Every Saturday afternoon, college football fans all around the country (myself included) roll out of bed, raid our kitchen cabinets for gameday munchies, and lay claim to our favorite spot on the couch, where we plan to spend the next 3 to 12 hours (depending on your personal level of addiction and/or relationship status). For the next several hours, we travel on a journey through our channel guide several times over in search of the best CFB game we can find. And without fail, atleast one time each Saturday, we find ourselves cursing our cable guide out of frustration, because all games on TV just plain suck!
We know that somewhere out there, in this great country filled with bbq food, cheerleaders, and tailgates, that there has to be atleast one good football game being played. Oh and there is my friend, but they just weren't deemed TV worthy. Says who? Some programming manager at our cable company, who thinks we give a rat's a$$ about Tennessee-Ohio. What the hell does he know? I could care less about watching Texas pummel Alcorn State. I want a game with some intrigue.
Well curse no more my pigskin companions! With this sweet new invention called "the internet", and some help from your friends here at CollegeFootballCalc.com, you will be guaranteed atleast one game worth your attention. Each week, I will serve up a football game that didn't get picked by the major networks to receive national TV exposure (unless your privileged enough to have a satellite dish with every sports package known to man. In which case your boredom is not boredom at all, its ADHD!!!!!). So instead of wandering aimlessly through your Saturday, flipping the channel every 10 seconds, come to collegefootballcal.com and find a hidden gem that the major networks didn't discover. At the very least, you will have a game to watch on channelsurfing.net or follow on ESPN gamecast.
So for the first game ever selected for College Football Calc’s Blackout Game of the week, the game TRUE FOOTBALL FANS should be looking at: Air Force at Navy.
Why Air Force vs. Navy?
This game has everything. A Great Rivalry. A solid football match up. Patriotism. Heck. even a LARGE piece of hardware (170 pounds to be exact) hangs in the balance, with the Commander-in-Chief trophy at stake.
Sure, neither of these teams are TOP 25 caliber, or filled with future stars of Sundays. But what this game does have is two passionate teams, whose players will later serve in the military, protecting our country, not to mention our right to watch CFB. Oh yeah, and both teams truly want to beat the snot out of each other.
About Air Force:
Air Force is football team that comes in 3-1 on the season. Their lone loss happened on the road to Minnesota 20-13, who was opening their brand new stadium. Oh yeah, Air Force was leading this game 10-3 heading in to the 4th quarter. If not for a costly fumble that was taken to the house by Minnesota LB Nate Triplett with 11:54 left, we maybe talking about if the Air Force is this year’s CFB Cinderella.
This is a team that runs, runs and runs some more. They are averaging 406 yards of offense a game, and only 87 those yards coming through the air. They stick to the simple mantra of maintain possession of the ball and play good defense. Their defense is allowing less than 12 points per game this season.
About Navy:
Navy almost became this year’s Appalachian State, by going into Columbus and giving Ohio State more than had ever bargained for. The game came down a dramatic 2-point conversion that would have tied the game with 2:23 left to play, but got picked off and taken the other way to hand Ohio State the 31-27 victory.
Navy (2-2) is lead by their Dual-Threat QB Ricky Dobbs (Jr.). He currently has a combined 12 TD’s on the season with 3 through the air, and 9 on the ground. This is another offense that has no plans of airing it out, but Dobbs has already shown the ability to make plays through the air, when he dared by other teams. Don’t believe me? Ask the Buckeyes….
About Kickoff:
The game kicks off in front of a sold out crowd at 3:30 PM Eastern at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
History:
Since 1972 (the year the commander-in-chief trophy was first awarded) Air Force has a 22-15 advantage over the Midshipmen. However Navy has been dominate in recent years, winning the last 6 games facing the falcons.
Vegas Predictions: Navy by 3- 3 ½
CFB Calculator: Air Force 29- Navy 18
My Prediction: Air Force 21- Navy 17 in an upset. Also a huge landslide victory for Americans and College Football Fans everywhere…
Until next week, enjoy…..