Air Force Academy – Coach Troy Calhoun and quarterback Shaun Carney might have been a little cautious on their appraisal of what is at stake Saturday when Air Force plays at Navy, but Falcons linebacker Drew Fowler let his feelings show.
“In the scheme of trying to win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, this is a must win for us,” Fowler said. “We can’t lose this one and sit here and think if we beat Army and hope Army beats Navy, because Navy’s going to keep it if that happens. That’s the way it works.”
Air Force hasn’t gotten the scenario down in its games against Navy and Army in the past four years. Before Navy took the trophy in 2003, Air Force had won it 12 times in 14 years.
Air Force beat Navy all four years when Calhoun was an Air Force player (1985-88), but he split with Army. As a player, Calhoun was used to looking at the games with Army and Navy as leaving one conference, the Western Athletic Conference, to play in another, unofficial league (the three major military academies).
“This is a nice change of pace from the Mountain West Conference,” Calhoun said. “One of our chief goals is winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.”
Carney is 2-3 as a starter against Army and Navy, and the senior is facing his last chance to beat the Midshipmen.
Navy coach Paul Johnson and Carney have had some verbal exchanges in the past after Carney picked Air Force over Navy. Air Force was dominating the series at the time, and Carney had said he wanted to go with a winner.
“It’s always a special game,” Carney said. “We’re excited to go out there and have an opportunity to compete after last week’s performance (a 31-6 loss to BYU).
“The service games are important to a lot of people around the world for bragging rights. It means a lot to the seniors of the winning team to get an opportunity to go to Washington. But other than that, it’s just another game on the schedule.”
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
