Army earned a win on Saturday that was much more than just a simple victory, a monumental achievement in the modern era of Black Knights football.
Jeff Monken‘s club defeated Air Force 17-14 in West Point, meaning that, no matter what happens in the Dec. 8 Army-Navy game, the Black Knights will keep the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy again in 2018. Air Force defeated Navy 35-7 on Oct. 6, meaning a Navy win in Philadelphia would pit all three service academies at 1-1 against each other, reverting the trophy to last year’s champion -- which was Army.
It’s the eighth CIC Trophy win for Army, compared to 20 for Air Force and 15 for Navy, and the first time since the CIC Trophy was established in 1972 that the Black Knights will keep the trophy in back-to-back years.
It’s staying. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/8b8qi6TcKA
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 3, 2018
After winning just four games total against its service academy rivals from 1997 through 2015, Army has now won four straight games over Navy and Air Force. The streak started with a 21-17 defeat of Navy in 2016, and continued through a 21-0 win over Air Force and a 14-13 defeat of Navy in 2017.
The 7-2 Black Knights will be heavily favored to beat Navy for a third straight time on Dec. 8, as the Midshipmen sunk to 2-7 in a 42-0 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.