SI

College Football Fans Angered By Questionable Call in Army-Navy Game

Fans felt the Black Knights got robbed.

Tim Capurso

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The Midshipmen appeared to catch a break in the third quarter of this year's Army-Navy Game. 

After a Black Knights drive stalled outside of field goal range in Navy territory, Army was forced to punt. As the ball came down, it appeared to bounce off of the Midshipmen returner's foot, making it a live ball that could be recovered by either team. An Army coverage player fell on the football and for a moment, believed he had snagged possession for his team inside the red zone.

Instead, the officials's call on the field was that the ball did not make contact with the returner, keeping possession with Navy.

Officials ultimately ruled that the call on the field stood, despite replays strongly suggesting that the ball hit the return man. College football fans couldn't help but feel that Army was robbed by the referees. 

The Black Knights paid for the call, as Navy drove 70 yards down the field and kicked a field goal. But fortunately, Army came up with a huge play later on in the fourth quarter, coming up with a huge scoop-and-score touchdown on defense to extend the lead to 17—3.

Army would hold on to win the game, 17-11.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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