AIR FORCE ACADEMY — A man wearing a tutu might seem out of place at the Air Force Academy.
During Army week, it’s business as usual.
With the Black Knights coming to town Saturday, the stakes have been raised when it comes to the antics with the transfer students from West Point.
Air Force cadets took their uniforms this week, leaving their Army counterparts only tutus to wear to class. The West Point representatives retaliated by spray painting “Go Army, Beat Air Force” on the dining hall doors.
Air Force upperclassmen have been known during the days leading up to this game to stop underclassmen on the hill and ask them, in shouting tones, “How many days until we beat Army?”
While the Falcons football players and coaches generally stick to the steady story that this is the biggest game only because it’s the next game, you don’t find this kind of energy preceding a game against, say, San Jose State.
“There’s a lot of generals, a lot of important people around,” linebacker Claude Alexander III said. “Other than that, it’s still a game. It’s Army, of course, but it’s still a game.”
The extra attention isn’t lost on the football team.
“Up on the hill, the general populace and the other cadets get a lot more into these games,” defensive end Ryan Watson said. “That gets you more foaming at the mouth, a little more emotion on the day of the game.”
There is so much on the line this week that the extra motivation wouldn’t even be necessary. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is now Navy’s to lose, as the Midshipmen beat Air Force on Oct. 3 and the winner of that game has taken the trophy 17 straight years. But since Navy has to travel to Army in December, the possibility exists that Air Force could win Saturday and retain the trophy with a Black Knights victory.
Also, no Air Force player wants to be on a team that is swept by the rival service academies.
On top of that, the Falcons can sew up bowl eligibility with a victory Saturday. If that isn’t taken care of here, the task becomes a bit dicey with three remaining games (vs. Utah State, at Boise State and New Mexico) that could each have Air Force playing as underdogs.
The numbers, and history, certainly suggest this is another winnable game. Army hasn’t had a winning season since 2010 and, at 2-6, appears on the way to another sub-.500 campaign.
Air Force is a 17-point favorite.
Saturday’s area college football games
11 a.m. Stanford at Colorado, Pac-12
Noon Portland State at Northern Colorado
1 p.m. CSU at Wyoming
1:30 p.m. Army at Air Force, ESPNU
