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                         November 2, 2001

Will this Army team be the one to beat Air Force at Falcon Stadium?

Commentary by Jim Fox
Staff Writer

Since 1977, the Army football team has come up short every year they visit Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. Their record is 0-11 when they visit that great state. (Sorry, I used to live there for a while.)

The last coach to win in Colorado Springs was none other than . . . no, not Lou Saban, or Ed Cavanaugh, or Jim Young, or Bob Sutton. It was . . .you guessed it . . . Homer Smith.

The Smith-led Army squad went 7-4 in 1977 with losses to such powerhouses as Colorado, eventual national champion Notre Dame, Boston College and defending national champion Pittsburgh.

Second-year Army coach Todd Berry takes his squad into Air Force mentor Fisher DeBerry’s den Saturday in what is Berry’s first trip to Falcon Stadium as the Black Knights’ head coach.

Army (2-5, 2-4 in Conference USA) is coming off an exciting 42-35 come-from-behind win over Tulane, while Air Force (4-3, 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference) is reeling after two blowout losses at the hands of Brigham Young 63-33 and New Mexico 52-33.

With the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy at stake, the Falcons beat Navy 24-18 Oct. 6, and they can be expected to regroup quickly.

Some think a Black Knight visit is just what the Falcons need to get them on track before they move back into Mountain West Conference play the following weekend.

"The Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy is the No. 1 goal in this program," Air Force senior nose tackle Zach Johnson said in Monday’s edition of the Denver Post. "We’re going to whip up on Army."

No one would argue with the first part of that statement, but a few may take exception to the latter.

That kind of response from a member of the USAFA’s Class of 2002 isn’t out of the ordinary though. See Johnson and his classmates have yet to lose to Army in their years at the academy. In fact, they stand 31-12 during their time as Zoomies.

They just don’t know any better.

The Zoomie class of 2002 has won two bowl games and three CIC titles. With a win Saturday, they can become just the third class (along with 1992 and 2000) to win four CIC’s.

So maybe Air Force has the right to look at an Army game in their own backyard as a perfect shot at righting their season.

DeBerry owns a 13-4 mark against Army, has won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools including the last four.

Army’s confidence may be at a season-high right now and Air Force’s is probably at its lowest. That’s not to say the Falcons lack confidence against the Black Knights. Quite the contrary, if you believe Johnson’s comments set the tone for the team.

If Army can keep its turnovers to a minimum and take advantage of any Zoomie miscues, the Black Knights may be on their way to breaking their streak of futility.

The biggest challenge will be keeping senior quarterback Keith Boyea from running wild in the Falcons multiple-option attack.

Top Falcon receiving threat Ryan Fleming broke his hand in the New Mexico loss and is listed as questionable. Even if the 6-foot, five-inch senior can play he should be less effective.

Another injury of note is the improvement of heralded Falcon sophomore free safety Jeff Overstreet, who was upgraded to probable as he continues to rehab back from a left ankle sprain.

Army had trouble when Texas Christian went option on them Oct. 20, but that was somewhat unexpected. With Air Force you know what you are going to get. The fifth-ranked Falcon rushing attack just keeps coming at you until they spot a weakness they can exploit.

What it boils down to is that DeBerry knows how to win service academy games. Now with two conference losses, the Falcons best chance at a title may be the CIC. That’s all the motivation this year’s version of the Falcons will need.

Berry has a chance Saturday to further restore the Black Knights’ winning ways when he tries to add his name to Homer Smith’s and Tom Cahill’s as Army coaches who have beaten Air Force in Colorado.

The long road back to respectability has many stages. Coming from behind to win at home is key. Now Army needs to win on the road.

What better place to start than Colorado Springs?