ARMY VS. NAVY Despite 1-10 records, teams come to play

Throw out the records when the academies meet.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Ryan Kent went to West Point expecting to be a quarterback in Army's wishbone offense.
Kent laughs as he discusses the situation on the eve of the Army-Navy game at Giants Stadium on Saturday.
After he got there, Army switched its coach. Todd Berry replaced Bob Sutton and the wishbone was replaced by a one-back multiple offense.
In other words, the run was out and the pass was in.
"When we switched to the run-and-shoot offense it didn't maximize my talents," said Kent, who was a two-way player at Woodbury High School in South Jersey. "So they switched me to defense knowing I had played it in high school. It worked for the best."
Did it ever.
Leader in tackles
Now in his second season at outside linebacker in Army's 4-4 alignment, Kent leads the Cadets in tackles with 84, including 51 solos. He's also tied for the team lead with two interceptions.
"My official position is outside linebacker, but I play as much safety as I do outside linebacker," said Kent, a junior who moved into the starting lineup early last season and finished with 80 tackles.
His play this season was recently recognized by teammates, who voted him a co-captain. The coaches selected two captains before the season and the players vote for two more before the Army-Navy game.
Guard Alex Moore also was selected by his teammates.
"It means a lot," Kent said. "It's your peers, who know what is going on all the time. It's not just what goes on in the season or the numbers you put up, it's what happens in the locker room and what happens in the off season. I think it is the top honor you get."
The only thing better, of course, would be beating Navy a second straight year.
Trying to stay focused
Kent said the hardest thing this week has been staying focused with all the pep rallies and activities around the game. Thursday night was a spirit dinner at the academy.
"With all the distractions and everyone so busy, it's been a good week for everyone to relax and enjoy the atmosphere," he said.
Both schools have been rebuilding this season, each coming into the game with a 1-10 record. They have had two common opponents, Air Force and Tulane.
Navy was beaten by both teams, losing to Air Force 48-7 and Tulane 51-30. Army beat Tulane 14-10 and lost to Air Force 49-30.
"If you go back and look at the games we've played in the past, it's not so much a matter of records going into the game or who's on a roll or what's going on," Kent said. "It's that game on that day," Kent said.