ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The round-robin series among the nation’s service academies begins Saturday when Air Force plays Navy.
Navy (2-2) has captured the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy four consecutive seasons. Air Force (3-1) has held it 16 times since the trophy was commissioned in 1972.
Since inception of the competition, no Air Force class had graduated without winning the trophy at least once. That streak came to an end last year when the Falcons suffered their fourth straight loss to the Midshipmen.
Quarterback Shaun Carney, a four-year starter, leads a large contingent of Air Force seniors who do not want suffer the same fate this season.
“We are sick and tired of losing to Navy,” Air Force senior safety Bobby Giannini said.
Meanwhile, Navy’s seniors feel an obligation to defend the trophy that four previous classes worked so hard to earn.
“This is a huge game for us as seniors as far as keeping the program moving forward and leaving the legacy intact,” Navy senior center Antron Harper said. “We don’t want to be the class that slipped up and let the trophy go.”
First-year Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun has downplayed the importance of winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. While his predecessor Fisher DeBerry made beating Army and Navy the No. 1 goal of the program, Calhoun is also emphasizing conference championships and bowl games.
“Every year going into Navy, we’ve shown signs of being a good team, but we get to that game and it’s kind of like we freeze up,” senior linebacker Drew Fowler said. “This year, we just have to let it loose and have fun and not press so much like we have in years past.”
Air Force opened the season with three straight wins, knocking off a pair of favored opponents in Utah and Texas Christian. However, the Falcons were brought down to the earth last Saturday with a resounding 31-6 loss to Brigham Young.
Navy, meanwhile, snapped a two-game losing streak with a miraculous 46-43 come-from-behind victory over Duke. Backup quarterback Jarod Bryant came off the bench to lead the Mids to 14 points in the fourth quarter and reserve kicker Joey Bullen booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired.
Bullen is expected to replace season-longer starting kicker Matt Harmon in the lineup on Saturday. However, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada will remain the starting quarterback despite Bryant’s impressive relief performance.
“They both played well on Saturday, they both have a role. We’ll use them as we feel gives us the best chance to win the game,” Navy head coach Paul Johnson said. “Not a lot has changed in my mind. It depends on how the game is going.”
