1985 Navy Midshipmen football team

American college football season

1985 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–7
Head coach	Gary Tranquill (4th season)
Captains	Eric Fudge Napoleon McCallum
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Miami (FL)		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Florida State		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–		4	–	8	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		2	–	7	–	2
Rutgers		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Louisville		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Tulane		–		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy as an independent during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1]^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7		North Carolina	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		L 19–21	26,394	^[3]
September 14		at Delaware	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE		L 13–16	23,110
September 21		at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		L 35–38	35,610
September 28		at No. 20 Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA		W 17–13	44,000	^[4]
October 12		No. 13 Air Force	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)		L 7–24	35,663
October 19		Lafayette	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 56–14	28,402	^[5]
October 26	2:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 21–7	29,343
November 2	3:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 17–41	59,075
November 9		Syracuse	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		L 20–24	25,049
November 16		at South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		L 31–34	69,542	^[6]
December 5	2:30 p.m.	vs. Army	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	CBS	W 17–7
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

North Carolina

At Delaware

At Indiana

At Virginia

Air Force

Lafayette

Pittsburgh

At Notre Dame

Syracuse

At South Carolina

vs Army

Army Cadets (8–2) vs. Navy Midshipmen (3–7)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	7	0	0	10	17
Army	7	0	0	0	7

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date: December 7, 1985
Game time: 2:30 p.m. EDT
Game attendance: 71,640
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian
^[7]

Game information

First quarter

NAVY – Troy Saunders 13-yard pass from Bob Misch (Todd Solomon kick), 6:54. Navy 7–0. Drive: 16 plays, 73 yards.
ARMY – Clarence Jones 10-yard run (kick good). Tie 7–7.

Second quarter

No scoring

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

NAVY – Chuck Smith 5-yard run (Todd Solomon kick), 8:26. Navy 14–7.
NAVY – Todd Solomon 26-yard field goal, 1:15. Navy 17–7.

Top rushers

NAVY – Napoleon McCallum – 41 rushes, 217 yards

With Vice President and former Navy pilot George Bush in attendance, Napoleon McCallum rushed for 217 yards, the second-most rushing yards by a Navy player against Army, and broke the NCAA single-season all-purpose yardage record of Pitt's Tony Dorsett.^[8]

^[9]

External videos
1985 Army vs. Navy – Television broadcast

Personnel

1985 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	Name	Class
RB	John Berner
OL	Frank Bijak
QB	Bill Byrne	Jr
OL	Chris Castelli
OL	Pat Hoffman
WR	Anthony Hollinger
TE	Kenneth Kmiec
WR	John Lobb
RB	Napoleon McCallum (C)	RSr
RB	John McKenna
OL	Mark Miller
QB	Bob Misch
WR	Mike Ray
WR	Troy Saunders
TE	Gregory Schildmeyer
RB	Chuck Smith
RB	Mike Smith
TE	John Sniffen
OL	Vic Tuttle

Defense

Pos.	Name	Class
DB	Steve Brady
DB	John Carroll
LB	Tom Doman
LB	Jim Dwyer
DB	Marc Firlie
DL	Eric Fudge (C)	Sr
DL	Dirk MacFarlane
LB	Vince McBeth
DB	Tom Metzger
DB	Mike Milo
DL	Mike Musser
DL	Dave Pimpo
DL	Bob Plantz
DL	Kent Van Horn
DL	Chad Van Hulzen

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Andy Mueck
P		Scott Quinlan
K		Todd Solomon

Head coach

Gary Tranquill

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Awards

Napoleon McCallum – Heisman Trophy voting (7th)

References

^ "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 195. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
^ "Navy Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^ "Failed conversion dooms Navy, 21–19". The Baltimore Sun. September 8, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Midshipmen sink No. 20 UVa, 17–13". Wichita Falls Times. September 29, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Meixell, Ted (October 20, 1985). "Navy Dominates Lafayette". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gamecocks hold on to sink Navy". The Sun-News. November 17, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "In a Farewell Appearance, McCallum Stuns Army." Washington Post. 1985 Dec 08. Retrieved 2019-Jan-28.
^ "It's bon voyage for Navy's McCallum." Milwaukee Journal. 1985 Dec 8.
^ "NAVY STUNS ARMY IN 17-7 UPSET". The New York Times. December 8, 1985. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

v t e Navy Midshipmen football
Venues	Worden Field (1890–1923) Thompson Stadium (1924–1958) Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (1959–present) Memorial Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Army: Army–Navy Game (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) Air Force: Commander-in-Chief's Trophy: Johns Hopkins Maryland: Crab Bowl Classic Notre Dame SMU: Gansz Trophy
Culture & lore	Bill the Goat "Anchors Aweigh" "I believe that we will win!" Marching band "Navy ends the drought" 2007 North Texas game Salute That Navy Spirit Navy Blue and Gold
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1879 1880–1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold