October 19, 2024; West Point, New York, USA; Army Black Knights quarterback Bryson Daly (13) avoids a tackle by East Carolina Pirates defensive back Omar Rogers (12) during the second half at Michi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagen Images When it comes to games against fellow military academies in the race for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, past accomplishments are irrelevant for Army coach Jeff Monken.
Undefeated in seven games for the third time since 1950, No. 21 Army attempts to remain perfect on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Air Force in West Point, NY.
Army (7-0) is attempting to win its first eight contests since opening the 1996 season with nine consecutive wins. The Cadets are also on an 11-game winning streak, the longest under Monken and the longest active streak in FBS.
The three military academics play an annual round-robin competition. The winning team travels to the White House for a trophy presentation with the President of the United States.
The Air Force has won the trophy 21 times, the Navy has won the competition 16 times and the Army has won it 10 times.
“We’ve managed to have some success this year,” Monken said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “That’s all in the past. This game this week will be the toughest game we play all year and the intensity, the emotion that is part of these games, is what makes it different from everything else.
“So trying to focus on that and our guys being ready and able to do their job. That’s the most important thing, this game, not something we’ve done before or something that can happen later.” It’s a sports season right now.”
The Cadets and Indiana are the only teams not trailing in a game yet this season. Army has scored at least 40 points in four straight games for the first time since the 1945 team accomplished the feat in five consecutive games during its 9–0 season.
The latest stellar performance came on October 19 in a 45–28 win over East Carolina, a game that featured a record-setting performance by Bryson Daly. Army’s quarterback scored six touchdowns, five of which were on the ground.
Dailey rushed 31 times for 171 yards for his sixth straight 100-yard game, while becoming the first player to score six touchdowns for Army since Elmer Oliphant in 1916. Daly has thrown for 26 touchdowns this year (seven passing, 19 rushing). , eclipsing the previous Army mark of 23 shared by Lemon Hall (1977) and Kelvin Hopkins Jr. (2018).
Additionally, Daly also set the school record for rushing TDs, breaking the marks of Carlton Jones (2004), Trent Steelman (2012) and Hopkins (2018).
Air Force (1-6) is headed for its first losing season since finishing 5-7 in 2018 and is 0-1 against fellow military academies after a 34-7 loss to Navy on Oct. 5. The Falcons have scored more than 21 points once this season and the average margin of defeat during their current six-game losing streak is 16.7 points.
And now the Falcons have to oppose an Army team that averages 40.4 points per game, while allowing only 12.4 points – with both stats ranking in the top 10 in the country.
“I think you look at every area, defensively they’ve been really good against the run, giving up very few big plays,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said in his weekly press conference. “How well they’re able to keep the ball in front of them and how well they’re able to get down the field on third downs.
“Offensively they’re balanced. Obviously it starts with the quarterback, but some of the interior is run by two guys who have performed very well. You look at yards per carry, really impressive, and then the throws. Are able to hit even the grounds.”
Two weeks earlier, the Falcons had their closest loss to the skid when they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 21–13 home loss to Colorado State.
Josh Johnson made his first career start at quarterback, but John Busha led the offense for most of the game and guided Air Force to one of its more productive performances this season. Busha completed 10 of 25 passes for a career-high 175 yards and the Falcons also rushed for 173 yards on 54 carries.
–Field Level Media