ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The Navy football team,
coming off a 2013 campaign that saw the Mids finish with a 9-4 record, win
the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for the ninth time in the last 11 years,
qualify for a bowl game for the 10th time in the last 11 years, win a bowl game
for just the eighth time in school history and defeat Army for a series-record
12th-consecutive year, will face a challenging 2014 schedule that features five
games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and three neutral site games in the
Baltimore-Washington corridor. Additionally, this year marks Navy’s final
year as an independent as the Mids will join the American Athletic Conference
in 2015. Once again, all Navy home and neutral site games will be
televised by CBS Sports or CBS Sports Network.
The Mids will play seven teams that
were bowl eligible in 2013, including two of college football’s most storied
programs, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
“This exceptional schedule is terrific
for our fans to attend up to eight games within a 25 minute drive of
Annapolis,” said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. “The
base season ticket package covers our traditional home games in Navy-Marine
Corps Memorial Stadium, while the additional match-ups in NFL venues allow for
optional purchasing opportunities for fans to be there for all the action, all
fall long. Navy football is Navy family and this is a great schedule for
all to see the Midshipmen in some of the finest venues in the nation right in
our backyard.”
“This will once again be an incredibly
challenging schedule for our football team,” said Navy head football coach Ken
Niumatalo. “With seven teams on our schedule that were bowl eligible a
year ago, our team will have to work extremely hard this off-season to
accomplish all of our goals next year. It’s also exciting to have eight
games locally (five in Annapolis, two in Baltimore, one in Landover) as it will
give the thousands of Navy fans in the area, and even those who are
looking for a college team to root for and have never seen us play, an
opportunity to come out and support this incredible group of young men.”
Navy will open up the 2014 campaign
with a bang as it plays host to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Baltimore’s M&T
Bank Stadium onSaturday, Aug. 30 in a game that will be televised
nationally by CBS Sports Network at 12 noon.
Ohio State is coming off a 12-2 season
and is 24-2 over the last two years under Urban Meyer. This will be the
second time in six years that Navy has opened up against Ohio State. In
2009, Navy went into Columbus and nearly pulled off the upset before losing
31-27 on an intercepted two-point conversion that was returned for two points
in the final minute.
The following week (Sept. 6), Navy will
travel to future American Athletic Conference foe Temple (2-10 in 2013), as the
two teams will tangle at Lincoln Financial Field. The Mids are 10-0
all-time at Lincoln Financial (9-0 vs. Army, 1-0 vs. Temple).
The Mids will be back on the road the
following week (Sept. 13) as they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the
Bobcats of Texas State (6-6 in 2013). It will be Navy’s first trip to San
Marcos.
The Mids will play their first game at
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20 when Navy
plays host to one of the Big Ten’s newest members, Rutgers, in a 3:30 PM contest
that will be televised live by CBS Sports Network.
The Scarlet Knights were 6-7 a year ago
and played in the Pinstripe Bowl against Notre Dame.
Navy will be looking for payback the
following week as it plays host to Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 27 in
a 3:30 PMcontest that will be televised live by CBS Sports Network.
The Hilltoppers are coming off an 8-4
campaign, including a 19-7 victory over Navy in a game that starting
quarterback Keenan Reynolds was knocked out of in the second quarter on a
helmet-to-helmet hit.
Navy travels to Colorado Springs on Saturday,
Oct. 4 to take on Air Force in the first game of the round-robin
competition between Navy, Air Force and Army for the Commander-In-Chief’s
Trophy. The game is scheduled to kick at 1:30 PM in Colorado
Springs (3:30 in Annapolis) and will be televised nationally by CBS Sports
Network.
Navy defeated Air Force last year,
28-10, in Annapolis and will look to beat Air Force for the 10th time
in the last 12 meetings. Air Force finished 2-10 a year ago.
Navy returns home to face VMI on Oct.
11 in a 3:30 PM game that will be televised by CBS Sports
Network and then, after a week off, will welcome San Jose State on Oct. 25 in
a rematch of one of the best games in all of college football a year ago.
The Spartans, who finished 6-6 on the
year including an upset of undefeated Fresno State in the season finale, lost
to Navy a year ago, 58-52, in triple overtime as Navy quarterback Keenan
Reynolds ran for an NCAA-record (for a quarterback) seven rushing touchdowns,
including the game-winning 25-yard touchdown run. The San Jose State game
will kick at 1:00 PM and will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
The following week the Mids will take
the short trip down Route 50 to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (9-4)
at FedExField in Landover, Md. in a game that will be televised by CBS
Sports. Game time is still to be announced.
Last year, Notre Dame outlasted Navy,
38-34, in a game that featured an incredible nine lead changes. This will
be the first meeting between Navy and Notre Dame at FedExField since 1998.
After another off-week, the Mids return
to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to face a Georgia Southern team (Nov. 15)
that will be in its first full year as a Football Bowl Subdivision team.
Last year, as a transitional FBS squad, the Eagles went 7-4 including a 26-20
upset victory over Florida in The Swamp. CBS Sports Network will televise
the game starting at 3:30 PM.
After a third off-week in six weeks,
the Mids will return to the gridiron on Friday, Nov. 28 to take on
South Alabama (6-6) in Mobile, Ala. It will be Navy’s first trip to
Mobile to play the Jaguars. No game time has been set as of yet for the South
Alabama game.
Navy will have a fourth off-week after
the South Alabama game before playing Service Academy rival Army at Baltimore’s
M&T Bank Stadium. The game will be televised by CBS Sports and will
kick at 3 PM.
Navy will be going for a record 13th win
in a row against its biggest rival. It will be the first Army-Navy game
in Baltimore since 2007 when the Mids beat the Black Knights, 38-3. Army
head coach Jeff Monken was an assistant at Navy for that game.
Season tickets are currently on sale at navysports.com or
by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. The direct link to the ticket info page is here:
http://bit.ly/LNw2FX
Single game tickets are also available
to Admiral’s Row members only. To become a member of Admiral’s Row go
here: http://bit.ly/1lFSSSA
With six wins in 2014, the Mids will appear in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. A date has not yet been set for the bowl game.
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
Location
|
Time
|
TV
|
|
August 30
|
Ohio State
|
Baltimore, MD
|
Noon
|
CBS SN
|
|
September 6
|
Temple
|
Philadelphia, PA
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
September 13
|
Texas State
|
San Marcos, TX
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
September 20
|
Rutgers
|
Annapolis, MD
|
3:30
|
CBS SN
|
|
September 27
|
Western Kentucky
|
Annapolis, MD
|
3:30
|
CBS SN
|
|
October 4
|
Air Force
|
Colorado Springs, CO
|
3:30
|
CBS SN
|
|
October 11
|
VMI
|
Annapolis, MD
|
3:30
|
CBS SN
|
|
October 25
|
Sam Jose State
|
Annapolis, MD
|
1:00
|
CBS SN
|
|
November 1
|
Notre Dame
|
Landover, MD
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
November 15
|
Georgia Southern
|
Annapolis, MD
|
3:30
|
CBS SN
|
|
November 28
|
South Alabama
|
Mobile, AL
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
December 13
|
Army
|
Baltimore, MD
|
3:00
|
CBS
|
