The second of three games between the service academies will take place on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET) on CBS when Army hosts Air Force in West Point. For the Falcons, a win on the road would secure the Commander in Chief's trophy after they beat Navy in a 14-9 battle earlier this year in Colorado Springs.
If Air Force can beat Army, it'd give them the Commander in Chief's trophy for the first time since 2022. The Falcons are 6-2 and fresh off a win over UConn to get to bowl-eligible, but face quarterback injury concerns and may start freshman Howard Fisher, who began the year as the third stringer. Army, meanwhile, has no questions at quarterback, where it's the Cale Hellums show as the team's leading passer and rusher.
Army's problem in its three losses this season, including last week against Memphis, has been on defense, where they're 83rd in the country in scoring defense and are 80th in rush defense. Service academy games tend to operate on a different plane of existence from other games -- take Air Force's win over Navy, two teams that have played largely in shootouts, but ended up in a 14-9 battle. That's what happens when two option attacks go head to head, and Saturday night's showdown will likely be determined by which team can pop a big play or two against defenses well-versed in how to handle the option.
Air Force QB uncertainty: As mentioned above, Evan Medders is banged up with a turf toe injury and missed Air Force's win over UConn last week, with Fisher taking over. Medders was already a replacement for Liam Szarka, and since Szarka went down with an injury the Falcons have all but abandoned the passing attack. As an option team, the pass game was already secondary, but Medders and Fisher have a combined 23 pass attempts for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
There is almost no threat of the pass with either in the game, and Army's defense will be flying downhill looking to stonewall the run game. The concerns with changing quarterbacks in an option attack are whether they'll make the right reads and whether they'll make ball-handling mistakes that lead to turnovers. In a game where points are at a premium, turnovers can swing a game.
However, if Medders is compromised as a runner, that's a different limitation, and it might be better to have the threat of the quarterback run than to have someone ailing with a bit more experience. Can Cale Hellums create some big plays?: The quarterback advantage is clearly on Army's side, where Hellums is dynamic as a runner and can pop a pass play over the top when the opportunity presents itself. Clock control, field position and ball security are always the name of the game in service academy games because it's so hard to create explosives against defenses so well-versed against the option.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
