Air Force-Navy football kicks off CIC Trophy battle
Of all the awards at the highest level in sports, one stands alone as a symbol of excellence in athletics without any expectation of future financial or athletic career benefits. It is the Commander-In-Chief’s (CIC) Trophy, earned annually by the champion football team from head-to-head competition between squads from Army, Navy and Air Force.
On Saturday, the first game in the round-robin competition takes to the national stage (12 noon ET, CBS TV network) when Navy hosts Air Force at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium just outside the grounds of The U.S. Naval Academy. All 34,000 seats for the game are sold out.
The Navy-Air Force game is traditionally the first of the three meetings. Army plays Air Force in Denver on Nov. 4, while the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA will take place on Dec. 9 at a new venue (part of a plan to have the game played at various venues in the Northeast for the next few years) – Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The Army-Navy Game is also already sold out. If any one team beats the other two, it earns a trip to the White House to meet the president and the right to display the trophy for a year. If each team wins a game, the battle is a tie and the trophy stays in the possession of the last team to win it outright (currently that is Air Force, which defeated both Navy and Army last year for the first time since 2016) and there is no trip to Washington.
“These (CIC) games are so special,” said Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun, now in his 17th year directing the Falcons. “It’s never a ‘no big deal’ – it’s always a big deal. You look all the way up that tunnel (leading to the field) and you see all those cadets…it just moves you beyond football. You have future servicemembers that have made a commitment to do everything they can to make our country a better place. And I think that’s awesome. I keep thinking that at some point I’d like to just go watch one of these games and take it all in – the march-ons, the fly-bys, everything. But hopefully, that’s a ways out.”
Air Force currently sits with a record of 6-0 (and, going back to last year, has compiled an 11-game winning streak) and are ranked 22nd in both the AFCA Coaches and AP polls. It is the running game that is propelling the attack – Air Force has led the nation in rushing yardage the last three years and this year tops the nation, averaging 60 rushes (91.46 percent of all offensive plays) and 327 ground yards per game.
Leading the way is junior quarterback Zac Larrier, who has mastered the triple-option offense and has averaged 5.8 yards per carry while amassing 473 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. However, he suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter of last week’s 34-27 win over Wyoming and did not return. Larrier’s status for the game against Navy was described by Calhoun “as likely out for a while” at press time. So, the probable starter is back-up Jensen Jones (two rushing TDs), a senior, who ably handled the offense in the final stanza to seal last week’s win and provides an added threat – a strong passing arm.
Fullback Emmanuel Michel is the team leader in rushing yardage (497) and rushing TDs (eight) and stays fresh while Owen Burk (three TDs), John Lee Eldridge III (four TDs), and Cade Harris (two TDs) grind out the runs and share in the pounding delivered by opposing defenses.
Defensively, the Falcons give up a mere 3.0 yards per carry, ninth-best in BCS play. The solid Air Force defense is led by senior safety Trey Taylor, who logged 10 tackles (7 solo) and a blocked PAT last week to earn Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Navy will be looking for inspiration from two star contributors in the history of its football program: Roger Staubach, the 1963 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback who went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys; and former head coach Paul Johnson, who turned around a Navy program that went 1-20 in 2000-2001. After going 2-10 in 2002, Johnson steered Navy back into national prominence, compiling a 43-19 record with five bowl game appearances, two bowl victories, and, more importantly, claimed five-consecutive CIC Trophies by going 5-1 against Air Force and 6-0 against Army. Both Staubach and Johnson, who will be inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame later this year, will be in attendance Saturday.
It is appropriate that Johnson will be at Saturday’s game, because Navy is in the midst of a transformational season similar to his first campaign in 2002. The winningest coach in Navy history – Ken Niumatalolo – succeeded Johnson as Navy head coach beginning with the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl and led Navy to a 109-83 record. He was released by the Naval Academy the day after losing the 2022 Army-Navy game and finishing his third consecutive year of winning four games or less. New Head Coach Brian Newberry, promoted from the defensive coordinator role he had held since 2019, has brought some changes and some new views to Annapolis. So far, the 2023 season has been a year of gradual improvements for the Midshipmen, who carry a 3-3 record into Saturday’s game.
“This is our number one goal for the year every year,” said Newberry. “This is the first leg of the CIC. It’s going to be a dog fight, and we’re going to have to play really, really well to give ourselves an opportunity to win this game. I have a ton of respect for Coach Calhoun, his staff and his team; they play hard, they’re well coached, have good personnel, and they know how to win. And they always save some wrinkles for us. Along with Notre Dame and Army, they’re probably the toughest opponent we’ll face all year.”
Navy has averaged 48 rushes per game and 4.9 yards per carry this year to rank second in running yards in the nation. Senior quarterback Tai Lavatai aggravated a lingering rib injury in last week’s 14-0 win over UNC-Charlotte and is questionable for Saturday’s game. Newberry said he has a plan for what he wants to do at quarterback regardless of Lavatai’s availability, but he preferred not to discuss it in advance of the game. Alex Tecza is Navy’s primary rushing weapon, averaging 8.1 yards on 62 carries (four TDs). Navy throws the ball 14 percent more often than Air Force, and the principal receiving threat is sophomore slot back Eli Heidenreich, who is averaging 39 yards on four catches.