President Obama awarded the trophy last year to the Midshipmen.
Army threatened to make it a race. With a win last Saturday over Air Force, the Black Knights would have set up a winner take all matchup with Navy on Dec. 12 in Philadelphia. And after ending the first half knotted at seven, it looked like Army just might do it. Unfortunately for Army and anyone else who is tired of watching the Midshipmen accept a trophy at the White House, the lead didn’t hold up.
Air Force left the locker room after a fiery speech from linebacker Andre Morris Jr. and rolled over the Black Knights with four unanswered touchdowns in the second half. So what does that mean for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which goes to whoever wins the series between the three service academy football teams? It’s a trophy that has made a home the last six years in Annapolis, Md. And it will stay there since the best Army and Air Force can hope for now is a tie. In that case, the trophy stays with the previous year’s champion.
The last tie occurred in 1993 amidst Air Force’s run of 11 wins in 13 years. Prior to Navy’s latest run, the Midshipmen had not won the trophy since 1981. Recently, though, a trip to the White House Rose Garden has become as regular as the start of spring ball.
