Air Force football emerged from the weekend with a clearer path to the conference and Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy titles, but without the foggiest clue as to what will come next.
While beating Navy in a 13-10 slog at Falcon Stadium, the Falcons have set up another winner-take-all game against Army on Nov. 5 at the home of the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
If the Falcons win, they claim their first Commander-in-Chief’s trophy since 2016. If Army wins it ensures the trophy remains in West Point for the next year either as the outright winner or, if it then loses to Navy in December, by retaining it in a 1-1 three-way tie.
“It means a lot for us seniors to do something that hasn’t been done in a while,” said Air Force receiver David Cormier, who had three catches for 120 yards and a touchdown against Navy.
Army (1-3) lost 31-14 to Georgia State on Saturday, the first victory for Georgia State after an 0-4 start.
So, it looks like the Black Knights are down. But then again, so was Navy (1-3), and the Midshipmen were tied with Air Force in the game until a go-ahead field goal from Matthew Dapore with 4:14 remaining. So not much can be taken from results and records.
And on that topic, there’s no telling what awaits the Falcons over the next three weeks in the conference.
Air Force (4-1, 1-1 Mountain West) travels to Utah State (1-4, 0-1) and UNLV (4-1, 2-0) the next two Saturdays before hosting Boise State (3-2, 2-0) on Oct. 22. Then comes an off week prior to the Army game.
This stretch is extremely difficult to decipher.
Utah State won the Mountain Division last year but has struggled this season. Its losses include a 35-7 home blowout at the hands of FCS Weber State.
UNLV had been near the bottom of the conference for the past several years (Air Force soundly beat the Rebels last year without completing a pass), yet it suddenly has the most impressive résumé in the conference with the only loss coming on the road in a 20-14 setback to California from the Pac-12.
Then there’s Boise State, the closest thing the conference has had to a national power over the past decade. The Broncos seemed lost a week ago, coming off a 27-10 loss at UTEP. It fired its offensive coordinator, senior quarterback Hank Bachmeier left the team for the transfer portal and it then found itself trailing 13-0 at halftime to San Diego State on Friday night.
But then Boise State outscored the Aztecs 35-0 in the second half, earned the win and suddenly owns momentum behind run-first freshman quarterback Taylen Green.
So there’s no telling what to expect in this upcoming three-game stretch, as the pendulum in the league has been swinging on a weekly basis, or even after halves of games.
San Jose State assisted Air Force on Saturday night by beating Wyoming. The Falcons had trailed the Cowboys by a game in the standings and Wyoming had the tiebreaker by winning head-to-head, so the loss narrows that gap. If Air Force were to win out in conference play it would need just one more Wyoming loss to secure a division title.
That much is clear. For now.
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Next three weeks difficult to decipher for Air Force given ups and downs in Mountain West - Colorado Springs Gazette
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