Two Quarterbacks Better Than One as Navy Beats Army to Finish 1-10

Navy constantly changed quarterbacks Saturday and avoided a winless season with a 24-3 victory over Army.

Jason Van Matre passed for one touchdown and scored another as Navy won on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor before 67,858 at Veterans Stadium.

Van Matre and freshman Jim Kubiak took turns at quarterback as the Midshipmen (1-10) kept the Cadets (4-7) off balance all day in their 92nd meeting.

Van Matre, who played quarterback at other times this year but on Saturday started at tailback, also rushed for 89 yards and caught five passes for 38 yards. His only pass went for a touchdown.

“Sometimes it’s a tough transition, but it’s not really that bad,” said Van Matre, a sophomore. “I’m used to the option.

“Things just fell into place today. They put me in when we expected a lot of blitzing. We caught them off-guard when I threw.”

“It threw us off a little bit,” Army defensive tackle Lance Chambers said of the quarterback switch. “But if we’d executed on defense we would’ve stopped ‘em.”

Navy took the lead in the series, 43-42-7, as Army finished its first losing season since the 1987 squad went 5-6.

The victory represented Navy’s largest margin over Army since 1983, when the Middies won, 42-13, at the Rose Bowl.

Army, which came into the game with a 304-yard rushing average, was held to 182 yards. The Cadets could manage little offense after taking a 3-0 lead on Patmon Malcom’s 39-yard field goal to cap a seven-minute opening possession.