When it comes to competing against military schools in the race for the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, past accomplishments don’t matter to Army coach Jeff Monken.
Unbeaten in seven games for the third time since 1950, the No. 21 Army tries to stay intact Saturday afternoon when it hosts Air Force at West Point, NY.
Army (7-0) is trying to win its first eight games since starting the 1996 season with nine straight victories. The Cadets are also on an 11-game winning streak, the longest under Monken and the longest active streak in the FBS.
Three military scholars play in an annual round-robin tournament. The winning team visits the White House to present the trophy to the President of the United States.
The Air Force has won the trophy 21 times, the Navy has won 16 tournaments and the Army has won 10 times.
“We were able to have success this year,” Monken said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “After all that, this game this week will be the most difficult game we play all year and the intensity, the emotions that are part of these games make it different from everything else.
“So we’re trying to focus on that and get our guys ready and able to do their job. That’s the most important thing, this game, not anything we’ve done before or what’s next. This is a one-game season right now. .”
The Cadets and Indiana are the only teams behind in a game this season. Army has scored at least 40 points in four straight games for the first time since the 1945 team accomplished the feat with five straight during its 9-0 season.
The most recent big showing came in a 45-28 win over East Carolina on Oct. 19, a game that featured a record-setting performance by Bryson Daily. The Army quarterback accounted for six touchdowns, including five on the ground.
Daily he carried 31 times for 171 yards in his sixth straight 100-yard game while becoming the first player to return six touchdowns at Army since Elmer Oliphant in 1916. Each day has contributed 26 touchdowns (seven passing, 19 rushing) this year. , surpassing the previous Army mark of 23 shared by Leamon Hall (1977) and Kelvin Hopkins Jr. (2018).
Additionally, Daily 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) appears headed for its first losing season since finishing 5-7 in 2018 and is 0-1 against other military schools 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 must contend with a Army team that is averaging 40.4 points per game while producing just 12.4 points — with both stats ranking among the top 10 in the nation.
“I think you look at each position, defensively they’ve been effective against the run, they’ve given up a few plays,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said in his weekly press conference. “They were able to keep the ball in front of them and that they were able to leave the field on third down.
“Offensively they’re balanced. It definitely starts with the tight end, but the interior runs with two guys (who have done) really well. You look for yards per carry, which is really impressive, and you can hit down the field, too.”
Two weeks ago, the Falcons snapped their near-losing skid when they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 21-13 home loss to Colorado State.
Josh Johnson got his first start at quarterback but John Busha handled the offense for most of the game and directed one of Air Force’s most productive performances of the season. Busha completed 10 of 25 passes for 175 yards, while the Falcons also rushed for 173 yards on 54 carries.
–Field Level Media