The bye week blues sit firmly in the rearview, and soon the Black Knights will head to Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Falcons. After a pair of games in Arlington, Texas, and an away tilt that the Zoomies moved to Mile High due to on-post stadium renovations, this will be the first true Army road game against Air Force since 2019. Both teams started the season on down notes, but both have since rebounded and begun playing better football over the past few weeks. Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy games are always high leverage contests, but this year, both teams also badly need this win to retain any hope of postseason bowl eligibility.

It's a new Game Week!#GoArmy x #BeatAirForce pic.twitter.com/IF52FsXRHR

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 27, 2025

Air Force Falcons

As noted in the opening, Air Force got off to a disappointing start. Despite having the second best scoring offense in the Mountain West, the Falcons currently sit just 2-5, largely because they possess the worst scoring defense in their conference if not in the nation as a whole. They started the year with a nice enough win against Patriot League foe Bucknell, but they then dropped games at Utah State, at home versus Boise State and Hawai’i, and then on the road at Navy and UNLV. The Zoomie defense gave up 44+ points in all of those losses except Navy, and if you saw that Navy game, you already know that neither defense did a lot in that one. Air Force held Wyoming to just 21 points at Falcon Stadium two weeks ago by forcing two turnovers in the red zone, but even then, they let the Cowboys rush for 198 yards on fully 5.5 yards/carry.

The Zoomies pass a lot for an option team, but their offense has not been their problem. They got hurt a bit on special teams by missed field goals in 3-point losses to Navy and UNLV. But it’s hard to blame the kicker for the Navy loss when your team commits eight penalties, and your quarterback fumbles the ball while driving late with a chance to win in a CIC game. Similarly, the Zoomies gave up *51* points to UNLV. And this in a year in which their punting has been phenomenal.

There’s only one real reason the Falcons likely won’t go bowling this year. Their defense has a lot of young players, and those guys have only just started developing into legit D1 football players.

Offense

Sophomore QB Liam Szarka leads the Zoomies’ rushing attack. He’s been outstanding. Szarka has rushed for more than 700 yards and thrown for more than 1000 so far this season. In fact, he’s gone 55/90 passing for 1,058 yards (61.1%) and 8 touchdowns against just 3 interceptions and 7 sacks. Moreover, Szarka had a career day against Navy, throwing for 212 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 152 more and two more touchdowns.

Air Force features four running backs, using the kind of fullback-by-committee approach that we’ve seen so often from Coach Monken and Army. The big boys do most of the work. A pair of 215 pounders, FBs Owen Allen and Dylan Carson, account for 107 carries and 660 yards, while the two C/Kade’s, Harris and Frew, account for 79 carries and 436 yards, more typically on the outside. WR Cade Harris in particular works in something like Noah Short’s role with the Black Knights. With that, Harris also accounts for the lion’s share of the receiving opportunities, having pulled down 23 catches for 492 yards. Perhaps the biggest difference between Air Force’s offense and Army’s, aside from pure explosiveness, comes from the fact that the Zoomies actually throw to their tight end, especially down in the red zone. TE Bruin Fleischmann has 4 touchdown catches this season.

Friends, this Falcons offense is good. They average a whopping 5.5 yards per rush. That dropped to 4.7 yards per rush against Navy, but even then, that’s outstanding. We’ll have to see what the Black Knights can do to slow them down.

Defense

Junior LB Blake Fletcher carries the front seven with 69 total tackles. No other linebacker has more than 21 tackles, and indeed, the Falcons’ next four top tacklers are all defensive backs — three sophomores and a true freshman! But as Rob always says on the show, if your secondary has to make a lot of tackles, that’s generally not great. By way of comparison, three of Army’s top five tacklers are linebackers.

Despite their offense gaining 5.4 yards per carry, their defense has managed to one-up that, giving up just under 5.5. The FBS has just four teams with worse metrics. Amazingly, Air Force’s passing defense has been even worse still, allowing the most passing yards per game in the entire FBS. They do this by allowing opposing quarterback to complete better than 70% of their passes. Yikes!

If Army’s offense can’t make it work against this Zoomie defense, then the Black Knights’ season is truly lost and deservedly so. Yes, this is a CiC game, but c’mon. These guys have gotten run over by everybody.

Special Teams

As mentioned, Air Force has missed a few field goals. They made a change against Wyoming, however, and new PK Reagan Tubbs went 3/3 on field goals with makes from 30+ and 40+ yards. So maybe they’ve got that figured out. Meanwhile, Zoomies P Luke Freer has looked elite this season. Dude is a legitimate Ray Guy Award contender. He averages 48 yards per punt, has dropped seven inside the 20, has six of 50+ yards, and hasn’t given up a single touchback all season. Wow!

Jeff Monken Weekly Press Conference – October 28th, 2025 https://t.co/IFGigkut0q

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 28, 2025

Match-Up Takeaways

Army Has to Control the Game.

Air Force would love for this game to turn into a high altitude track meet. The Black Knights can’t let that happen. A good bend-don’t-brake scheme should avoid devastating plays from this relatively pass-happy Air Force option attack. That combined with some long Army offensive drives should limit Air Force’s chances of making this a high scoring affair.

Army Needs to Win with the Run First.

Air Force’s rushing defense has been really bad. Army’s offensive line needs to control the front early and often. This would be a great time to have one of those “no passing attempt” games. That’s not to say that passing opportunities won’t present themselves if needed. But passing has the potential to turn this into a track meet. Army needs to play complimentary football this week and limit Air Force’s possessions.

Don’t Let Special Teams or Team Mistakes Beat You.

As with any CIC game, turnover margin, time of possession, and special teams will play a huge role. Air Force has been mostly good in these areas but not consistently great. They don’t turn the ball over a lot, but they don’t typically generate a lot of turnovers, either. They’ve been at best okay with field goals, but maybe they’ll be better now that they’ve got a new kicker. And we already know that they have a great punter.

Army probably won’t win this game on special teams. They cannot afford to lose there, though, either. If the Black Knights can hold onto the football and force turnovers without turning the ball over themselves, then the Zoomies’ advantage in the punting game probably won’t matter.

Final Thoughts

This Air Force game feels a lot less like a typical triple-option matchup where both teams are trying to do the same thing. In fact, this game sets up a lot more like a match-up against North Texas. So the keys to winning this one feel a bit more like what we’d expect from a conference opponnent rather than a service academy rival. Both teams had a bye last week, so both will be rested and ready to go this Saturday. We should be in for a great game.

Congrats Andon! 👏

Thomas, a team captain who majors in Chemical Engineering, has been named a Finalist for the #CampbellTrophy by the @NFFNetwork 🫡 pic.twitter.com/7tmVaASunL

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 22, 2025

This game kicks at noon Eastern on CBS/Paramount+. Yes, that will be 10 am local time. As always, the radio call comes via the Varsity Network. AFF’s Firstie Club hosts the planet’s very best gameday chats!

Go Army! Beat Air Force!!!