Air Force rallies past Army: Falcons secure Commander-in-Chief's Trophy with fourth-quarter TD

The Falcons clinched the annual series with Saturday's comeback win in West Point

By Robby Kalland

Nov 7, 2026 at 10:42 pm ET • 1 min read

The Commander-In-Chief's trophy is on the line on Saturday night when Air Force travels to Michie Stadium to face Army at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

After the Falcons defeated Navy earlier this season in Colorado Springs, a road win over Army would secure Air Force the Commander-In-Chief's trophy for the first time since 2022. The Black Knights, meanwhile, can put one hand on the trophy with a win at home, guaranteeing at least a share of the prize for the battle between the three service academies.

The two option teams have featured in plenty of high-scoring games this season, but if Air Force's 14-9 win over Navy is any indication, this will be another classic service academy game that's decided by field position and which offense can break a few big plays.

Army will lean on star quarterback Cale Hellums, who also leads the team in rushing, to create those plays. Hellums leads the nation with 17 rushing touchdowns this season. Air Force, which lost starter Liam Szarka to injury early in the season, throws the ball extremely rarely now and leans heavily on fullback Kemper Hodges -- fresh off a game with 35 carries for 200 yards and four touchdowns against UConn.

The Commander-In-Chief's trophy could be secured on Saturday night, and we'll be tracking all the action right here.

Watch Army vs. Air Force live at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming live on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Paramount+ Premium. Keep it locked here for live updates, analysis and highlights from the game.

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Air Force takes a 10-point lead into halftime

HALF: Air Force 17, Army 7

A scoreless first quarter gave way to an offensive explosion in West Point in the second quarter, as both offenses got moving. Air Force will take a 10-point lead into the break as they look to secure the Commander-In-Chief's trophy, thanks in no small part to an Army special teams blunder that gave them a short field.

The Falcons converted that into their first touchdown of the game to go up 10-0, but watched as Cale Hellums and Godspower Nwawuihe marched the Black Knights down the field for an answer on a 9-minute touchdown drive, with Nwawuihe finishing off the drive with a 21-yard TD.

Air Force had just over 3 minutes on the clock to find the answer, and while quick-strike scores aren't usually the story of a service academy game, Evan Medders was able to lead the Falcons on a touchdown drive, punching it in himself with seven seconds to play to give Air Force breathing room again.

There isn't much between the two teams on the stat line, with Air Force having more success on the ground (133 yards to 78 yards), but Army has been able to find a bit of success through the air (37 yards to 12 yards). The big difference so far is the turnover on the Army punter, who struggled with the snap and took an accidental knee, giving Air Force a short field.