The stadium sits at the upper portion of campus, directly west of
Lusk Reservoir. The field is at an
elevation of 335 feet (102 m)
above sea level and runs in the traditional north–south configuration, with the press box above the west sideline. Due to the view offered by its location overlooking the
Hudson River and the
Neo-Gothic architecture of the campus below, it was rated as Sports Illustrated's #3 sports venue of the 20th century.[3]
Overview
Dennis Michie
Michie Stadium is dedicated to the memory of
Dennis Michie (1870–1898), who was instrumental in starting the football program while a cadet at the Academy. A member of the Class of 1892, Michie organized, managed, and coached the first football team at West Point in 1890. Six years after graduation, he was killed in
Cuba during the
Spanish–American War. There have been several renovations since the stadium's first game in October 1924, when Army defeated
Saint Louis, 17–0.
Blaik Field
In
1999, the football field at Michie Stadium was named "Blaik Field" on September 25, in honor of
Earl "Red" Blaik, West Point's all-time leader in wins during a 17-year tenure from
1941 to
1958. Blaik led Army to three consecutive
national titles from
1944 to
1946.
Playing surface
Since
2008, the playing surface has been
FieldTurf. This replaced
AstroPlay, which had been used since
2001. The stadium's playing field was natural grass until
AstroTurf was installed in
1977.[2]
Army–Navy Game
Michie Stadium first hosted the
Army–Navy Game in
1943 during
World War II, after it was played at
Thompson Stadium at
Annapolis the
year before. Neither Army nor Navy had played at an on-campus facility since very early in the rivalry, since teams' home stadiums are not nearly large enough to accommodate the crowds and media that usually attend the rivalry games. Their rivalry game is normally played at a neutral site between the campuses on the
East Coast, usually in
Philadelphia in early December. In 2020, the Army–Navy Game was moved from Philadelphia to Michie Stadium due to state-imposed attendance limits on outdoor events as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic.[4]