Gary Danielson, Gene Steratore ‘surprised’ by no-call in Army-Navy game

The 126th Army-Navy game featured a controversial no-call in the final seconds of the first half.

Leading 10-7, Army had first-and-10 at the Navy 31-yard line with 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Black Knights quarterback Cale Hellums threw a pass into the end zone intended for wide receiver Noah Short with Midshipmen safety Cam Robinson in coverage.

The pass fell incomplete with eight seconds remaining, but the CBS broadcast crew thought that there should have been defensive pass interference called against Robinson and Navy.

Gary Danielson and Gene Steratore thought Navy should’ve been called for pass interference on this Army pass to the end zone just ahead of halftime. 🏈🦓🎙️ pic.twitter.com/P336Vpq8Il

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 13, 2025

“Oh, that’s got to be interference,” CBS color commentator Gary Danielson — during the 17th and final Army-Navy broadcast of his career — said as the play unfolded. ”

“No flags yet,” CBS play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler said.

“Nope,” Danielson responded. “Wow, I’m surprised! Yeah, I thought that was [interference]. I mean, he ran right into him. Noah Short had no chance to get back to that ball. He does get his head around. Gene, how about your [input]?”

“You know what, Gary, I think you’ve got a PI on the play,” CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said. “I think it’s pass interference. Robinson’s running into him. The contact is before he gets his head around, and you’ve got to give Short that opportunity to come back toward the football if you’re not playing the football there. I think pass interference would’ve been the right call.”

Army would go on to make a 45-yard field goal, but it’s possible that the Black Knights — who had two timeouts remaining — would have scored a touchdown if pass interference had been called against Navy.

Navy went on to win 17-16, so the no-call ended up being a pretty key moment in the game.