshipmen ran out to a 7-0 start and looked like a threat to reach the American title game, but a loss to North Texas — and then Notre Dame — slowed their momentum some. They bounced back to close the year strong with wins over South Florida and Memphis to enter the Army-Navy Game at 9-2, and have done so courtesy of an explosive offense led by quarterback Blake Horvath.
Follow along with live updates, highlights and analysis as the 126th Army vs. Navy Game takes center stage on Saturday.
Where to watch Army vs. Navy 2025 live
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: M&T Bank Stadium — Baltimore, MD
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium
Army vs. Navy 2025: Need to know
Which offense can crack some explosive plays? Anyone who has ever watched the Army-Navy Game knows that it will be a grueling, physical battle in the trenches. These are two option teams that know exactly what the other wants to do and have more experience maintaining eye discipline and run fits than any other opponent. That tends to create a low-scoring, field position battle.
It’s so hard to sustain drives for touchdowns in this game because the defenses are so disciplined against the option, which also means any explosive plays hold extra importance. In that department, Navy has been far better this season. The Midshipmen are fourth in the country in 20+ yard runs (30), while Army is all the way back in 84th (12).
Navy’s passing attack has been a far bigger weapon this year compared to Army’s, as Horvath has thrown for 1,390 yards and nine touchdowns compared to just 504 yards and three touchdowns for Hellums. No one will confuse the Midshipmen with the Air Raid this season, but Horvath’s arm does provide them with an additional threat they can spring on defenses that get too aggressive trying to stop the run.
That doesn’t mean Army can’t dial up something at the right time to create a chunk play, but the Midshipmen provide a more constant threat for explosives both on the ground and through the air — as we saw in this game a year ago. Limiting that big play potential will be the biggest challenge for this Black Knights defense that has been extremely solid of late, while the offense will need to find a way to scheme up an explosive or two themselves.
Special teams matter: Field position is always critical in this matchup, and there tend to be a number of punts as the two teams try to pin the others back deep. Execution from start to finish from the punt units will be paramount. The coverage unit that can execute and pin the other team inside their own 10 can set up their team for success, while a punt block or a muffed return can flip the field and swing the outcome.
Points are at a premium in the Army-Navy Game, and that puts added pressure on the field goal units when they do get trotted out — although, both teams tend to be aggressive going for it on fourth-and-short situations. Army’s Dawson Jones is 12 of 17 on field goal attempts this season and a perfect 29 of 29 on extra points. Navy’s Nathan Kirkwood has likewise been perfect on XPs, hitting all 46 he’s attempted, and hit 9 of 10 field goal attempts.
It’ll be cold and a bit breezy on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore, and the special teams units on both sides will need to be on point.
Ball is the program: Explosive plays don’t just have to happen on offense. Ball security is always of the utmost importance in the Army-Navy Game. Horvath and Hellums will have to be sharp with their ball-handling on the option, both on the give and the pitch, as putting the ball on the ground is the cardinal sin in this game.
For as much as they run the ball and how many pitches and pulls are involved in each play, both of these offenses do a great job protecting the football. Army has lost just five fumbles all year, while Navy has given it away six times. That means it shouldn’t be an expectation that either team will cough it up, but any opportunity a defense gets, either on a mishandled option give/pitch or by punching the ball out, could be a huge swing.
Army vs. Navy 2025 prediction, pick
So much points to Navy in this game, but when it comes to this rivalry, it’s rarely that simple. The old “throw out the record books” adage is firmly in play here, and with the form Army’s shown in the second half of the season on defense, I expect it to keep this tight all the way through the fourth quarter. We haven’t seen Navy in a defensive, grind-it-out type game since the Rice game in late September, and if history tells us anything, that’s what we are in store for on Saturday.
Army is going to try and limit possessions and make this a rock fight, and I think the Black Knights can largely be successful. That said, even in a game that’s played at that preferred pace, Navy’s offense just has more firepower and Horvath can create a couple big plays that make the difference in a win for the Midshipmen. Pick: Navy -6
Who wins Army vs. Navy, and which side of the spread cashes in well over 50% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side to back, all from the model that just simulated every snap 10,000 times.
