Missed Kick by Navy Enables Army to Win

Freshman Ryan Bucchianeri missed an 18-yard field-goal attempt with two seconds to play, allowing Army to escape with a 16-14 victory Saturday in the annual game between the service academies.

“I did the best I could, that’s how I feel,” a visibly upset Bucchianeri said. “I need to put it out of my mind, but I will go to sleep tonight knowing I did my best.”

Bucchianeri didn’t become the Middies’ kicker until midseason because he lost too much weight in summer training.

With the victory, Army (6-5) took an overall 44-43-7 lead in the series.

For a while, it appeared Navy (4-7) would match Army’s great comeback of a year ago, when the Middies blew a 17-point lead and lost, 25-24, on a 49-yard field goal by Patmon Malcom with 12 seconds to play.

This time, it was the Middies who came back. They scored two touchdowns in two minutes early in the fourth quarter to get within two points. Then they got the ball back with 4:30 to play and drove 79 yards to the Army one.

On the play before Bucchianeri’s kick, Navy fullback Brad Stramanak tried going left to either score or at least get the ball to the center of the field. But he was tackled almost immediately, putting Bucchianeri at an angle.

The snap was good. The hold was good. The kick from a bad angle was wide right, sending the corps of Cadets and Army into a celebration.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after Bucchianeri’s miss cost Army 10 yards and Navy tried to take advantage by lining up for another field goal. But it was Army’s ball and Army’s game.

Besides the last-second miss, the Middies turned the ball over three times inside the Army 30 in the first half and lost it once on downs at the Cadets’ 32 in the second.