In Army West Point football’s 11 wins this season, the Black Knights didn’t turn the ball over, did not give up big plays to its opponents, and won on special teams. Those three things did not come to fruition Saturday night in their biggest game of the year against Navy (9-3).

“We have a talented group of guys, but we're not so talented that we can just roll the ball out and beat anybody we play,” said Cody Winokur, a senior defensive lineman for Army. “As we saw tonight, we got outcoached. We got outplayed.”

The Midshipmen were having their way at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, and ended their two-game losing streak against Army (11-2). Navy quarterback Blake Horvath ran for two touchdowns and threw for a pair of scores en route to a 31-13 win.

“They blocked better than us," said Max DiDomenico, Black Knights’ senior safety.  "They tackle better than us. And so when the hole is pretty big, able to hit it. We're not playing hard enough. He’s dynamic enough to make us kind of exposed."

Army cut the 14-7 halftime deficit to four points with a field goal to begin the third quarter. But the Midshipmen responded with a 52-yard touchdown from Horvath hit Eli Heidenreich to make it 21-10. 

The Black Knights cut it to 21-13 after a field goal from Trey Gronotte. The Black Knights' defense then made a third down stop to bring out the Navy punt team. Army decided to go for the blocked punt, and the Midshipmen made them pay by successfully executing a fake punt to pick up the first down. 

The Midshipmen offense returned to the field and the drive was capped off with a rushing touchdown on a Horvath quarterback sneak.

“At that point, I was desperate to win. I want our team to win and make a play,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken, on the punt block attempt. “And obviously they turn the tide on us and made a play there and faked the punt. It’s a good call on their part.” 

Offensively, Army struggled to sustain drives all night. Senior quarterback Bryson Daily passed for a touchdown but also threw three interceptions.

“We didn't hit the plays we needed to. They hit the big plays. We didn’t,” Daily said. “We turned the ball over, I turned the ball over too much. That's how you lose games. Not executing, giving the other team the ball, not hitting big plays. So there's really a bunch of self-inflicted wounds. And you can't win the game like that.”

Navy had two weeks to prepare for Army, while the Black Knights only had one week to get ready after capturing the American Athletic Conference championship last week. Despite the quick turnaround and heavy load of games toward the end of the season, Army didn’t make any excuses following this tough loss.

“We can't put ourselves in the hole early where we have to rely on a pass like that,” Daily said. “So just a lot of bad decisions on my part. I take full responsibility for that.”

“As excited and proud we were eight days ago, we’re as disappointed as we've ever been,” Monken said.

As Navy takes the 125th meeting between the Black Knights and the Midshipmen, the Commander-In-Chief trophy now heads to Annapolis for the first time since 2019.

“It’s hard to lose that game," Monken said. "This one hurts a lot, especially when the trophy's on the line and we got a chance to keep that trophy at West Point."

Army’s season will conclude with the Independence Bowl later this month. The Black Knights are now facing Louisiana Tech after Marshall opted out due to a lack of players.