AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — If there are two teams that shouldn't mind a 9:30 a.m. kickoff, it's Navy and Air Force. The Midshipmen and Falcons are used to getting up at the crack of dawn.
Air Force coach Troy Calhoun dismisses the notion that Saturday's rooster-rising kickoff will matter to anyone other than maybe the late-arriving fans on a shivering cold and snowy morning. He notes that "during basic training you are up at 4:15."
While the timing won't mean anything to these two teams, the trophy means everything.
The Falcons (2-2) have won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy the last two years after Navy (1-3) held the prize from 2003-09. Last year's game ended in controversy and a 35-34 Air Force overtime win in Annapolis, Md.