Speaker 1: Need to get your football fix on all things Army,
Navy and Air Force. This is Yards and Stripes Service
Academy Football. Now here are your hosts, Pryce Atkinson and
Steve Carney.
Speaker 2: The excitement ratches up a notch. This weekend is the
first leg of the Commander in Chief Trophy. It is
on tap. I'm Pryce Atkinson and he is Stephen Carney.
And most importantly we are Yards and Stripes your home
for service Academy football, Army, Navy, and Air Force. That
is what we do here on the College Gridiron Coast
to Coast podcast network, available at last word on sports
dot com. We had some surprises last weekend and as
I mentioned at the outset, we got excitement coming this
weekend as the CIC Trophy. The first leg is on tap. Stephen.
Before we go any further, you know what time it is.
It is football time, Service Academy Football time. But we
got to get the Papa Yohns Monday Night Pizza Reporter,
as we recer record early this week. What we got tonight, Stephen.
Speaker 3: Well it was it was Italian food tonight. That is
oh Unfortunately I went to my favorite Italian joint that
doesn't do people.
Speaker 4: There's a there's a there's a little hole in the
wall literally.
Speaker 3: Like five blocks from my house called Cafe Cheebo, And
I absolutely love their carbonara.
Speaker 4: And so I went and got their carbonara.
Speaker 3: For lunch and then ate half of it for lunch
and took the other Oh but at the other half
probably about twenty twenty five minutes ago. So thank god
this podcast does not smell of vision, because with all
the onion and the garlic and the deliciousness with that carbonara,
I'd probably be peeling some paint right about now.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love it, Stevens.
Speaker 4: It's so good.
Speaker 3: Like like I said, when you make it down here.
When when Navy plays in the in the Gasparilla Bowl
or whatever this year, or or let's say that Army
or Air Force somehow get ball eligible and one of
them decides to take a jaunt to the Gasparilla Bowl,
there will be Cuban food and there will be great
Italian food definitely to be had.
Speaker 2: I cannot wait, young Steven. I cannot wait, all right,
what I can't wait for, Steven? So I can't wait
to go eat some dinner here in a little bit.
We're gonna get we got, We're gonna get moving here.
But I can't wait to talk about some of the
games from this past weekend because it did deal us
a few surprises, and one of those surprises, I think
is what you and I agreed on right before we
started recording. Let's start up at less or excuse me
out in Greenville, North Carolina, as West Point hit the
road and they hit the deck in this one steven
they fall twenty eight to to East Carolina on Thursday
Night football, East Carolina three and two one and ohero
in the American and Army now one in three and
winless at zero to two in the American. A short
week did not help the Black Knights, working on basically
five days a short week, but another slow start dooming
Army giving up twenty one points there in that first quarter.
East Carolina winning nine of the last ten against Army
except last season. But it was just a dominating effort
upfront the line of scrimmage. This was all Pirates in
this one. As Jeff Munkin said afterwards, they simply got
out played by East Carolina. They were run blitzing, confusing
the Army offense, but really before Army could blink. They
were down twenty one to nothing, and this is another
slow start, just something Army cannot afford.
Speaker 3: Stephen absolutely, and we talked about it before we started
recording this podcast. For Army for them to be successful.
You saw what they did last year with Bryson Daily
at the Helm. You know, they had that that stretch
where they had all those consecutive games where their first,
their first possession ended up in the end zone with
a touchdown.
Speaker 4: They had that.
Speaker 3: It was like ten or eleven or even twelve games
in a row where they got their first they got
the first possession, and that first possession ended up in
seven points and they did not They have not done
that at all this year. And on Thursday against East Carolina,
East Carolina gets the ball, first touchdown, three and out
for Army. East Carolina scores again. Now you're down fourteen
to nothing. You get a ten play drive that ends
up in a turnover on downs near midfield and another
short field for the Pirates.
Speaker 4: They go in.
Speaker 3: It's twenty one to nothing before your beer even starts
getting cold in Greenville, North Carolina and so and at
that point then it becomes a matter of you know,
how can Army get you know, even think about get
back into this game. You're gonna have to get stops,
you're gonna have to get turnovers, you've got to get
extra possessions on offense and hope to turn those into touchdowns.
Speaker 4: And that didn't happen.
Speaker 2: No, it definitely didn't happen. Is possessions is getting off
the field on third down, and East Carolina was seven
of twelve on a third down. That's a pretty darn
good clip. And usually even in an Army loss, you
don't expect to see them, you know, with just twenty
five minutes a time of possession. But when you can
only convert to a fifteen on third down, that's exactly
what's gonna happen. And you mentioned, you know, getting on
the scoreboard. The Army finally did there in the third quarter.
Is an eight play, seventy five yard drive that took
four to twenty eight off the clock, capped by Dwayne
Coleman's two yard touchdown run on a fourth and goal.
So they convert, and they don't convert that there's a
chance Army should being shut out, but they do convert.
Speaking of Dwayne Coleman, he started Kate Hellms did come
in and play, but it was just not enough, as
the Black Knights could not, you know, could not get
anything going offensively. And I think so much of it
had to do with just the point of attack. East
Carolina controlling the line of scrimmage from start to finish,
and Armies just got to find a way to get
off to a quicker start. But a short Noah short
leads the way. The senior running back eleven carries one
hundred and twenty seven yards. He had one hundred and
twenty seven, over half of Army's two forty one on
the ground. But Pirates senior quarterback Kate Houser, he accounted
for all three of those first quarter touchdowns, slowing for
two and then a three yard quarterback keeper. So Jeb
Bunkins got to find a way to get this team
off to a better start. They're going to have a
little bit longer, you know, to get ready for their
next game. Certainly five days is a tough turnaround, but nonetheless,
he's got to find some buttons he can press earlier
in football games so they're not constantly playing from behind.
Speaker 3: Steven, Yeah, and you've got to be able to get
more plays on offense. They got outplayed, literally when it
comes to the offense. He's Carolina had seventy two plays
on offense. Army only had sixty five. I know, that
doesn't seem like a lot. That's a that's a whole
extra drive and maybe and then some for certain teams
and for Army, and a play drive should get you
into field goal range. So that's a stretch where you're
leaving points on the board by not having your offense
on the field.
Speaker 2: Yeah again, East Carolina twenty eight, Army six. Army gotta
find a way to get this thing going, especially in
the American where they didn't taste defeat once last year.
They're still looking for that first American Conference victory. All right,
let's go up to Annapolis on Saturday afternoon, a rain
soaked Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, a crowd of over
twenty eight thousand. They are on hand to see Navy
get off to a four and oh start. Is a knockoff.
Rice twenty one to thirteen. Navy now four and oh,
three and oh in the American Rice drops to three
and two one in one in some old school backyard football.
Maybe now four and oh and back to seasons, starting
for ohing back to back seasons for the first time
since nineteen seventy eight and seventy nine. But Steven, if
you like low scoring, old school football running three yards
in a cloud of dust, this was a game for you.
Lake Horvav had a great football game eight of thirteen
one seventy two. He did throw one pick, but he
rushed for a team high twenty one times, one hundred
and ten yards and two touchdowns. Alex Tesca was fantastic,
but it was the Navy defense that dominated play through out,
holding Rice to just one hundred and twenty one one
hundred and twenty yards rushing on thirty nine carries. After
the Owls came into the game. You know, we knew
they like to run. The football average in two hundred
and forty six rushing yards per game, fifteenth best in FBS.
They were half of that only on one hundred and
twenty of those two forty six. His Navy's defense does
the job.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, And not only that, but you mentioned two
hundred and eighty yards on the ground for the midshipmen
in this game as well, So I mean this was
this was absolutely, uh the perfect storm. When it came
to the Navy offense, you got some good play at
the quarterback position, obviously, but yet when you're averaging almost
six yards per carry on the ground as a team,
you had two guys going over one hundred yards on
the ground, one of them being Horvath of alex Tesca
you mentioned, had a really great day. He had just
he had one hundred and four yards on just eleven carries.
He averaged almost ten yards a carry on the ground.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, I really loved the way that that it
that it looked, and then you look at what they
were able to do defensively. Uh, you know, all the
all the pressure that was put on Rice they had,
it seemed like the Navy defense was in was in
Rice's backfield the entire day. They had seven tackles for
loss as a team, including two sacks. They were able
to get their arms up in the air when when
Rice did go back to pass, they got a pass
defense out of that. Uh.
Speaker 4: But it really I really thought that it was an
amazingly well played game for that defense, where where there
were midshipmen in the backfield all game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you might see that score and think
Rice typically, you know, not a very good football team
twenty one to thirteen, and you're like, man, if we're
gonna go anywhere, man, we got to beating Rice by
a lot more than that. Uh. That's a that's a
pretty darn goodwill coach football team. They not have the
most talent in the world, but they do what they
do and they do it well because they didn't turn
it over. You know, I just think it's almost like,
you know, an academy team is, you know, you're always
going to be outmanned, but you run your systems and
you know you don't turn the ball over and you're
gonna stay in games. And that's what Rice has done
this year. And that's what they did. You know, on Saturday,
Navy's defense just rose to the occasion, and you know,
it was really more than I think the Navy defense,
you know, than the Navy offense, which we don't say
that quite often, but they did the job.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you certainly don't normally say that when when
the Navy offense gets almost three hundred yards on the ground.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: And that's a that's a that's a credit uh to
Scott Abell and the Owls coaching staff because you say
they they play like a service Academy team, and that
that I bet that comes a lot from their head coach.
And we talked about him last week Washington and Lee,
that's a Division three school. He took them to the
playoffs three times. He took Davidson, who's an FCS school
better known for having Steph Curry and their basketball team.
They went to the playoffs twice in the FCS before
coming to Rice this year. And I think you're going
to see a lot of this out of Rice going forward.
As long as Scott abell Is is there in Houston
h coaching these owls, you're gonna see them play this way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Davy jumping out to a seven er lead first
drive of the game, and you know they made it
fourteen to nothing on the first play of the second
quarter when Horvath Waltston untouched from eight yards out, and
you know, the fourteen to nothing lead was all they needed.
So you know, Navy again continuing to roll four and
oh three to oh in the American getting the twenty
one to thirteen win over the visiting Rice Owls. Steven,
Let's move out west because this is another one that
really kind of surprised US as Hawaii they come to
Colorado Springs for afternoon tilt there against the Falcons and Hawaii.
This was a shootout. This was Mountain West football at
its finest, Hawaii getting a forty four to thirty five
win outlasting Air Forces. The Rainbows moved a four and
two one and one the Mountain West Air Force one
in three zero to three in the Mountain West losing
its The Air Force does lose their third straight game
after giving up over forty points yet again. Uh But
Hawaii freshman quarterback Micah a lot Elhado through for a
season high four hundred and fifty seven yards three touchdowns.
Jackson Harris had seven catches for one forty four. This
is after alohado three interceptions the previous week versus Fresno State,
but he flipped it with three touchdowns in this one.
You know, the Falcons rallied back with three fourth quarter touchdowns,
but Hawaii simply answered every single time in this one.
Speaker 3: Steven, Yeah, And I said this to you before we
started taping that I did not see four hundred and
fifty seven yards coming from from Micah Alohado.
Speaker 4: I was like, is that Alohado or.
Speaker 3: Did Jimmy Chang find out he's got some leftover eligibility
remaining and put the pads on himself, because that's what
we looked like. I mean, the way that he threw
the ball all over the field was so impressive. And so,
you know, you give them a lot of credit, you
give especially Jackson Harris, their sophomore wide receiver from Berkeley.
That's the one thing that Timmy Chang's been able to do.
Usually when you go out to Hawaii and you and
you look at their roster and when you see names,
you see where they're from, and you see a lot
of Hilo, Honolulu, Kawhi, you know, Waikiki. You don't see
a lot of recruiting outside of the state of Hawaii
because it's so difficult for them to try and get
people to come out to to the islands out there
to to play football. But Jackson Harris, he's from Berkeley,
Mike Alhatto is from Las Vegas. So they're doing a
really good job of recruiting on the West coast. And
this is you know, if this is what we are
going to see from Hawaii moving forward, you know what,
get get your get your late night college football fixed
going because that was a lot of fun. You know,
the results aside. Yeah, it's a fun team to watch.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they scored the teams combined forty one points in
the fourth quarter, twenty four points in the last six
minutes combined. Think about this, they scored within a minute
of each other three different times in the game. Steven,
So if you liked offensive fireworkship, that's your jam, dude.
You jammed and rocked out in this one. Because there
was a whole lot of five hundred and thirty five
yards of offense for Hawaii four ninety four for air Force.
And what I think is maybe the most astounding stat
is air Force only had six, only six third down
attempts in the entire game, while Hawaii had nineteen. That's
usually the exact opposite.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: The other thing to look at that though, is that
Hawaii went fourteen for nineteen yeah third down conversions, and
they had twenty six first downs, which is just an
incredible number to have have all those third downs and
then to convert all of the you know, you're almost
up at like sixty percent of conversion there.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's that's just incredible.
Speaker 2: And that by our friends listening. That is why you
had the ball for almost thirty eight minutes when you
convert that many third down so unbelievable. Yeah for a
fast pace run and shoot, you know, score quick. To
have the ball thirty eight minute, almost thirty eight minutes,
that's almost unheard of. But Hawaii getting the job done
forty four to thirty five. Now Troy Calhoun forced to
try and come up with something as they get ready
to take on Navy. We're gonna talk a lot about
that game here coming up here and just a little bit,
we got game balls. Give out, Steven, which way you're
gonna go with your game ball this week? I will
tell you I'm not gonna go with an opponent. I'm
gonna keep it in the Academy family this week. Go
go to the Firebirst.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that, and I'm going back to that Hawaii
Air Force game. I know that the Falcons came out
on the wrong end of the scoreboard, but I really
thought Leabzarka looks like an incredible quarterback in that game.
I mean for twelve, so he didn't have to pass
a lot, but he threw for two hundred and seventy
eight yards and three touchdowns. He only had two incompletions
the entire game, unfortunately one of them was an interception.
But I just was like, look, if I really thought
that he played as well as you could ever have
expected an Air Force quarterback to play under those situations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, without a doubt, I'm gonna go with I'm gonna
actually go with Mark Anthony Parker from the Naval Academy,
sophomore linebacker out of Fredericksburg, Virginia, leading the way with
thirteen tackles, six solo double the next closest tackler for
the Midshipman defense as he had also two tackles for
a loss in this game, as they did not allow
a touchdown until the third quarter, but maybe holding the
rice Als to less than half their season average rushing
at just one hundred and twenty yards on the ground.
Another outstanding job by Brian Newberry's you know, attacking playmaking
unit for the midshipments of Mark Anthony Parker getting my
game ball, as he's now gone back to back weeks
with double digit tackles thirteen a career high in this one.
All right, Steven, we got two games ahead, We got
Army at UAB and we got our first leg of
the CIC Trophy. We're going to talk about it, but
first we are part of the College Gridiron Coast to
Coast podcast network. We have got something for everybody, Pig
Skin and Burt Ince, get off my pylon, Steven. There
is something for every college football fan. Oh yeah, that
little thing called Yards and Stripes that you're listening to
right now.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know, starting off the week, usually we
get a good start in the Big Ten with Big
Ten Paradigm. Noah Dreury talking about maybe what I thought
was the most exciting game last week was obviously Oregon
and Penn State, the double overtime thriller that took place
Saturday evening. Of course, that Knox pad State out of
the top three puts Oregon up at number two in
the AP pole. I believe they're third in the coaches poll.
This week, of course Ohio State at the top. So
obviously there's a lot of top quality football to talk
about on Big Ten Paradigm. And then this week in
the ACC oh just Florida State losing to Virginia in
Charlottesville and the rushing of the field that took place
at that game.
Speaker 4: Holy crap.
Speaker 3: So obviously some crazy stuff. We've got Yards and Stripes
and get off my pylon coming here on this Tuesday,
and then for the rest of the week. Of course,
we've got Florida football Insiders. I'm sure we'll talk a
lot more about the seminoles with Jason Powers. We've got
the big twelve sec breakdown. There's plenty going on there
as well, and some tremendous football to speak of as
we go through the entire week here on the College
Gridiron Coast Coast Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: We got something for everybody. Led by the best producer
co hosts in the world. That would be Steven Carney.
Please check us out on the College Gridiron Coast to
Coast Podcast Network with other stuff to keep you busy
all season long. All right, we got two games to
talk about. We got our Travis manon Foundation on roll,
we got our picks to make. We're gonna do that
when we come back here on Yards and Stripes. You're
home for Service Academy Football.
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Speaker 1: The latest with Navy, Army and Air Force on Yards
and Stripes Service Academy Football.
Speaker 2: We're rolling right along on Yards and Stripes your hope
for service Academy Football. He is Stephen Carneiro and Price Ackinson,
and we were rolling into next week's set of games,
and we're gonna roll to Army first because we're gonna
save the CIC first leg. We're gonna talk about that second.
But first is Army at UAB on Saturday at twelve
noon Eastern Standard Time. This one on ESPN U Army
as a road favorite. They are giving seven and a
half points. The last I saw earlier today over under
fifty seven and a half is gonna be a little
bit of an early kick there locally at Protective Stadium
eleven am Central Time. But the fighting, oh boy, I
can't even get into I mean the fighting Trent Delphers.
Will he make it to the end of the season,
You and I both say no. But the Blazers, coming
off a bye week, they gave him a little extra
time to prepare for Armies attack as the Blazers led
by Jalen Kittna, who's thrown for over three hundred yards
and three straight games and ranks fifth nationally and passing
yards at three hundred and fourteen per game. So likely
gonna have some fireworks in this one. Steven is Army
hitting the road trying to get that bad taste out
of their mouth. Can they do it? We will find out.
But we've seen the fight in Trent dilfirst before as
they came up short, played a really good first half
as it was tied at halftime, but then they cannot
hang with the midshipman had some turnovers here in the
second half as they come up short. So this will
be our second time as we get a look at UAB.
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, so to quote the great Dennis Green, UAB
is what we think they are. So obviously they're going
to go the way that Jalen Kittna goes. And when
Jalen Kittna is throwing the ball successfully, you're gonna find
yourself in a good situation. If he starts throw on
the ball to the other team, then the Blazers are
going to find themselves in big trouble and so you know,
this is the perfect opponent I think for Army to
be able to get their first American Conference victory of
the season, because you know, outside of Kittna, you know,
I've not been that impressed with the weapons that the
Blazers have offensively, and their defense I think really causes
you know, causes headache and causes you know, heartburn for
for Trent Delfering Company, because they're not stopping the football.
And when you're not stopping the football from going through,
you're gonna find yourself in really really bad shape. I mean,
you look at it. They're averaging forty one points against
It's one hundred and thirty third in Division one FBS.
I didn't you know, there were many, many years and
it wasn't that long ago there weren't one hundred and
thirty three schools in Division one FBS. But this is
a team that loves to throw the football. They're averaging
over three hundred and twenty yards passing, that's thirteenth in
the nation. So obviously they want to try and get
the ball out wide and it's gonna be up for
Navy's defensive backs to stop that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of the the how mummy Mike Leach
defense be damned kind of attitude. We're just gonna try
and outscore you. We don't care what our defense does.
They're gonna go get shredded, but we're just gonna try
and score more than you do at the end of
the game.
Speaker 4: And it's Paul West heead like.
Speaker 3: For the people that are basketball fans, yes that you
know UAB plays Paul westhead style football. You know where
it's get the ball down the field as fast as
you can and score as many points as you can
because if you if you're allowing forty one points a game,
you only got to score forty two.
Speaker 4: To win games.
Speaker 2: Yeah, uh UAV got pretty banged up in that loss
to Tennessee. But did you see I don't know if
you saw this. I mean may have talked about it
real quick, but do you see that Trent Dilfer was
caught like texting. I don't know if it was during
the game or right before the game. That's not gonna
You're not gonna last long on the job when you're texting.
It was probably more than meets the eye. I don't know,
but I just remember seeing that headline stories like you
gotta be kidding. No, wonder their problems down there in Birmingham.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I saw.
Speaker 3: I saw the report on it, and I was like,
does anybody did anybody tell him that you're not allowed
to do that? I mean, they at least told Doug
Gottlieb when he took the job at Green Bay as
as a college basketball coach, you can't have your phone
on the sideline. Yeah, somebody had to tell Trent Dilfer that.
Speaker 2: Yep, yeah, they had to have I don't We'll see
if he's texting or you know, taking his phone out
take pictures of nothing but maybe a scoreboard at the
end of the game.
Speaker 4: But I just got a text from trentill.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Oh I love it. Army and UAB
Saturday twelve, New NISER Standard time ESPN U Army a
seven and a half point favorite. Now let's let's pivot.
Let's get to what we really came here for. And
of course we all love our Commander in Chief Trophy
games here on Yards and Striped Service Academy Football because
this is the first leg of the CIC Trophy unfolding
this week weekend at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in
Annapolis is Air Force traveling across the country to take
on a Naval Academy. Air Force now one in three.
Of course, Navy is a perfect.
Speaker 3: Four and zero.
Speaker 2: This is on Big CBS at twelve noon kickoff from
Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy at eleven and a
half point favorite, forty nine and a half point over under.
So it's gonna be an early starts, certainly for those Falcons.
But Air Force leads the overall series thirty four to
twenty three. But it's just nine or ten and twelve
in games at But in the last meeting in Annapolis,
the Falcons did win it seventeen to six. That back
in twenty twenty three. Navy's won the Commander in Chief
Trophy twelve times. In the last twenty two years, including
last year, the Mids have won the trophy a total
seventeen times, while Air Force has won the Commander in
Chief Trophy outright twenty one times, and this is traditionally
obviously always the first leg of the CIC trophy. Navy
has gone on or has won twenty nine of last
forty four Service Academy games against Army and Air Force,
so the winner of this game that has gone on
to win their Commander in Chief Trophy forty out of
the fifty three years that the trophy has been given out,
so that's seventy five percent. So obviously a big, big
leg up here if you can get this huge win
in the first leg of the CIC Stephen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you remember that game in twenty twenty three
when they went to Anapolis Air Force and came away
with that, with that seventeen to six victory. It's a
much different team that that on both sides. Because you
think about it, that twenty twenty three Navy team was
was a was definitely I wouldn't say a shell of
its former self and then not yet shown what it
could become. But you know, I definitely think that there
weren't nearly as as many weapons that Navy had. They
you know, I think that they find themselves with a
dearth of offensive power here this season, and and I
think that their defense is a hell of a lot
better than it was in twenty twenty three. And I
think that the Brigade is going to find themselves very,
very happy at the end of this game. You know,
not trying to give away what I think is going
to happen in this game. But this is, this is
these are two teams that are in much different shape
than they were two years ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one thing to pay attention to and this one.
The home team is No. Nine in three in the
last twelve contests, so the home team winning three quarters
of the last twelve games, but the road team has
won three of the last four. So something to keep
an eye on is air Force defeated Navy in Annapolis
in twenty one and then again in twenty three, while
the Mids went to the Springs and won thirty four
to seven last year. So interesting that it's usually been
the home team, but you know, lately that road team
has gotten the best of them. But what do you
think of Have you seen the new Air Force uniforms
the Power Legacy series honoring the F sixteen fighting Falcons, Steven,
have you seen the uniforms that Air Force is gonna wear?
Speaker 4: I did get it. I did get a glimpse of them.
Speaker 3: I you know, obviously it's always great when the little
brother decides they want to get in on the different
uniform garb. Obviously maybe going going traditional in this game
and they will off theirs. Uh, their big reveal for
uh the more important game coming up in December. But uh,
but I you know, I really do love, uh seeing
when these teams get creative, uh when it when it
comes to their uniforms. So yes, I did get a
glimpse of it. Uh They're they're really really snazzy, very
quite sharp.
Speaker 2: And it is a sellout in Annapolis on Saturday. I've
been to this game. I've been to several when it's
been at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I went when
Malcolm Perry was quarterbacking and uh, you know in the
cut in the springs and saw Air Force just drum
Navy that afternoon. I've been in both places there, but
there's just something, you know, while I like Air Forces
Stadium in the altitude it spread out, you know, Navy
Marine Corps just everything is right there on you you know,
it's just much more of a closer, more intimate feel.
Been on that. We've been in the end zone, stood
the end zone at the very end when there was
a touchdown pass through with I think six seconds left
as Navy won it, and I think it was overtime
one year. So just thrilling moments, you know, throughout the
years and this rivalry, you know between all the service academies,
but you know, air Force and Navy. We've seen we've
seen this movie before so many times. Was it a
couple of years ago when I think air Force was undefeated?
Was it late in the season, Army had a losing
streak and then they go into Denver and they just
absolutely punk air Force. I mean it wasn't even a
ball game.
Speaker 4: See that's happened.
Speaker 3: That was the start of the of the of the
downfall of Troy Calhoun's squad.
Speaker 4: That was in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when they when they started out eight to no,
and Army was not nearly as as strong as they
would be the next year. But they went but they
went in and beat an undefeated Air Force team that
a lot of people thought may have had an opportunity
at a mount West championship and maybe even you know,
a really strong Bowl game if you come out of
that mountain.
Speaker 4: Wee yes, undefeated at that point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I hate using cliches. I don't like it.
But like when academy teams get together, like just the
records don't matter because it's straight pride and it's more
than that for most of these, you know, the midshipman
and cadets. So once you've done up intil this point,
it just simply does not matter because you just want
to get This is all about the Commander in Chief trophy.
It's as far as Air Force is concerned, the other
one in three, but there's zero and zero when it
comes to Army Navy, and that's always the name of
the game for any Service Academy team. It is all
about the Commander in Chief trophy. And that's what this
game is going to be about. Steven at twelve noon
Eastern Standard Time on main CBS again, Navy at eleven
and a half point favorite one in three, Air Force
at four and oh, Navy, we will see what happens,
and of course, as you know, we will recap it
all right here on Yards and Stripes next week. All right,
we got our Travis manon Foundation on a roll coming up.
We got some picks to make. We will do that
is we move right along here on Yarge and Stripes,
your home for Service Academy football.
Speaker 5: In two thousand and seven, Marine First Lieutenant Travis Mannion
was killed in Iraq after saving his wooted teammates. Travis's
legacy lives on through the words he spoke before his
final deployment. If not me, then who? Words that today
fuel the spirit of Travis Mannon Foundation and through TMF
these words can live in you too. Show the world
what you're made of, because character is invisible until it's not.
Find out how you can strengthen the character of your
community alongside empowered veterans, families of the fallen, and inspired
civilians at Travismanion dot Org.
Speaker 2: Welcome back into yard and Stripes. Now it's time for
our Travismnian Foundation Honor Roles segment, where if you've listened
to the podcast, you know we honor and remember a
fallen hero this time every week, one that he has
given the ultimate sacrifice in the words that Travis Mannion
himself spoke, If not me, then who before his final deployment.
And this week we're going to honor remember Staff Sergeant
Joshua Geyer from the US Army. Staff Sergeant Geyer born
September the twenty second, nineteen eighty two in Chilicothe, Ohio.
He gave the ultimate sacrifice in Marks the twenty second,
twenty eleven when he died from wounds suffered when his
unit in the Logar Province of Afghanistan was attacked with
an Ied rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire. He
was assigned to the fifty fourth Engineer Battalion, eighteenth Engineer Brigade.
He was a son, a brother, husband, and a dad.
He grew up in Chilicoth and graduated from Huntingdon High School,
and he joined the army, follow in the footsteps of
his grandfather, a World War II veteran, and his father
of Vietnam veteran. Josh was stationed in Germany, where he
met his wife, Jackie. When he made his second and
final deployment, he felt at home in the army and
had aspirations of becoming a girl sergeant. Quote, you knew
he was a soldier and that's what he wanted to do.
He loved it and wanted to be there. He died
for what he believed in end. Quote that from longtime
friend Amy Smith, Josh Geier's cousin said. Our cousin Jason
Ewigg said, quote, he was one that I never doubted
was doing his job and doing it correctly. So I
always envisioned him coming home more than anyone else. End quote.
Dan Riddle, of Guidance guidance counselor at Huntington High School
said Geyer was quote a role model for some of
our younger kids. I would take one hundred more students
exactly like josh end quote during his final deployment. On
Joshu's first full day back on the base after R
and R, it was a Tuesday. To show the kind
of team work he embodied, he was not scheduled to
go back out with his guys until Wednesday, but being
who he is, he walked up to with his team,
woke up with his team on Tuesday morning to take
back his vehicle, and went out on the mission with
him as top character strengths are described as humility, love,
and teamwork, and we take the time to remember our
fallen heroes like Staff Sergeant Joshua Gire from the US
Army and so many others that have given that ultimate
sacrifice because we all know freedom is not free. It's
fun to talk about the scores, the games, the drama
around college football, but ultimately the most important thing is
life and we want to remember our fallen heroes at
every single turn.
Speaker 6: Here on Yards and Stripes, Travis Mallon Foundations. Nine to
eleven Heroes run five k ra series units communities across
the country and around the world to honor the sacrifices
of September eleventh and the war since. Join your community
this September and register to run, walk or rock by
visiting nine to eleven heroesrun dot org.
Speaker 1: The latest with Navy, Army and Air Force on Yards
and Stripes Service Academy Football.
Speaker 2: All right, final segment here on Yards and Stripes. Steve
Carney Price Atkinson, As we got games to pick. We're
gonna do that here in just one second. Just two
quick things to pass along. Lake Corvac named a semi
finalist for the Campbell Trophy, also known as the Academic
Heightsman by the National Football Foundation. So congratulations to Blake
Corback being a semi finalist for the Campbell Trophy. Also
also Blake Horvath and Mark Anthony Parker honorable mention players
of the Week in the American Conference this week, So
congratulations to them. All right, Steven, that's news and notes, quick, painless.
Let's get to the picks, because two big, big games,
but especially the Commander in Chief Trophy. We'll pick that one. Second,
but first it's UAB and Army again. Army the favorite
right now at home, give it or on the road
seven and a half point road favorite fifty seven and
a half over and under this one on es pn
U at twelve pm. I got a gut feeling I'll
roll first on this one. I think UAB is going
to keep Army winless for some reason. I know the
UAB is challenged. I just think, you know, Army is
just trying to find an identity right now, trying to
get it going. I think there are a lot of
questions that Jeff Monkins team has right now, especially the
slow starts. They've got to count and fix. And UAB
can score some points you know, here and there, especially
Jalen Kittna's ability to throw the football, and you know
we've seen Army get litten up, you know at times
with the pass this year. I gotta go UAB in
this one. I think UAB wins it by field goalf,
say maybe thirty one twenty eight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think that
this is going to be a Jailen Kittna sort of game.
You know, I have a feeling that, you know, Army
secondary is going to have it struggles. I think, especially
if UAB can get the ball first and put the
and put Army behind seven nothing early. I think that
really is going to put a lot of struggle on
this Black Knights team. I don't have it quite as
high scoring of a game, but you know what, I
have UAB winning as well.
Speaker 2: I have it.
Speaker 4: I have UAB twenty four, Army nineteen.
Speaker 2: Wow, there you go. So we're in. We're there in
conjunction together, UAB getting the win at home over Army
keeping them, keeping the Black Knights winless in the American
all Right, the Biggie first leg of the Commander in
Chief Trophy Saturday at high noon at Navy Marine Corps
Memorial Stadium, Air Force struggling at one in three, Navy
riding high at four to oh this one on CBS
eleven and a half point favored. Are the Mids over
Unders forty nine and a half as they will be
taking the field on Saturday afternoon. Which way do you going?
I mean, because we've seen this movie so many times,
as I mentioned in the last segment, where one team
is down, you feel like they're almost out taking a
standing eight count. That's basically what air Force is done
to this point. But can they get off the deck?
They got more than a puncher's chance because, as we mentioned,
records be damn you just toss them out because it
really doesn't matter, because this is what it's all about,
the Commander in Chief trophy, getting that trip to the
White House, winning against your service academy brethren. I think
this one is going to be a close one. You
tell me which way you're gonna go, I'll give you mine.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought that this was going to be closer,
But then I got to thinking about it a little bit.
If this game was a little later on in the
season and instead of Navy being four and oh, if
they were six and oh or seven and o or
eight and oh, like air Force was a couple of
years ago. We mentioned that in their game against Army
when they came in eight and o, and Army just
lead them, laid the wood, laid the hammer to them,
took them behind the woodshed, so to speak. I think
Navy is still trying to make sure that they get
that they have that statement feeling going forwards. So I
think that, you know, I think Blake Corvat, this is
this is one of those games. Like Bryson Daly had
his coming out party against Air Force a couple of
years ago. I think that this is Blake Corvath's coming
out party for twenty twenty five against air Force. I
have Navy thirty five Air Force seventeen.
Speaker 2: All right, so we're not too far apart. I like
Navy twenty six to seventeen, a little bit lower scoring.
You know, these teams just they know each other so well. Yeah,
sometimes you can, you know, break off the big plays
and run up a high number on offense, but just
always go back to these teams know each other like
the back of their hands because they were basically recruit
almost the same exact kids from Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Then you throw in, you know a couple of the
ivs maybe like a Firm and Wafford, uh, you know
stamp Rice absolutely this. They recruit out of that same
usual kind of talent pool of kids, and so they
know each other so well. The staffs haven't changed hands
in forever in terms of you know, coaching staffs, head coaches,
coordinators for that matter, they're all pretty much stay the same.
So you know the tendencies that most of these teams have.
It's just a matter of going out and you know,
in these games, who executes the best. You know, they
talk about that all the time in football. Well, in
an academy game, were the margin for era, it's just
so razor thin because you know, there's not that talent
gap and you're running a lot of the same stuff.
It's all about execution, and so far to this point,
Navy has just been the far better executioner, if you will,
offensively and defensively, with the fewest amount of mistakes. And
so that's why I think Navy gets the twenty seven
to seventeen wins. Steven, But I can't wait. I know
you can't wait. I know our listeners can't wait. This
is what it's all about, CIC football.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's gonna be It's gonna be a blast this weekend.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: Obviously getting a chance to be on CBS for this
game and getting a nationwide audience I think is great.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be great for Navy.
Speaker 3: I know they're gonna do the same thing for Army
coming up later on in this year, and then of
course obviously the Army Navy game. I always think they're
the three best produced college football games of every season,
and so I'm really excited.
Speaker 2: I could not agree with you more. You said it best.
The best producer in the land, Steve Carney, Irom Price Acktcent.
We appreciate you tuning into Yards and Stripes Army, Navy,
and Air Force. That is what we do here. We
can't wait to do it again with you. Next week
is we will get into all the action Army. We'll
talk about their game at UAB and certainly this first
leg of the CIC Trophy. Thanks for tuning in. As
we are part of the College grid ouron Coast to
Coast podcast network. We're available wherever it is you get
your podcast Stephen, we will talk to you next week.
Speaker 3: Brother the next week, guys, join us again next time
for Yards and Stripes Service Academy Football.
Speaker 1: To get more on all things Service Academy Football, like
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