WEST POINT, N.Y.  – Records don’t matter. Bowl aspirations mean very little. Last year’s results aren’t a factor. When Army and Navy square off in a football contest, it doesn’t matter if a team is unbeaten, heading to a bowl game or coming off a big win the previous year. This game, Saturday afternoon, is all that matters and a victory brings with it bragging rights for at least a year.

Army and Navy will compete Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in the 108th meeting of the service academy rivalry. Kickoff is set for 12:16 p.m., and the game will be televised live by CBS with Boomer Esiason and Ian Eagle calling the action. Audio of the game will be provided by the Army Sports Network on WABC 770-AM as well as through the Knight Vision subscription package at www.goARMYsports.com with John Minko, Dean Darling, Rich DeMarco and Bob Outer proving commentary.

The Army-Navy game dates back to 1890 when the first contest was held on “The Plain,” in West Point, N.Y., and has been played in 15 different cities. Navy leads the all-time series 51-49-7 and has won the last five meetings. The average margin of victory over the years is 2.1 points per contest. The last Army win was in 2001, 26-17 in Philadelphia.

Navy enters the game with a 7-4 record while Army stands at 3-8. Navy opened the season with a 30-19 win against Temple and then lost to Rutgers, (41-24) and Ball State in overtime (34-31). Wins against Duke (46-43), Air Force (31-20) and Pittsburgh (48-45 in double overtime) were followed by losses to Wake Forest (44-24) and Delaware (59-52). A three game-winning streak against Notre Dame (46-44 in three overtimes), North Texas (74-62) and Northern Illinois (35-24) earned the Midshipmen a spot in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Army will try to snap a five-game losing streak and improve its 3-8 mark. The Black Knights are coming off a 49-39 loss to Tulsa in their final game of the season at Michie Stadium.

“They write books and movies about the history of the Army-Navy game,” said Army head coach Stan Brock. “Since I’ve been involved, it’s been fairly one-sided and Army hasn’t beaten Navy since 2001 so there is a lot of excitement really. Every year you go in and figure on this being the year to win. It doesn’t seem to matter what the records are for either team, it becomes an emotional battle and usually the best team wins.”

The Midshipmen, who run a triple option offense, are among the nation’s leaders in total offense and scoring. They lead the nation in rushing offense at 357.4 per game and are 11th in scoring offense, averaging 40 points per contest.

Junior quarterback Kalpo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada leads the team in rushing and passing. The 5-11, 194-pounder has rushed 148 times for 755 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has completed 46-of-79 passes for 823 yards and six touchdowns. He averages 82 yards passing and 76 yards rushing per contest. Junior Eric Kettani (6-1, 233) is listed as the second-string fullback but is second on the team in rushing with 130 carries for 710 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior Adam Ballard (6-1, 236) is the starting fullback and has 588 yards rushing on 122 carries.

“It’s different,” said Brock of Navy’s offense. “It’s different than the shotgun option and some of the offenses we faced this year. It comes down to being disciplined and being where you are supposed to be and being able to concentrate through the whole game so there are never lapses. When there is a lapse, they exploit it. We have to be ready to make adjustments. Coach Johnson runs the best triple-option offense in the country and makes changes quite often and he does it for a reason. We will have to be on our toes and play very well on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams.”

Senior O.J. Washington (5-10, 188) is the leading receiver with 11 catches for 234 yards. Senior slotback Reggie Campbell (5-6, 168) has 11 catches for 204 yards and four touchdowns.

"It's the biggest game every year for us and it's really special because we have a chance to win another Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, which is one of the goals of the team,” said Navy coach Paul Johnson. “We are playing a little closer to home in Baltimore, and we are excited about that as well."

Four of the five starters on the offensive line are seniors. Left guard Anthony Gaskins (6-1, 281) is the only junior and is joined up front by left tackle Josh Meek (6-1, 274), center Antron Harper (5-11, 272), right guard Ben Gabbard (6-4, 297) and right tackle Paul Bridgers (6-3, 268).

The Army defense is allowing 29 points per game and 206 yards passing per contest. Senior captain and safety Caleb Campbell (6-2, 224) leads the team with 94 tackles, including 67 solo stops. He has forced three fumbles and broken up a pair of passes. Fellow senior and safety Jordan Murray (6-0, 204) is second with 87 stops and has recovered two fumbles.

Junior Frank Scappaticci (6-1, 222) has 83 tackles and five tackles for loss to lead the linebackers, while senior Brian Chmura (6-0, 224) has 79 and junior John Plumstead (5-10, 217) has 33 and 6.5 tackles for loss.

The game will have extra meaning for Chmura. He will have the opportunity to play in front of his father, who is returning from his deployment in Iraq for the contest.

Sophomore Ted Bentler (6-4, 251) leads the team with three sacks and is joined up front by senior tackle John Wright (6-1, 259), senior defensive end Brandon Thompson (6-3, 261) and sophomore defensive end Nicholas Emmons (6-4, 232).

The Black Knights offense is averaging 18 points per game and 281 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Carson Williams (6-3, 210) has started the last nine games and has completed 139-of-266 passes for 1,653 yards. He has 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Senior David Pevoto (6-4, 213) who has not played since being injured in the Rhode Island contest may also be available. Pevoto completed 32-of-56 passes for 266 yards before the injury. Senior Kevin Dunn (6-0, 200) has played in five games and has 200 yards passing and may also be a factor.

“You can only line up so many ways,” said Johnson. “You can only play 11 guys. I'm not worried about Army. I'm worried about Navy. I have a pretty good idea of what they will do, but if I'm wrong I will know what they are doing after the second play. That stuff doesn't bother me. I don't care what they do, it's how they do it and what we do and how we do it. Last year they played hard and made a lot of plays and we didn't make a lot of plays. It's not magical; it's how you execute and how you play. “
 
Senior captain Jeremy Trimble (6-0, 219) has had a banner season, setting Academy records for career receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions. For the season, he has 61 catches for 907 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Corey Anderson (5-9, 168) has 28 catches for 307 yards while senior tight end Justin Larson (6-5, 228) has three receiving touchdowns.

Senior captain Mike Viti (5-10, 242) is expected to start, despite being injured during the Tulsa game. Viti is tied for the team lead with a pair of rushing touchdowns and also has nine catches. Running backs Patrick Mealy (5-10, 203), Tony Dace (5-6, 187), Wesley McMahand (5-5, 177) and Ian Smith (5-8, 188) may all see time in the backfield.

Owen Tolson (6-2, 201) is averaging 45.5 yards per punt and 63.2 yards per kickoff.

Navy’s defense is allowing 39.5 points per game and 458 yards per contest. Freshman rover Wyatt Middleton (6-0, 200) leads the team in tackles with 79 while senior linebacker Irv Spencer (6-0, 238) has a team-best 6.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore Ram Vela (5-9, 196), sophomore Ross Pospisil and senior Matt Wimsatt (6-1, 216) round out the linebackers in the 3-4-4 defense. Junior safety Ketric Buffin (5-7, 170) has a team-best four interceptions and is joined in the secondary by freshman Kevin Edwards (6-2, 176) and sophomore Blake Carter (5-11, 188). Sophomore Nate Frazier (6-3, 285) is the nose guard with senior Chris Kuhar-Pitters (6-2, 258) and junior Michael Walsh (6-2, 239) at the ends.