We state the central fact: Army beat Navy 23 to 7 on December 2, 1944, ending Navy’s five‑year streak and cementing Army’s dominance in the wartime years. We describe how Army, led by Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, outscored opponents 504 to 35 and began a 32‑game unbeaten run. We note the game’s wartime setting in Baltimore, where ticket sales required war bonds and raised over $58.6 million for the war effort. We recall the national weight of the moment and the telegram from General MacArthur that declared the nation paused to celebrate the team’s success. We conclude that the victory showed both an unusually strong roster and a team that rose to the test in a decisive fourth quarter.
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Transcripts
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,:
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Stay with me because you'll see rare footage of the fourth quarter that broke the five year streak.
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And you'll hear the telegram that claimed the war itself had stopped.
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To celebrate, quick question to carry with you.
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Was this the greatest college football team ever assembled or the most stacked roster the war had ever allowed to?
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Tell me now.
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The greatest stack and I'll come back at the end now.
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There was a heavy air in America as June landings in Normandy were fresh.
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Setbacks in Europe and bloody battles in the Pacific had left the nation fatigued by the strains of war.
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The media declares this matchup of the national championship game.
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Army's 8, 0 and ranked number one while Navy is 6 and 2 in ranked number two.
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Grant Rice predicts it will be one of the best and most important football games ever played.
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And he's not talking about the points, he's talking about morale.
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Here's why it gets uncomfortable and why.
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We have to be honest.
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Historians.
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Army will finish at 9 and oh.
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And outscore opponents by a total of 504 to 35 points.
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Amazing stat indeed.
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And that:
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Civilian programs are losing juniors and seniors to the draft every week.
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West Point under fourth year coach Earl Blake is not.
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Captain Tom Lombardo feels the roster that will send six men to the hall of Fame.
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Head coach Blake, Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis and Barney Poole, quarterback Doug Kenna and guard John Green.
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It was not just a team, it was a psychological warfare before there was a kickoff.
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Tackles knew what was coming and still could not stop it.
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as the best college player of:
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And Davis and fullback Doc Blanchard are selected as consensus first team All Americans.
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Blanchard is power through the line, Davis is a speed around it.
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And one year later they will win back to back Heisman trophy awards.
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On this day in Baltimore, they are sophomore sharing one backfield hammering through the line play after play.
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Navy is led by tackle Don Whitmer and an all American refuses to flinch.
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That matters because Navy is not a prop to this story.
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Do not let 6 and 2 mark.
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Fool you for Navy in wartime.
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Navy plays a brutal service schedule and.
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Earns that number two ranking.
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They've beaten army five straight years in.
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A row and they know how to win this game.
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Their plan is simple and grueling.
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Hit Doc Blanchard low, string Davis wide and make quarterback Doug Kenna beat them through the air for three quarters.
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And that does work.
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It's Navy's term to host the game, and that game was slated at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis.
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Capacity is only 19,000, but government officials consider moving it on November 17th.
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Baltimore's Municipal Stadium is the chosen site and there were 30,000 tickets for the general public.
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But with a catch, you have to live within 8.3 miles of the stadium and you have to purchase a $25 war bond to secure your seat.
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All tickets were claimed within 24 hours and the drive raises over $58.6 million.
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To support the war effort.
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66,639 See the game in frigid temperatures.
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Army struck first as a couple of Glen Davis sweeps to the right, soften the Navy defense to allow number 42 cadet Dale hall to scamper up the middle for 24 yards for the game's first score.
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In this tactical chess mess, Army's ready.
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For that kill now with Dale hall back, watch the right side of the line open as he knifes through and down to the 10 yard line.
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The five and he's over for the first score of the game and six army points.
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Brett Blake sends in Dick Walterhouse for the conversion.
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There's the kick with Walterhouse breaking all clear major football records with 47 conversions.
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That score of seven nothing took the teams into intermission and early in the third period, Army's tackle Arch Arnold busted through the Navy line and blocked a punch would roll into the end zone to give Army a nine nothing lead.
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With that safety, Navy struck back right away with a 79 yard march to the pay dirt, capped off by a Clyde Scott touchdown run and a successful kick.
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Army clung to a 9 to 7 lead entering into the fourth quarter.
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Now if you pick the stacked opening question and you're nervous right now, if you pick the greatest you're about to see why, and if you love army football history and these lost gridiron stories, subscribe to this podcast right now.
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Now we preserve them one game at a time right here in Pigskin Dispatch.
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And now on to the fourth quarter of the game.
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The DM breaks with two touchdowns in the fourth as army wins 23 7, snapping Navy's five year winning streak.
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Watch Blanchard here.
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By the time the tackle's eyes reopen, Doc is already three steps past them and Davis with the dust settles his dance around an elite once again.
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Now army defeats Navy 237 before 70,000 at the stadium, as Baltimore papers report it in the next morning.
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Now it is such a monumental victory that General Douglas MacArthur sends a telegram to Earl Red Blake, the coach.
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Quote, the greatest of all army teams.
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Stop.
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We have stopped the war to celebrate your magnificent success.
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End quote.
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Now for a perfect moment in time, the war stopped.
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To celebrate exactly two weeks before the.
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Game, Germany launches a surprise attack through the yard ends, later named the Battle of the Bulge, resulting in some 89,000American casualties.
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That line puts this game in eternity.
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Not just a win, a last breath before the bulge.
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ed number one nationally with:
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Army wins the Lambert Trophy as the best in the East.
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ts first perfect season since:
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And this is not the start, not the peak.
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They will not lose in 45 and they will not lose in 46.
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So back to your early vote.
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The greatest team or stacked.
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The void was filled.
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The era had begun.
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No civilian team could practice against Blanchard and Davis because no civilian team could keep up with its juniors.
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This fact the schedule proves its dominance.
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A 504 to 35 point leaves in his execution.
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But Navy depleted two still holds them to nine to seven for three quarters with the courage and tackling great teams still have to finish and army did twice in the fourth quarter.
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My read it can be both the most advantaged roster ever that also played like champions when tested.
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Tell me in the comments if you still say the greatest were stacked.
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And after that great fourth quarter by army when the teams left Baltimore they had left more than a score on the board.
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A team of innovators and all of drab had given a weary nation one Saturday of certainty.
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Today we salute number 35, the great dog plancher and number 41, the great Glenn Davis.
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The war is gone, but that December afternoon remains in the eternal gospel.
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Now thanks for joining us today.
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You can find more football history at your portal to the gridiron history pigskindispatch.com Next watch our Gridiron timeline as we show on more details about Army's Mr.
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Inside and Mr. Outside Tandem Backfield with Timothy Brown of Footballarchaology.com that's coming up in just the next day, so stay tuned to that and some more great football history.
