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The Aggies got two weeks off following their win against Wake Forest, giving themselves extra time to prepare for one of their most anticipated games of the season: a road trip to the Naval Academy. The break was especially helpful since it gave the team time to recover from a series of season-ending injuries, including fullback Anthony, who broke his shoulder in the Wake Forest game, and quarterback Rice, who sprained his ankle in practice. Page, who started the season at quarterback, also remained out after multiple injuries and retired at the request of his parents. Jaynes had also suffered from an arm injury, while Osborne had returned from a leg injury. Despite the losses, the squad's teamwork and speed was said to have shown decided improvement during and after the Wake Forest game. Captain Cool had been shifted to a new position, while Champion and Lane (from the scrub team) were showing promise in their enlarged roles.

Besides the revamped line-up, the Farmers were hoping to build on the momentum of their previous trip to Annapolis, where, despite losing, they were the only team to make an offensive touchdown against the Middies that season; some papers played on this theme by claiming the Tars were "afraid" of the Farmers. And, as was the case before the Wake Forest game, the Farmers were practicing in secret to help maintain an edge.

An improvement was seen as especially likely since Navy's team was considered especially weak: their 3-3 start was the worst since 1909. They began their season with a tight (7-3) win over Johns Hopkins before dropping the next two against Lehigh (0-14) and Swarthmore (6-21). They briefly got back on track with victories over Pittsburgh (13-6) and Western Reserve (7-0) -- though the latter was officially considered a practice game at the time -- but fell into the red once again against Bucknell, losing 7-17.

Despite returning a number of former starters, including this season's captain, Rodes, as well as Gilchrist, Brown, R. O. Davis, and Rodman, in addition head coach Doglas Howard, the team was not meshing. Some blamed the coaching staff's refusal to emphasize individual traning, instead focusing on team play in preparation for their big game against the Army. Like the Aggies, the lack of success was principally blamed on the lack of explosive backfield play. And still like the Red and White, their lineup remained under flux, going as far as demoting two regular starters to the scrub team just a couple weeks ago. Generally, the Annapolis boys were said to be weak against the forward pass (Army and Navy Journal, September 21st, 1912, p. 86; Charlotte News, October 18th, 1912, p. 8; Washington Times, November 1st, 1912, p. 19; Charlotte News, November 11th, 1912, p. 7; News and Observer, November 13th, 1912, p. 3; Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 14th, 1912, p. 6; New York Times, November 15th, 1912, p. 11; Columbia Record, November 16th, 1912, p. 2; News and Observer, November 16th, 1912, p. 3; Army and Navy Journal, November 16th, 1912, p. 334).

For several games this season, I've written that we know "very little" about how a game transpired, yet continued to describe at least one play per quarter. In this case, we genuinely know very little about the game's action. With excellent weather, the game kicked off at 2:30 PM, and was played in four 15-minute quarters (the Baltimore Sun alone reported 12 minute quarters, but is discounted by the number of other papers to the contrary). The Farmers were "not strong in offensive or defensive work," as the final score indicates.

The Farmers managed to hold things off for about 5 minutes before Rodes notched the first points of the game, crossing the goal line on third down after the Sailors were stonewalled twice. The first half ended with the Sailors leading 16-to-nothing, with their points coming from two touchdowns, one goal kick, and one field goal. In the second half, the Navy put in effectively an entirely new line. They also made two more field goals (for a total of one from placement and two on drop kicks), setting a new school record in the process.

Throughout the game, Leonard's punts outmatched those of Cool, who averaged only 20 yards; at some unspecified point, a punt from behind his own goal line went out of bounds at the 5 yard line, setting the Middies up for an easy score. The Farmers attempted only one forward pass over the course of the game, succeeded in making only three first downs throughout the day, and failed to ever threaten Navy's goal. As had been the norm for several of the Red and White's games this season, penalties seemed to dominate. Star players for Navy were said to be McReavy (for his exceptional ability to gain through line), as well as Rodes, Failling, Alexander, and Harrison (Evening Capital, November 16th, 1912, p. 1; Charlotte Observer, November 17th, 1912, p. 2; News and Observer, November 17th, 1912, p. 13; Tampa Tribune, November 17th, 1912, p. 7; Baltimore Sun, November 17th, 1912, Part 2, p. 1; Washington Post, November 17th, 1912, p. 3; Army and Navy Register, November 23rd, 1912, p. 549; Army and Navy Journal, November 23rd, 1912, p. 368).

While local fans complained that the Aggies were too weak to see if the Naval Academy had genuinely improved, it certainly set a good tone for the remainder of the season: the following week, the Tars took down New York University 39-0, and on Thanksgiving Weekend, they defeated their rival Army by a 6-0 score. Their win over Army really emphasized the Middies' lackluster 6-3.