Army’s football team might just as well be looking into a mirror when the Black Knights take the field against arch-rival Air Force on Saturday evening at Michie Stadium.
The two teams are nearly identical in virtually every aspect of the game, promising an interesting chess match in the Black Knights’ first leg of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. The game, expected to be a sell-out, starts at 7:30 p.m. and will be nationally televised on CBS. West Point officials are calling the game a “black-out,” asking all Army fans to wear black clothing.
The similarity in statistics is almost surreal. Air Force, now 6-2 on the season and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference, enters the game ranked 53rd in the nation in offense. But the Falcons are second in the country in rushing with 341 yards per game and last in the nation in passing with just 59 per game. Defensively, the Falcons are ranked 23rd, with a rushing defense ranked 51st in the nation, giving up 129 yards per game and a passing defense ranked 18th in the nation, giving up about 176 yards per contest.
Army, meanwhile, is ranked 46th in the nation in offense, leading the country with 342 rushing yards per game and just one spot ahead of Air Force in passing yards per game with 71. The Black Knights, 5-3 on the season and 4-2 in the American Conference, trail Air Force in defense, giving up 152 rushing yards a game and an unforgiving 244 passing yards per game, which is 113th in the country. Army is scoring an average of 33.62 points per game, while Air Force is averaging just over 29 points per contest.
“These games are so closely contested, year after year,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.” “It seems like it comes down to a final drive and it is just an absolute battle and dogfight every single season. They are having a really good year and have been impressive. Their defense continues to be really tough and their run game is as strong as anyone in the country. It is going to be a great test for our football team.”
Monken, who is 7-5 against the Falcons, winning seven of the last nine games, knows full well that in the world of service academy football, everything is at stake in this game. After beating Navy 14-9 earlier this season, an Air Force win would give the Falcons the much-coveted Commander-in-Chief trophy for the first time since 2022.
An Army victory would give the Black Knights the chance to regain the trophy for the first time since 2023 when they play Navy, which has won the series for the last two years, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Dec. 12.
Where Army should have an advantage is at quarterback. The Black Knights’ Cale Hellums, playing the bulk of offensive snaps, has rushed for 874 yards and scored 17 rushing touchdowns in Army’s first eight games. Air Force, on the other hand, has had to use four different quarterbacks this season. Returning starter junior Liam Szarka rushed for seven touchdowns before being injured and lost for the season in the fourth game of the year. His replacement, sophomore Evan Medders, rushed for six scores but suffered a turf toe in a loss to Wyoming two weeks ago and is also not expected back for this week’s game.
Medders was replaced by freshman Howard Fisher, who was replaced senior Kemper Hodges, who ran for 200 yards and four touchdowns in the Falcons’ 35-26 victory over UConn. Air Force only attempted one pass in that game, which fell incomplete.
Interestingly, the Falcons have just three rushing touchdowns by a player who is not a quarterback.
Monken said that Air Force’s solid offensive line and its system allows the team to put its backup quarterbacks into the game and still have success.
“They have a good offensive line that creates seams for their runners,” Monken noted. “And, they have a philosophy. I don’t know that if we played our second, third or fourth quarterbacks, if we would change entirely. I think we would probably be who we are. It is who we are as a program and how we are built as an offense. They are very much the same, I’m sure.”
Monken said that Army will most probably also rely on its running game. Army’s advantage is they have a bevy of players in the backfield to take some of the load off of Hellums’ shoulders. That includes sophomore running back Godspower Nwawuihe, who has rushed for 455 yards and four touchdowns on 79 carries and seems to have returned to health after a mid-season injury.
It also includes senior running backs Samari Howard (384 rushing yards and two touchdowns) and Jake Rendina (193 rushing yards and one touchdown). Senior slotback Zach Mundell has 267 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, plus 10 receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown.
That said, Monken is clear that Army’s offensive line must also play better and be more consistent than it was in a 49-22 loss at Memphis last Saturday
“We have to sustain blocks longer,” Monken said. “We had some (moments) where we lost guys into a gap and did not come off a double team at a timely moment to pick up a linebacker or secondary player.”
Monken added: “There are a lot of things we have to do better and perform more consistently and if we do that upfront than we typically have a chance to have a pretty good day. If we don’t, we are trotting our punt team out there six times and I don’t know very many times where we had to punt six times that we won the football game.”
