Navy (1-2, 1-1 AAC) at Air Force (3-1, 1-1 Mountain West)
When	Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 | 10:00 am (MT) / 12:00 pm (ET)
Location	Colorado Springs, Colo. | Falcon Stadium | Game Day Information
Television	CBS (Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor, Sherree Burruss, Gene Steratore)
Live Video Stream	CBS
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.) | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego) | WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM / 97.3 HD2-3 (Norfolk, Va.) | Satellite: Sirius Ch. 111, XM Ch. 202, SXM App Ch. 965 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV) and TuneIn (WBAL)
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | Air Force | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | Air Force | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    Navy and Air Force meet for the 55th time on the gridiron when the two square off on Saturday morning (10:00 am MT, 12 noon ET) at Falcon Stadium (46,602) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The contest marks the first leg in the battle for the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.  
•     Saturday's matchup will pit the No. 1-ranked rushing offense in the country in Air Force (412.2 yds/gm) vs. the No. 5-ranked rushing defense in the country in Navy (69.0 yds/gm). However, both teams can hurt you wih the pass as Navy ranks No. 2 in the nation in passing yards per completion (25.7) and Air Force is third (24.8).
• Air Force leads the all-time series 32-22, including a 23-3 win last year in Annapolis. Air Force's win last year marked the first time the road team had won in the series since 2012 when freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds came off the bench to rally the Mids to a 28-21 overtime win in Colorado Springs. Navy won that game on a fumble recovery in the end zone by guard Jake Zuzek. Air Force is 19-7 all-time against Navy at home.
•    Saturday's game matches two of the active leaders in career coaching wins in the FBS, as well as two of the longest-tenured head football coaches. Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo ranks 22nd with 106 wins, while Air Force coach Troy Calhoun stands 19th with 114 wins. They stand fourth and sixth, respectively on the active list of coaches who have won all of their games at one school. Niumatalolo and Calhoun are 7-7 going head-to-head. Calhoun is the sixth-longest tenured head coach in the FBS (hired Dec. 22, 2006), while Niumatalolo is the eighth-longest tenured head coach in the FBS (hired Dec. 8, 2007). The active coach on the list who was hired in between Calhoun and Niumatalolo? Nick Saban, who was hired by Alabama on Jan. 3, 2007.
•    Niumatalolo is the all-time winningest Navy coach in the history of the Navy-Air Force series.
•    Niumatalolo is 17-11 all-time in Commander-In-Chief's Trophy games and has helped lead Navy to 6 Commander-In-Chief Trophies during his time in Annapolis. During that same time period, Air Force has won 4 and Army 3.
•    Last year, the three Academies tied for the CIC Trophy as Air Force beat Navy, Army beat Air Force (21-14) and Navy beat Army (17-13).
•    Saturday's fly-over will include former Navy football standout Jeff Deliz ('08), who was a team tri-captain for the 2007 Navy football team that went 8-5 and won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy in Paul Johnson's last year at the helm. Deliz will be a pilot in the F35C.
•    This is the 142nd year of Navy football. The Mids have produced an all-time record of 730-587-57.
•    The 730 wins are tied with Wisconsin for the 24th most in history among schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
    
Broadcast Coverage
•    CBS will carry Saturday's game with Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (color), Sherree Burruss (sidelines) and Gene Steratore (rules analyst) on the call.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 11:00 am ET on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12-Noon ET with Medhurst, Miller and Mills on the call.
•    Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.

Scouting Air Force
3-1 Overall  |  1-1 Mountain West
Head Coach: Troy Calhoun

•    Air Force is off to a 3-1 start with victories over Northern Iowa (48-17), Colorado (41-10) and Nevada (48-20) and a hard-fought 17-14 loss at Wyoming in a game that Air Force was without 5 players due to injuries and up to 50 players who played despite playing under the weather.
•    The Air Force offense has been a machine, averaging 37.8 points per game on a nation's-best 412.3 rushing yards per game.
•    Senior running back Brad Roberts is one of the most dangerous running backs in the country, rushing for 465 yards (#9 nationally) and 7 touchdowns (#3 nationally) on just 68 carries (6.8 yds/carry, #11 nationally).
•    Senior quarterback Haaziq Daniels has carried the ball 38 times for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns, while throwing for 3 touchdowns.
•    The Falcons have already thrown a pair of 80-yard touchdown passes, one from Daniels to Dane Kinamon, who is listed as a junior despite being in his fourth year at Air Force,  and one from junior quarterback Ben Brittain to fifth-year senior wide receiver David Cormier.
•     Air Force ranks third nationally in passing yards per completion (24.83).
• Air Force has scored at least 40 points in each of its three home games this season, but that doesn't touch on how unstoppable the Falcons have been in those games.
•     In its opener against Northern Iowa, Air Force scored on its first-eight possessions before a couple garbage-time fumbles and a few kneel downs to end the game. The next week against Colorado, the Falcons produced points on 7 of their 13 possessions that didn't involve taking a knee, and 2 of the misfires were fumbles after drives of 65 and 75 yards, respectively.
•     Against Nevada, Troy Calhoun's team scored on all 8 possessions that didn't close out a half.
•    Air Force ranks seventh nationally in third down conversions (.529) and ninth on fourth down conversions (.833).
•    The Air Force defense has been as stout as ever, giving up 16 points per game (#21 nationally) and 287.8 yards of total offense per game (#19 nationally).
•    Junior linebacker Alec Mock (22 tackles), fourth-year junior free safety Trey Taylor (21 tackles) and junior corner Michael Mack II (18 tackles) lead the Falcon defense. Fifth-year senior linebacker TD Blackmon is also an excellent player, recording 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and forcing a fumble.
•    Sophomore kicker Matthew Dapore is a weapon, going 6-7 on field goals for a long of 54 yards, while punter Carson Bay is averaging 43.7 yards per punt.
•    Navy has scored just 10 points against Air Force in the last two games (3 points in 2021 in Annapolis, 7 points in 2020 in Colorado Springs) and has not scored more than 14 points in Colorado Springs since 2014 when it scored 21 in a 30-21 loss to the Falcons.

Commander-In-Chief's Trophy
• The Commander-In-Chief's Trophy is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies — Army, Navy and Air Force — and is named in honor of the President of the United States.
• Navy has won the trophy 11 of the last 19 years and has won 28 of the last 39 Service Academy games against Air Force and Army.
• Navy has won the trophy a total of 16 times in school history: 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
• When there is no clear-cut winner,  the trophy remains with the winner of the previous year's competition.  Last year, Air Force beat Navy, Army beat Air Force and Navy defeated Army, meaning Army retained the trophy. Prior to last year, the last time that happened was 1993.
• The three-sided trophy stands two-and-a-half-feet tall and is engraved with the academy seals.  Reproductions of the three mascots — the Army Mule, the Navy Goat and the Air Force Falcon — are ensconced on the respective sides of this bauble.  The trophy is sponsored by the West Point Association of Graduates, the Naval Academy Alumni Association and the Air Force Association of Graduates.
• The year in which the trophy is won is engraved on a plate gracing the respective academy's side of the trophy.

Davies An Unlikely Hero
•    Senior kicker Daniel Davies was an unlikely hero in Navy's 23-20 double overtime win over East Carolina last Saturday.
•    Davies was Navy's third-string kicker and holder on PATs and field goals, but won the job over Evan Warren after starter Bijan Nichols continued to be sidelined with a leg injury. Davies found out on Thursday he would be kicking against ECU.    
•     Davies, who had never attempted a field goal or extra point in his career for the Mids (he did punt 44 times in 2020 as a sophomore), made both of his PATs and drilled field goals of 37, 43 and 29 yards to lead Navy to the win. His 43-yard field came in the first overtime to tie the game at 20 and his 29-yard field goal provided the margin of victory.
•     Davies is the first Navy kicker to make 3 field goals in a single game since Sept. 15, 2018, when Bennett Moehring made 3 in the Mids' win over Lehigh.
•     Davies was named the AAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday for his performance.

Petersen Returns to Air Force
•    Chuck Petersen is in his first year as an offensive assistant at the Naval Academy, but is no stranger to service academy football.
•     Petersen was an assistant at Air Force for 17 years where he coached the running backs (1990), wide receivers (1991-96) and quarterbacks/fullbacks (1997-06). He was the primary play caller at Air Force from 1997-06 and served as the offensive coordinator from 2000-06.
•     Petersen won 12 Commander-In-Chief's Trophies, went to 9 bowl games, won 3 conference championships and owned a 16-2 record against Army while an assistant at Air Force.
•     Petersen is a 1985 graduate of the Air Force Academy where he was a four-year letter winner at cornerback and served as a team captain his senior year.  As a player, Petersen won the first-two Commander-In-Chief's Trophies in school history and helped lead Air Force to its first-two bowl wins in program history (Vanderbilt in the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl and Ole Miss in the 1983 Independence Bowl). He was 3-1 against Army and was a member of 2 Air Force teams that beat Notre Dame.
•     He served 7 years active duty in the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged as a Captain. He served in the Air Force Space Command at Eglin Air Force Base in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. and was a Space Operations Crew Commander and Director of Standardization and Evaluation.
• Petersen's son Brady is a 2019 graduate of the Naval Academy and played football for four years. His nephew is current Navy kicker Bijan Nichols.

Navy Defense Tough Against The Run
•    The Navy defense is fifth in the nation against the run, giving up just 69 rushing yards per game. It will have its hands full on Saturday as Air Force owns the No. 1 rushing offense in the country (412.2 yds/gm).  
•    Navy gave up 13 yards on 29 carries to Delaware, 91 yards on 32 carries to Memphis and 103 yards on 28 carries to East Carolina.

There Is No Place Like the Road?
•    Navy has won 4 of its last 5 games away from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium: 23-20 (2OT) at East Carolina (9-24-22), 17-13 over Army (12-11-21) at MetLife Stadium, 38-14 at Temple (11-27-21) and 20-17 at Tulsa (10-29-21). The only loss during that span was a 34-6 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in South Bend (11-6-21).

Tough Schedule
•    Navy's first three opponents are a combined 9-3 (.750) on the year.  Delaware is 4-0, Memphis is 3-1 with its only loss coming in Starkville to Mississippi State, while East Carolina is 2-2 with a one-point loss to nationally ranked NC State and a three-point loss in double overtime to Navy.
•    Navy's future opponents are a combined 20-15 against FBS competition.    
•     Ten of Navy's 12 opponents in 2022 qualified in bowl games in 2021. Among those 10 opponents is AAC foe Cincinnati, who played Alabama in the College Football Playoffs. No team played the Bearcats closer in the regular season than Navy last year, who lost to Cincinnati 27-20 on Oct. 23 in Annapolis.