Navy’s Eli Heidenreich got hit with a flag for spiking the ball after scoring and Gary Danielson was mad about it. / Army-Navy on CB

Saturday’s annual Army-Navy game has belonged to the Midshipmen for most of the day. Navy earned an early lead with a first-quarter touchdown and entered halftime winning 14–7. In the third quarter they earned some breathing room with a long catch-and-run score by Eli Heidenreich—at which point the referees made a call that disgusted CBS’s Gary Danielson, on the call for the traditional rivalry matchup.

After scoring the big TD, Heidenreich enthusiastically spiked the football. The officials threw a flag and called unsportsmanlike conduct on the running back, leading to Danielson ripping the crew live on CBS.

“Terrible call. We’ve got warriors out there and they make a call like that,” Danielson said to booth partner Brad Nessler. “Stay out of the game.”

“We’ve got warriors out there and they make a call like that. Stay out of the game.”

Gary Danielson did not agree with this unsportsmanlike conduct call on Eli Heidenreich. pic.twitter.com/2T3PwfFFKN

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) December 14, 2024

The debate on the broadcast was about whether Heidenreich was taunting the nearest Army defender, which he clearly was not. However the referees threw the flag for the spike because that particular celebration is still illegal even with the significant loosening of celebration rules in recent years of college football. It just isn’t common to see a flag thrown for it.

It ultimately didn’t affect much, though. The 15-yard penalty was enforced on the subsequent kickoff, which Army was only able to return to its own 15-yard line.

Regardless Danielson’s frustration is likely felt by many of the viewers tuning into the legendary Army-Navy game. Navy entered the fourth quarter winning 21–10.