It was the first meeting between the teams at West Point since 1943. They had lost all three games played previously at West Point to the Midshipmen, including 13-0 in 1943 during World War II. Xavier Arline started for Navy, just the fifth freshman to start at quarterback for the Mids against Army. Army: The Black Knights have overcome a schedule that had to be almost totally revamped to rebound after a subpar 2019. He first took his place with cadets on the Army side of the stadium for much of the first quarter before joining Navy midshipmen in the second quarter.

“There’s a chill that goes through you unlike any other game," Niumatalolo said. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time in 77 years the game will be played at West Point’s venerable Michie Stadium. Navy (3-6) leads Army (7-2) 61-52-7 in the series, which started in 1890 when West Point cadet Dennis Michie accepted a challenge from Navy to play a football game. “There's so much history in both of these schools, so we're playing for so much more than just football," Army senior offensive lineman J.B. Hunter said. We're just going to hope that what we do is going to work.”Navy is unbeaten in three games at West Point and won the previous encounter 13-0 in 1943, when the great Glenn Davis was a plebe at West Point.