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Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Classic Friday Tailgate


ESPN Classic celebrates college football's greatest rivalries each week on "Friday Tailgate." This week is a special presentation with four Army vs. Navy games.

"Friday Tailgate" will kick off with Alabama and Illinois battling it out in the 1982 Liberty Bowl -- Bear Bryant's final game. Then, the attention turns to some memorable contests between the Cadets and Midshipmen. Here's Friday's schedule:

7:30 a.m. - 1982 Liberty Bowl
Alabama vs. Illinois

Alabama defeats Illinois 21-15 in Bear Bryant's final game after 25 years at his alma mater.

Heisman candidate Tony Eason completes 35 passes for 423 yards for the Illini, but he's picked off four times.

The win gave Bryant a major college record 323 victories (Penn State's Joe Paterno passed him in 2001) at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama over 38 career years. Bryant had his greatest success at Alabama winning six No. 1 rankings and 13 Southeastern Conference titles.

1 p.m. - Army vs. Navy (1989)

In the first Army-Navy game played in East Rutherford, N.J., Frank Schenk hit a 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left, to give the Midshipmen a come-from-behind 19-17 win over the Cadets.

Army-Navy
Army beat Navy 26-17 last Saturday in the 102nd game between the rival academies.
Navy got on the scoreboard first when Alton Grizzard hit B.J. Mason with a 54-yard touchdown pass. However, a bad snap on the extra point left Navy with a 6-0 lead. Schenk added three points to that advantage with a 38-yard field goal midway through the first quarter.

Army's efficient wishbone offense consumed most of the second quarter, as Cal Cass notched a pair of one-yard touchdown runs to give the Cadets a 14-9 lead at halftime.

Rodney Purifoy's three-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter, followed by Schenk's extra point, put Navy back ahead, 16-14. Yet, Army regained the lead with two minutes to go in the third quarter, when Keith Havenstrite nailed a 21-yard field goal.

With 5:02 remaining in the game, Navy took over possession on its own 22-yard line. Grizzard and fullback Mike Burns led the Mids down the field, setting the stage for Schenk's game-winning kick.

3 p.m. - Army vs. Navy (1992)

Patmon Malcom's career-best 49-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining wins it for Army, 25-24.

The Midshipmen, who entered the game at 1-9, raced to a 24-7 advantage only to see the Black Knights come roaring back with three straight scores. A 68-yard touchdown pass from Rick Roper to Gaylord Greene, the longest pass play ever in an Army-Navy contest, and the ensuing two-point conversion (off a fake kick) pulled Army within 24-22 with over seven minutes remaining.

Following an exchange of punts, Navy was unable to move the ball and was forced to kick into a stiff wind again. Army took over at the Navy 33-yard line. On fourth down, Malcom drilled a 44-yard field goal, but the Cadets were flagged for delay of game. His second kick from 49 yards was perfect, capping one of the greatest comebacks in Army-Navy history and a dramatic victory for the Cadets.

5 p.m. - Army vs. Navy (1995)

Ronnie McAda completed a 28-yard pass to John Graves on 4th-and-24 to set up a short touchdown run by John Conroy with 1:03 left Saturday, lifting Army its fourth consecutive close win over Navy, 14-13. Army has defeated Navy four straight times by a combined six points.

Conroy's second touchdown of the game capped a 19-play, 99-yard drive that began when Navy failed on a 4th-and-goal at the one-yard line. Navy made the questionable decision of bypassing a field goal attempt and a possible nine-point lead. Instead, a pass from Chris McCoy to Cory Schemm fell incomplete. That mishap came with seven minutes to play and Army then drove the length of the field for the winning points.

But the drive appeared to have bogged down when McAda was sacked with two minutes to play, leaving the Cadets with a long fourth-down play facing them. McAda, however, found Graves along the left sideline and the receiver was pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line with 1:40 left. Conroy scored two plays later.

9 p.m. - Army vs. Navy (1996)

Quarterback Ronnie McAda led an Army rally that carried the Cadets to a 28-24 victory over Navy and into the Independence Bowl with its fifth straight victory over the Midshipmen.

McAda ran for a career-high 134 yards and a touchdown as Army came back from an 18-point deficit in a rain-drenched game, one of the biggest between these traditional rivals in three decades. It maked the largest comeback ever by Army in the series. Army also got an 81-yard touchdown run by Bobby Williams.

Navy had two chances to regain the lead in the final minutes. On the first, it failed on four tries from inside the Army 10.

The Midshipmen got the ball back with 56 seconds left on the Navy 43, but Army's Garland Gay intercepted a Navy pass in the end zone with 10 seconds left.





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