Navy and Air Force Ready to Battle

Navy and Air Force continue one of college football’s traditional rivalries on Saturday when they meet at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis in the first leg of the 2025 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series. The sold-out matchup will air nationally on CBS. 

The Midshipmen (4-0, 3-0 AAC) enter riding a seven-game winning streak dating back to last season — tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the FBS. Navy’s powerful rushing game leads the nation at 352.3 yards per game, led by senior quarterback Blake Horvath, who set program records last year and has guided Navy to four straight games of 450+ yards of offense. Horvath rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns in Navy’s 34-7 win at Air Force last season.

 

Air Force (1-3, 0-3 Mountain West) has dropped three straight but still leads the all-time series 34-23, including a 17-6 victory in its last visit to Annapolis in 2023. The Falcons are honoring the F-16 Fighting Falcon with special Air Power Legacy Series uniforms for this year’s game.

 

The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the round-robin series between Army, Navy and Air Force, has often hinged on this matchup. In 40 of the 53 years the trophy has been awarded, the winner of the Navy-Air Force game has gone on to claim it. Navy, the defending CIC champion, has won the trophy 12 times in the last 22 years.

 

Head coach Brian Newberry has the Midshipmen off to their best start since 1978-79. A victory Saturday would make him 20-10 in his first 30 games, the best start by a Navy coach since Wayne Hardin. Meanwhile, Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun looks to rally his team behind a high-powered offense that ranks seventh nationally in rushing (254.3 ypg) and first in yards per completion (21.6).

 

Saturday’s pre-game festivities will add some extra excitement. The Brigade of Midshipmen will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people doing pushups simultaneously for one minute. The current record belongs to Air Force, which set the mark in 2023 when 2,926 participants performed pushups to cadence. The Naval Academy is aiming to top that with a target of 3,300 participants on Saturday, adding a spirited twist to the rivalry before kickoff.

 

The day will also include the traditional March-On of the Brigade of Midshipmen and a flyover featuring F/A-18F Super Hornets, an EA-18G Growler and an F-35B Lightning.

 

Kickoff is set for 12:08 p.m. ET.