“The reason we play football at these academies is because of the journey. It’s a valued experience for our graduates. They take those lessons out into the field and they make them work for our country, completely different than anyplace else in the world and some of the things we had to overcome, some of the things we had to deal with, we did and you can see it on Saturdays, though you don’t necessarily see it on the scoreboard.
“But we watched these guys compete all year, they didn’t let the scoreboard talk them out of it. We fought, we stayed together, and we’re better. You’ll see two better football teams play next Saturday than you’ve seen all year, and that’s something to look forward to,” Ellerson said.
HISTORIC RIVALRY
Although this is the 112th time the two service academies will meet, Navy has won the last nine meetings, the longest winning streak by either team in series history.
Currently, Navy leads the all-time series with a record of 55 wins, 49 losses, and seven ties.
But Army has something to charge in on their horses about, too.
The Black Knights enter the season’s final game with a chance to win their first rushing title since 1998. Army is averaging 350.91 yards per game. If they can maintain that average, it would be the best rushing average by any team since Nebraska led the nation with 392.6 yards per game during the 1997 season. Army has led the country in rushing seven times: 1944, 1945, 1954, 1984, 1993, 1996 and 1998.