No. 22 Air Force began its defense of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy with a 17-6 win Saturday at Navy, moving to 7-0 on the season and extending its overall winning streak to 12. The victory was also the Falcons' fourth straight in their series against the Midshipmen, giving them their longest winning-streak against Navy since prevailing in six consecutive meetings from 1997-2002.
Air Force opened the scoring on a windy afternoon moments into the second quarter when quarterback Zac Larrier, who was not expected to start after a knee injury against Wyoming in Week 7, found wide receiver Dane Kinamon for a school-record 94-yard touchdown pass. The milestone moment was the Falcons' lone offensive touchdown of a game in which they gained more yards through the air (151) than on the ground (137) despite entering the game with the FBS' top rushing offense.
Air Force's defensive prowess was also clear for all to see, holding the Mids to 124 total yards and coming just shy of delivering the Falcons' their first shutout victory ever in the series. Air Force linebacker Johnathan Youngblood had a team-high 13 tackles and linebacker Bo Richter recorded four tackles for loss as the unit wreaked havoc on Navy true freshman quarterback Braxton Woodson, who made his first start due to a rib injury to Tai Lavatai in Week 7.
Lavatai ultimately entered for the Mids in the fourth quarter after Woodson was just 2 of 6 passing for 6 yards. His presence was enough to get Navy on the board with a last-minute touchdown pass to running back Eli Heidenrich, but not until after he was intercepted twice down the stretch. The second of those interceptions was returned by Air Force linebacker Alec Mock for a touchdown that dug the Mids into a 17-0 hole, eliminating much chance of any comeback.
With the win, Air Force is now a victory away from defending the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy – the Falcons can clinch that hardware against Army in Week 10 – and is also a step closer to potentially becoming the first service academy to crack a New Year's Six bowl as the designated Group of Five participant. For Navy, the shutout loss snapped a two-game winning streak as the Mids missed an opportunity to move above .500 for the first time this season.
Air Force returns to action in Week 9 with an in-state feud against Colorado State. Navy will be on a bye before it looks to rebound against Temple in Week 10.