Football Set for Army-Navy Game Presented by USAA

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point football team will conclude the 2015 season in Philadelphia as the Black Knights square off with service academy rival Navy in the 2015 Army-Navy Game Presented by USAA. Kickoff from Lincoln Financial Field is slated for 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.

ESPN's College GameDay will be live from Philadelphia for the 116th edition of the Army-Navy battle and CBS will carry the contest, with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce on the call.

Army has been idle since Nov. 21 when the Black Knights dropped a 31-21 decision to Rutgers from Michie Stadium.

"I think it is good in a game like this to be able to prepare for this offense," said head coach Jeff Monken. "It's difficult to defend that offense, even though we run the offense, it's still difficult for a defense to transition to prepare for something that is very unique. It's been beneficial, it certainly has gotten a lot of guys healthy who weren't completely healthy."

Navy enters the afternoon with a record of 9-2, competing to a mark of 7-1 in its first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Mids are coming off a 52-31 loss to No. 21 Houston, on Friday, Nov. 27, in their regular-season finale.

The Midshipmen had a five-game winning streak snapped on Nov. 27 when they fell on the road to Houston, 52-31. The No. 21/22 ranked Mids recorded wins over Tulane (31-14), USF (29-17), Memphis (45-20), SMU (55-14) and Tulsa (44-21) prior to the loss the Cougars. Navy also claims wins over Colgate (48-10), East Carolina (45-21), UConn (28-18) and Air Force (33-11), and fell to Notre Dame (41-24).

Navy is led offensively by senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who is the leading rusher in the nation among quarterbacks with 1,093 rushing yards. He is tied for second in the country in rushing touchdowns with 19 and is tied for sixth in the FBS in scoring with 114 points.

"To try and contain Keenan is extremely difficult. Every coach, every defensive staff that they have faced will tell you the same thing," said Monken. "Their offense is designed so that he can run the ball and make plays and throw the ball to their receivers and slot backs and he does a really good job of all of that. He is an outstanding leader, a strong runner and has a great knack for finding an opening or a crease and wiggling his way through to find extra yards. That is a unique talent in itself, he turns some gains that would be a yard or two for one guy into some really long runs. He is an outstanding player, very talented, and all the other things he does for his team make him so valuable."

Navy's rushing attack features five players with at least 296 yards on the ground and 10 different players have scored rushing touchdowns. Senior fullback Chris Swain is second on the team with 847 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.

On defense, the Midshipmen are led by sophomore linebacker Micah Thomas with 64 tackles. Junior cornerback Brendon Clements leads Navy with two turnovers, while senior defensive end Will Anthony has a team-best 6.5 sacks.

Navy is second in the nation in turnover margin (1.27), third in third-down conversion percentage (51.0) and first in fourth-down conversion percentage (91.3). The Mids lead the country in fewest penalty yards per game (27.18) and are 22nd in time of possession (32:38).

For Army, quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw leads the offense, both on the ground and in the air, earning game time in eight contests. The sophomore has amassed 468 yards on the ground, averaging 58.5 per game, including five touchdowns. He adds a line of 23-48-2 in the air with 429 yards and five touchdowns. Fellow quarterback A.J. Schurr has rushed for 384 yards and seven touchdowns, adding 300 yards and three touchdowns in the air. Chris Carter started in Army's last game against Rutgers, throwing for 140 yards and one touchdown, adding 111 yards on the ground with one touchdown.

"For the first time in many weeks we have five healthy quarterbacks," added Monken. "The three who have played are all healthy and capable of playing in the game on Saturday, and we have three more days of practice until we play on Saturday. I think we owe it to ourselves to make sure we are putting the right guy in there. I trust all of them, I think all of them will play hard and operate within the offense. Perhaps that will be an advantage for us to have three guys who we feel like can go into the game. This week we will see how they operate as they get closer to the game and see how well they are executing and making their reads, and taking care of the ball, all of the things that will matter on Saturday."

Running back Aaron Kemper leads the Black Knights in rushing yards with 506 off of 94 carries. He averages 5.4 per attempt and has scored three touchdowns.

Defensively, Andrew King paces the defense, recording 89 total tackles, with 53 solo stops. In addition, the junior has added 15.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. Co-captain Jeremy Timipf adds 83 tackles, with 44 solo stops. The Tucson, Ariz., native adds 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one pass breakup and one forced fumble.

ARMY-NAVY HISTORY
The storied Army-Navy rivalry will enjoy its 116th edition this season when the Black Knights and Midshipmen play on Dec. 12 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. Only 10 Division I-A rivalries have featured more games than the Army-Navy series. This revered series began when Cadet Dennis Mahan Michie accepted a "challenge" from Naval Academy Midshipmen for a football game against the Cadets. That first contest was held on "The Plain" at West Point on Nov. 29, 1890. The more experienced Mids, who had been playing organized football since 1879, defeated the Cadets 24-0.

Eighty-five of the 115 Army-Navy games have been played within Philadelphia city limits. Last year's game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., marked only the ninth time the Army-Navy Classic was played outside Philadelphia since 1945.

The Army-Navy series has been tied on 13 occasions (five times since 1979). The latest tie came following Navy's victory in 2004. The Mids' win in 2005 gave Navy its first edge in the series since 1993. Until winning in 1980 to break a 37-37-6 stalemate, Navy had not led in the series standing since 1921, after just the 24th meeting between the academies.

ARMY FOOTBALL CELEBRATES 125 YEARS
In celebration of 125 years of Army football, the Army Athletic Association will countdown the top 10 moments in program history.

This past Wednesday, moment number one was announced – Army's come-from-behind victory in the Army-Navy Game in 1996.

Each Wednesday we will reveal one moment as we countdown the top 10.

HELMET STICKERS
The Army football team will continue to honor the U.S. Army this season, wearing helmet stickers for the below divisions.
9/4 Fordham: 1st Infantry Division
9/12 at Connecticut: 7th Infantry Division
9/19 Wake Forest: 82nd Airborne
9/26 at Eastern Michigan: 2nd Infantry Division
10/3 at Penn State: 101st Airborne
10/10 Duke: 25th Infantry Division
10/17 Bucknell: 1st Armored Division
10/24 at Rice: 1st Cavalry Division
11/7 at Air Force: 4th Infantry Division
11/14 Tulane: 3rd Infantry Division
11/21 Rutgers 10th Mountain Division
12/12 Navy: Players will wear specific stickers

CLASSROOM SUCCESS
The Army football team continues to excel in the classroom. The team improved its grade point average .13 points in the spring, raising the team GPA to the highest it has been since 1977.

CLASS MOTTO
One of the duties of the new cadets is selecting a class motto. That motto, selected during Cadet Basic Training, is displayed during March Back on a large banner during the 12-mile return to West Point. The Class mottos are
2019 So Freedom Will Reign
2018 So Others May Dream
2017 With Honor We Lead
2016 For Those We Lead

CLASS RINGS
Each senior at West Point is presented with their class ring during the Ring Weekend. The rings are distributed at Trophy Point with the cadets wearing their "India White" uniforms.

The rings presented to the Class of 2016 include steel from the World Trade Center as well as gold from past class rings which have been donated.

Football Set for Army-Navy Game Presented by USAA

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Players Mentioned

Ahmad Bradshaw

Chris Carter

Aaron Kemper

Andrew King

A.J. Schurr

Army West Point Athletics