The 2025 Army-Navy game will be played on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore.
This game always carries plenty of meaning and this year is no different. These storied programs have split each of the last 6 meeting in this series, but it’s the Midshipmen who will be looking for their 2nd consecutive win.
Army-Navy game
Here’s what the odds look like for this game from a variety of the top sports betting apps:
Army football news
- Army’s offense followed a really unusual statistical pattern this year. Per Game on Paper, the Black Knights offense ranks 56th nationally in EPA-per-play but just 106th in success rate.
- The implication there is that Army is heavily reliant on explosive plays. The Black Knights are in the 88th percentile in explosive play rate this season, so they’ve been able to consistently create those opportunities.
- Army’s passing game has not been particularly effective. Starting quarterback Cale Hellums has 504 yards on 69 pass attempts. Seven of his 35 completions this year have gone for 30+ yards.
- However, Heullums did rush for over 1,000 yards this season and scored 15 touchdowns on the ground. He also led the AAC in rushing attempts this season.
- Army’s secondary was quite poor this season. It ranks 96th in EPA-per-pass allowed, per Game on Paper.
- Overall, Army’s defense is 128th in success rate.
- Army was a bit better against the run this season — at least when it comes to limiting explosive plays. When Army played Air Force this season, the Falcons managed just 4.9 yards per play.
Navy football news
- Navy’s rushing offense is absolutely elite. Per CFB-Graphs, the Midshipmen posted a positive EPA-per-rush in 10 of 11 games this season (Air Force was the lone exception).
- Navy’s rushing success rate is also excellent — it ranks No. 7 nationally in that category, per Game on Paper.
- Blake Horvath is back at quarterback for Navy. He’s more of a passing threat than service academies typically have at QB. He averaged over 10 yards per attempt this season and has 22 touchdown passes over his last 2 years as Navy’s starting quarterback.
- If Horvath throws for 1 more touchdown, he’d become just the 2nd Navy QB since the turn of the century to have 25+ passing touchdowns and 30+ rushing touchdowns in a career (Keenan Reynolds is the other).
- Navy is very vulnerable to the pass (131st in EPA-per-pass allowed) but that may not be a big factor against this Army team.
- Navy allowed Air Force to gain 7.1 yards per play in a 34-31 win over the Falcons earlier this season. Horvath had a staggering 339 passing yards in that victory.
Army vs. Navy predictions
I like Navy to beat the number. I considered a Navy team total over as well, but it’s just hard to make a bet like that considering the number of possessions is likely to be low in Army-Navy. But the bottom line is I think Navy’s offense has a pretty significant advantage in this game. The Midshipmen have a great quarterback — arguably their best in at least a decade — and they can really, really run the ball. Army’s defense has been mediocre this season. Give me Navy to win by at least a touchdown.
Pick: Navy -6.5 (-105 on Fanatics)
I think Horvath will throw a touchdown pass in this game. Since the start of last season, Horvath has a TD pass in 14 of 22 games. He has 5 touchdown passes in his last 2 games against service academies (Air Force in 2025 and Army in 2024). Given challenges Army’s defense has had in the secondary this season and that Navy does tend to throw the ball more than you’d expect, I think there’s a strong chance we’ll see a Horvath TD pass.
Pick: Blake Horvath over 0.5 passing touchdowns (+105 on BetMGM)
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
