Saturday’s game between the academies expected to feature lots of running plays.
Sometimes it’s tough being a younger brother.
The U.S. Air Force Academy, established in 1954, is 109 years younger than the U.S. Naval Academy and 152 years younger than the U.S. Military Academy.
Perhaps the most recognizable showcase for the values of a military education has been the Army-Navy football game. The annual contest has been played 121 times and is followed closely by veterans, college football fans and others. But on Saturday, the Air Force Academy gets its chance to shine in the national spotlight when it plays Army in what has been rebranded as The Lockheed Martin Commanders’ Classic presented by USAA. The game kicks off at 11:30 a.m. Eastern with coverage on CBS.
The three service academies rarely get to play on network television. Their traditional style of play – the triple option – can be effective, but it recalls a bygone era of football. While much of the modern game is about big plays and individual athletic achievement, the triple option emphasizes team execution and a methodical, grinding advance averaging four yards per play. TV executives try to provide fast and spectacular plays by scheduling games that feature teams with numerous big-play possibilities.
Thankfully, CBS executives realize that there is still a significant portion of viewers that respect and admire what the service academies symbolize. So, the three games that determine the winner of the Commander-In-Chief’s trophy are all carried on the “Tiffany Network” instead of its smaller cable sports network.
Still, most attention focuses on the Army-Navy game. In order to gain more visibility, Air Force leadership worked with CBS, Lockheed Martin and USAA to rebrand the 55th meeting with Army into a special event.
The Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, created in 1972, is conducting its Golden Anniversary competition in 2021. The winner is the team that can beat the other two. If each team wins a game, the trophy remains in the possession of the team that last won the award. The 170-pound award that stands nearly three feet tall has been claimed 20 times by Air Force, 16 times by Navy, and nine times by Army, with four ties. It has been displayed at six different locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since Oct. 13 to help build interest in Saturday’s game.
In the first game of 2021, Air Force defeated Navy 23-3 on Sept. 11. If the Falcons win on Saturday, they will claim the CIC trophy for 2021.
“When you play for that trophy there’s a lot of emotion,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken, who has led Army to three CIC trophy possessions – including a 10-7 triumph last year at West Point – in the last four years. “But we’ve got to practice well so that we’ll play well. We’ve got to play well on Saturday, and the only way we can do that is to have our guys locked in on their assignments and play well fundamentally. I’m sure it will be a great game – the last three, I think have been one-score games. I’m sure it’s going to be a dogfight and we’re going to do our very best to stay in it all the way to the finish.”
Air Force and Army will play Saturday’s game at Globe Life Feld in Arlington, Texas.
“What’s really neat is to look at the number of servicemembers who are in that (Dallas) area,” said Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, who last led his team to the CIC trophy in 2016. “Just right up the road 110 miles is Sheppard Air Force Base. Down towards San Antonio you’ve got Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base. You go to Del Rio Air Force base where so many of our graduates go to pilot training, and a good number of Army bases too, like Fort Hood and Fort Sill. I think that’s incredible when there’s an event that a good number of our servicemembers can attend. To provide them with a little bit of joy for one day makes it even better.”
Now to the game. Both teams are coming off bye weeks. Statistically, this game is a toss up with a lot of running expected. The Falcons (6-2) lead the nation with an average of 318.4 rushing yards per game while the Black Knights rank second with an average of 312.3 yards per game. No other team is averaging over 250 rushing yards a game.
Both teams have dominated time of possession with Army (nation-leading 38:39 per game) having a slight edge over Air Force (36:34). Both teams have committed 13 fumbles; the Black Knights have lost three and the Falcons have lost four. Army converts more third downs (50% to 43%). The Falcons are averaging 29.2 points per game, while Army is averaging 34.6.
The Falcons have four wins in their last five games, with the only blemish being a 20-14 loss to then-undefeated No. 22 San Diego State. Starting quarterback Haaziq Daniels is 25-for-56 for 562 yards and two touchdowns on the year. Brad Roberts leads the running attack with five games with more than 100 yards rushing and 845 yards rushing and 8 TDs on the season.
Army (4-3) is coming off three straight losses, including the last two against No. 28 Wisconsin and No. 10 Wake Forest. The Black Knights’ offense features three quarterbacks with different skills. Christian Anderson – who started the most recent game with a team-leading 427 yards (7.2 average yards per carry, 85.4 yards per game) – was knocked out due to injury. Tyhier Tyler came in when Army needed to have a running quarterback and he ran for 106 yards. When the Black Knights needed a strong thrower, Jabari Laws came in and completed 9-of-11 attempts for 140 yards and three passing touchdowns (the most for any Army team in 15 years).
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