Army-Navy Rivalry Leads D1A Weekend

09.25.2026College Men

Navy vs UMW Fall 2026. Photo David Hughes.

Both Navy and Mary Washington are in action this week. David Hughes photo.

Author: Alex Goff

This weekend's slate of D1A games has a couple of key matchups, and one that is among the shining lights in rugby rivalries.

New D1AA program Loyola of New Orleans will take on a very difficult test against Arkansas State. The Red Wolves, for their part, are still rebounding from a coaching shift and relying heavily on veteran leadership to keep them on-task.

So this will be an interesting test for both, but Arkansas State certainly will be favored. Loyola's players will certainly see the standard they want to chase.

The Rocky Mountain Conference opens up. Air Force got hit hard with their opener on the road at Navy two weeks ago, and things aren't exactly easier now that the Zoomies face BYU. At least they host this time.

BYU starts a torrid run with Air Force, Utah State, Colorado, Utah (another great rivalry), Utah Valley, and then Western Washington to round out their fall.

Yes the Cougars are favored to win.

Also in Rocky Mountain, Utah Valley is at Colorado, who are led by skipper and No. 8 Jack Chisholm. Utah Valley is coming off a preseason loss to Weber State.

The Big 10 sees Indiana at Illinois. The Hoosiers are also sending a squad to the West Coast 7s so this will be a stress test on their squad.

Mothers

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11:00am

The Mount

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Black Knights

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11:00am

Navy

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Nittany Lions

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12:00pm

Watch

Knights

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Indiana

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2:00pm

Illinois

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Running Eagles

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2:00pm

Macaws

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Wolfpack

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Red Wolves

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BYU Cougars

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Zoomies

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Wolverines

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Buffaloes

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The Rugby East

Most active is The Rugby East, with three matches on the slate.

Most high-profile is Army at Navy. It is rare for this matchup to be so early in the season, but it has happened. This is a very good, very buttoned-up Navy side with a ton of senior leadership.

Both Navy and Army have shaken up their. attack a little bit, and this could be one of the more free-wheeling matchups between the two. Still they will be tight when needed—both teams punish penalties clinically. But they can also move the ball with a bit more adventure than we've seen in recent years.

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Also in the Rugby East, Mary Washington takes on Mount St. Mary's. It's difficult to gauge where these two teams are. Mount is young, but did pull out a win over Southern Virginia last week.

UMW lost big to Navy, but then, who doesn't? This game is a much better measuring stick for both.

Penn State logged a nice 14-7 win over Ohio State and Southern Virginia is coming off a comeback loss to Mount that they felt they should have won. Still, it's a step forward for SVU, something Head Coach Paul Lasike has been working toward.

This game could have significant ramifications when it comes to later postseason aspirations.

Another Rugby East team, Life University, will travel to Florida to play Millennia Atlantic. MAU is a D1AA team but, like Loyola, there's a good chance they might be thinking about moving up at some point. That would be nice to see because if MAU is in D1A, then St. Thomas is right down the street, and a MAU/STU/Life/Loyola southern group is attractive.

Pipe dreams. This week, it's about putting on solid performances.