The battle for the Commander-in-Chief trophy begins on Saturday at Falcon Stadium.

Navy in the Air Force

Kick-off: 10 a.m. Saturday (air force ticket information)

TV/stream: CBS – channel 11.1 in Colorado Springs via antenna and channel 11 on DirecTV, Dish and Xfinity. The game will also be streamed on CBS Sports and the CBS Sports app.

Broadcasting crew: Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (analyst), Tiffany Blackmon (sideline)

Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs, 104.3 the Fan in Denver, SIRIUS XM 384

Air Force Broadcasting Team: Jim Arthur (play-by-play), Jesse Kurtz (analyst)

WHERE I WILL LOOK

The Gazette’s Brent Briggeman mentions three specific areas he will be monitoring during the game.

First down

The Air Force and Navy together scored 17 times last year. Those punts came immediately after first-down plays that yielded 12 yards on 17 snaps. Bo Richter, now with the Minnesota Vikings, had a lot to do with that, throwing the Midshipmen for a loss of 14 yards on a pair of first-down plays. To keep the chains moving, these offenses generally need solid wins in the first phase. Whoever can do that will likely gain an advantage.

60 minutes

Air Force showed glimpses of its potential, trailing Baylor 6-3 at halftime and ahead of Wyoming 219-83 in the first half on the road. However, the team regretted that it could not complete the match and was defeated 49-6 in the second half of those matches. Climbing over that hump against Navy will be a tall order, as the Midshipmen have outscored their opponents every quarter this season.

Cade Harris

Getting into the middle can be tricky in service academy games, so big plays on the perimeter generally make the difference. Last year, slot receiver Dane Kinamon scored on a 94-yard pass play to pave the way for Air Force’s victory at Navy. If there’s an obvious candidate for a game-changing game for the Falcons on Saturday, it’s Cade Harris, the slot receiver whose total yardage per game has steadily increased this year: 17 vs. Merrimack, 57 vs. San Jose State, 73 vs. 73. Baylor and 121 vs. Wyoming.

BY THE NUMBERS

Navy nationally ranks in efficiency (219.7) and yards per completion (21.0) behind quarterback Blake Horvath.

Consecutive wins for Air Force over Navy, with the Falcons outscoring the Midshipmen 93-26 in that span.

Titles of outright Commander in Chief for the Air Force. Navy is second with 16. Army has 10. The Falcons have captured just one (2022) since 2016.

Navy has scored at least 38 points in each of its first four games, a first for the program in its 144 years.

Points for Navy in a win over Memphis on September 21. The Air Force has scored a combined 50 points in the four games.