Navy Comeback Effort Winds Up One Yard Short Against Army

The Midshipmen were oh-so-close to edging out the Black Knights.

The 2023 Army-Navy game got off to a quiet start but thrilled fans with an exciting finish, one that saw the Midshipmen's valiant comeback effort fall just short in the final seconds, as the Black Knights prevailed 17—11.

Navy, trailing 17—9, got the ball on their own 27-yard line with under two minutes left tin the contest and a chance to tie the game. 

Midshipmen quarterback Tai Lavatai completed several chunk passing plays to get his team all the way down to the goal-line, where they were just two yards away from punching in a score. 

On fourth-and-goal, Navy attempted a QB sneak, with a massive scrum developing in the trenches between the two storied foes. Army's defense held strong, denying Navy their comeback effort by just one yard.

IT CANNOT GET CLOSER.

ARMY STOPS NAVY AT THE GOAL LINE. pic.twitter.com/Lf6d7KHsDR

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 9, 2023

The Black Knights then took a meaningless—not to bettors—safety to ensure that time ran out on the clock. Game over.

The 124th meeting between the two rivals started off as a snooze fest, as neither team scored in the opening quarter, but the Black Knights quickly remedied that situation with a passing score at the beginning of the second quarter. 

An Army field goal was the only scoring play until Navy, which benefited from a questionable ruling from the officials, connected on a field goal of their own in the fourth quarter. But the ball bounced in the Black Knights's favor later in the fourth, as they scooped up a Midshipmen fumble and ran it all the way back for a defensive score. 

Thanks to an Army defensive stand, 17 points proved to be enough to emerge with the victory. After taking 14 consecutive defeats to Navy from 2002 to 2015, Army has now won three of the last four contests.