The Air Force Falcons with the nations top ranked rushing attack will take on their brother's in the armed services the boys from the Naval Academy. Usually these games don't interest me but this week it stands out. Air Force has been impressive this season so far while Navy has been lacking. The Falcons crushed departing Mountain West opponents BYU three weeks ago but not sure if that really meant a whole lot. The Cougars were barely able to defeat Washington at home while they were manhandled last week by a down Florida State team. The most impressive of all the Falcon games this year was actually a loss in Norman, Oklahoma to the highly ranked undefeated Oklahoma Sooners. Normally this would be a huge win but so far this season Oklahoma has been less than stellar with close wins over Utah State, the Falcons and the University of Cincinnati a team that is down after losing their head coach, starting QB, and top receiver from a year ago. Still the Sooners were barely able to hold off the Bearcats a team that was beaten handily in Fresno, California by the Fresno State Bulldogs. This past week the Falcons barely got by Wyoming. Now Wyoming is not a bad team but they are certainly not a great team that should lead an odds maker from making the Falcons 10.5 point favorites.
Meanwhile Navy has not looked too stellar this year. As a road favorite against the Maryland Terrapins in their opener the Midshipmen turned the ball over 4 times including late in the game while at the Maryland 1 yard line which could have delivered victory from the eventual jaws of defeat. In week 2 Navy could barely beat Football Bowl Subdivision squad Georgia Southern 13-6. I am assuming the odds makers are only looking at FBS rather than a historically strong FBS team with many championships in the past two decades. This past week the Midshipmen were sluggish in the first half of their game against Louisiana Tech trailing the Bulldogs by 7 at the break before dominating the 2nd half with a vaunted rushing attack. So right now the only difference between this game being a 3-4 point spread with top 20 ranked undefeated Navy team was one great play by Maryland in the 4th quarter to force a turnover one yard away from the unblemished record.
Well that one play is not enough for me to take the 10.5 points Bookmaker is so generously giving out. It's plenty of points for me to take considering this is an armed forced rivalry. It's also enough points considering the Air Force triple option wishbone attack is not going to surprise Naval defenders as it's an offense they face in practice every day. There will also be no slanting defenses by undersized lineman to surprise either squad as both teams are undersized on their lines and play slanted blocking schemes. This game should actually be one heck of a battle as a lot of pride is going to be on the line along with early bragging rights and the inside track to the Commander and Chief Trophy presented to the best armed forces school and the inside track to an automatic bowl berth in the Texas Bowl in Houston. In summary, there is a lot riding on this game.
In a tight game big impact players and home field can be the difference makers. The crowd will be pro-Air Force and the elevation in Colorado Springs will favor the Falcons but the conditioning of the Navy players should be able to offset some of the home field advantage. The difference between winning and losing might very well come down on one of the best quarterbacks to ever play at the Naval Academy since Roger Staubach. And for you young whipper snappers out there that are short on history Staubach won the Heisman Trophy for the Naval Academy back in the 60's before a short stint in the Navy followed up by two Super Bowl rings for the Dallas Cowboys and an induction into the Hall of Fame. Navy's QB Ricky Dobbs is not Roger the Dodger but he can make big plays and big time players make big plays in big games. Dobbs failed against Maryland but this game is his redemption. It's his chance to get his name thrown back into the Heisman talk. It's his chance to lead his team to the Commander and Chief Trophy as a Senior. It's not about covering or putting on a good show in Colorado Springs for Dobbs, it's about winning and when a team is geeked up to win a game and the oddsmakers are giving them ten points it means only one thing. The public doesn't believe enough in the underdog to bet on them unless they are getting a lot of points. In this case bet on the Midshipmen. Bet the Farm because not only will you keep the farm but you can get yourself a couple of nice new angus cows after Dobbs proves he is the best armed services leader in the collegiate ranks today.
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