There are many great traditional rivalries in college athletics. But perhaps the most famous is the football game between Army and Navy that takes place each year near the end of the season. Both service teams are always “up” for this game, and there have been numerous upsets. Yet, in two of the games it was the fans–not the players–who decided the outcome.
In 1946 Army had one of the finest teams in the history of college football. The backfield included a pair of legendary running backs, “Doc” Blanchard and Glenn Davis, known as “Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside.” Going into the Navy game, the Cadets were undefeated. Navy, on the other hand, was ending a miserable season. After having beaten Villanova in the season’s opener, Navy lost the next seven games in a row.
In the first half Davis and Blanchard each ran for a touchdown, and they scored a third time on a pass from Davis to Blanchard. The half ended with Army ahead, 21-6. Navy came charging out for the second half. It scored once in the third quarter and again early in the fourth quarter. But Navy missed the kick both times, so it trailed, 21-18.
Then near the end of the game Navy began shoving the tired, injured Army team back. It reached the Cadet 3-yard line with 90 seconds left to play.
The fans were so excited that they had come out of the stands and were massing along the sidelines. Some were actually standing on the playing area, but the ushers were unable to restrain them.
Two line smashes by Navy were stopped cold. Then a player came into the game with a play from the Navy coach, but he took too long explaining it and Navy was penalized five yards for delay of the game. So Navy had third down from their 8-yard line with time running out.
The play went toward the sidelines. Chased by an Army defender, the Navy ball-carrier disappeared into a crowd of spectators. Did he go out of bounds? If so, the clock would stop. Navy would have time for one more play. But nobody seemed to know if the play was out of bounds or not. The seconds kept ticking away, and the clock ran out before Navy could line up again. Army had won, 21-18. The Cadets–and the fans–beat a gallant Navy team.
Seventeen years later, in 1963, the fans would have another chance to help decide an Army-Navy game. This time Navy was favored, having only lost one game all season. Army had lost twice. Navy boasted a great quarterback named Roger Staubach, who had won the Heisman Trophy the year before as a junior.
But Army scored first. Sparked by their own fine quarterback, Carl “Rollie” Stichweh, the Cadets marched 59 yards, and Stichweh scored on a 10-yard run. Navy soon got its turn and at the half the game was tied at 7-all.
Early in the second half Navy scored and then stopped Army inside its own 10 with a fine goal-line stand. Early in the fourth quarter the Navy team scored a third touchdown to take a 21-7 lead.
There were ten minutes left to play. Little did Navy suspect that it would never get possession of the ball gain.
Army took the kickoff and began to march steadily downfield. Finally quarterback Stichweh scored from the 1-yard line. Then he gambled on a 2-point conversion and made it. Navy’s lead was cut to 21-15. A touchdown would tie the game and the extra point would win.
The Cadets tried an onside kick. Once more Rollie Stichweh was the hero, recovering the ball to keep possession for Army. There were 6 minutes left on the clock.
Army kept shoving Navy backward as the clock ticked away. With a minute and a half left, Stichweh completed a pass to Navy’s 7-yard line.
This time the fans stayed in their seats, but they were making a tremendous din. Three line plays put the ball on Navy’s 2-yard line. It was fourth and goal.
Stichweh tried to bark out the signals, but his teammates could not hear him. Shaking his head, he looked helplessly at the officials. Then he held up his arms pleading with the crowd to be quiet. Nobody seemed to be paying him any attention. Before the ball was snapped, the gun went off. Navy had hung on, 21-15.
So, twice the fans made the big difference in an Army-Navy game. Would Navy have scored in the 1946 game if they had time to run off one more play? Would Army have scored in the 1963 game if they had time for one more play? Neither question will ever be answered. There is only one consolation for both teams: turnabout is fair play.
How far does a basketball player run during a game? Of course, the distance can vary greatly, but some years ago, Ben Peck, coach at Middlebury, Vermont, decided to find out. He put pedometers on the feet of his players.
The results: Overall, his team traveled a total of 24.01 miles, 11.97 in the first half and 12.04 in the second half. Forward Fred Lapham ran the farthest, 5.31 miles. Center Bob Adsit ran 4.25 miles. The guards averaged 2.66 miles each.
From The Giant Book of Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
https://www.wired.com/2010/12/1207army-navy-game-first-instant-replay/
I wonder if they had rules back then penalizing the home team for failing to control the crowd. Of course, refs don’t always make the call fearing what might happen if they did.
Turns out that all those people were able to get to the sidelines during the 1946 game because the security detail that was there for most of the game left when President Truman did. Seems he was in attendance that day, but left early.
At my 2nd ever Homecoming game (as a student) we charged the field and destroyed it. Over a tie.
Yeah, we’re stupid.
My stepdaughter’s soccer team sucked. I mean they sucked very, very badly. They hadn’t one a game in two years. They really sucked. I was in attendance when they managed to actually finish in a tie and it was like they’d won the championship. Then they lost the rest of the games that 3rd season because they sucked.
Fun fact: turns out the 1963 game was the very first time that instant replay was used during a live sports broadcast. They didn’t really have their shit together, so were only able to show the replay once near the end of the game.
Not So Fun Fact: This game was delayed due to JFK’s assassination.