CU, Air Force Resume Football Rivalry In 2020, 2022
July 15, 2015 | Football
BOULDER — The last time the University of Colorado and the Air Force Academy met on the gridiron, The Godfather Part II was still two months away from premiering in theatres. That was 41 years ago.
But on Wednesday, CU athletic director Rick George and his Air Force counterpart Jim Knowlton jointly announced that the two schools, located just 84 miles apart, will resume their football rivalry with a home-and-home series set for the years 2020 and 2022.
The institutions have agreed on a contract that is in the process of being signed, but will have the Falcons visit Boulder on Sept. 12, 2020, with the Buffaloes returning the game on Sept. 10, 2022; it will be the second game of those seasons for both schools. The fairly standard agreement has each school designating 3,000 tickets for the other when they are the visitor.
The two last played on the AFA campus on Oct. 5, 1974, with CU escaping with a 28-27 victory. Colorado leads the all-time series by a 12-4 count, with seven of the games being decided by 10 points or less. The series has had many interesting twists, from AFA winning the first encounter at the end of the 1958 season that led to a change in CU head coaches; the '62 game where CU defeated a heavily favored Falcon team to send coach Bud Davis out with a win; a postponement for two weeks in 1963 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and a 49-19 CU win at the Academy in 1970 when the Falcons were ranked 10th in the nation having already accepted a bid to the Sugar Bowl.
“The renewal of this rivalry will be great for the state,” George said. “Nearly two generations have come and gone since we last played Air Force in football, and I've often heard from fans that they'd like to see them back on our schedule. We were both fortunate enough to have available dates for the games in the not-too-distant future to make this happen. It's an easy drive for fans of both teams and I am sure ours will really enjoy seeing Air Force once again as an opponent in football.”
Program cover from 1974
In addition, the school's men's basketball teams have agreed to extend their rivalry, as the Buffs and Falcons will meet on the hardcourt the next four seasons, twice in Boulder (this fall and in 2017-18) and twice at the USAFA (2016-17, 2018-19). The two had played almost annually from 1958 through 1979, but the series went dormant before resuming in 2006.
“This is great for college football and great for our state,” Knowlton said. “I think both fan bases will be thrilled to see that we are playing in football, as our schools have enjoyed healthy scheduling in other sports.”
“Air Force has an excellent football program led by Troy Calhoun,” CU head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “He is a very respected coach in our business and someone I have had the pleasure to get to know. It will be an honor to once again play the service academy right down the road from us.”
Linebacker Jeff Geiser (82) eyes the AFA offense in 1973
The last service academy CU played was Army, and that was also nearly 40 years ago; the Buffs traveled to West Point and won, 31-0, on Oct. 1, 1977.
CU also announced two other scheduling additions, as the Buffs two vacancies in 2017 and 2018 after San Jose State opted out of a two-game home-and-home series (the Spartans are under new leadership and asked to cancel the series, which was agreed to prior to CU joining the Pac-12 Conference). CU was agreeable because of the opportunity for a sixth home game in 2017; originally set to travel to San Jose and with Colorado State in Denver, the Buffs were only to have five home games at Folsom Field with that being a year in which only four Pac-12 teams visit Boulder.
Texas State will visit Boulder on Sept. 9, 2017, with New Hampshire coming to Folsom Field on Sept. 15, 2018. It will be CU's first meeting with both schools in football, with just one meeting in dual sports (1980 in men's basketball), though CU and UNH do have a long established relationship in skiing.
Formerly known as Southwest Texas State and located in San Marcos, the Bobcats compete in the Sun Belt Conference and have been an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) school since 2012.
“Texas State is a great addition for us, especially this late in the scheduling process,” George said. “It's also important as we desire a minimum of six home games a year, a key factor for us in budgeting, fan engagement, recruiting and really in many areas. And any year we can have seven home games, as is the case in 2021, would really be optimum.”
New Hampshire, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and a perennial FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) power, has played at least one FBS school every year but one dating back to 2002, including Army, Marshall, Minnesota and Pittsburgh along with several Mid-American Conference schools. The Wildcats, who won five straight over FBS teams between 2004 and 2009, will play at San Jose State this fall to continue the streak.
Colorado's non-conference schedules at present over the next decade (subject to change); in 2020, CU will play both Air Force and Colorado State in the same year for the first time since 1958. Click here for the updated non-conference schedules.
Colorado leads, 12-4 (in Boulder 7-3; at USAFA 5-1) (B - In Boulder)
| Nov. 29, 1958 | Air Force | 20-14 | (B) |
| Nov. 28, 1959 | Colorado | 15- 7 | (B) |
| Nov. 26, 1960 | Air Force | 16- 6 | (B) |
| Dec. 2, 1961 | Colorado | 29-12 | (B) |
| Nov. 24, 1962 | Colorado | 34-10 | (B) |
| Dec. 7, 1963 | Air Force | 17-14 | |
| Nov. 21, 1964 | Colorado | 28-23 | (B) |
| Nov. 20, 1965 | Colorado | 19- 6 | |
| Nov. 19, 1966 | Colorado | 10- 9 | (B) |
| Nov. 25, 1967 | Colorado | 33- 0 | |
| Nov. 23, 1968 | Air Force | 58-35 | (B) |
| Nov. 21, 1970 | Colorado | 49-19 | |
| Nov. 20, 1971 | Colorado | 53-17 | (B) |
| Nov. 18, 1972 | Colorado | 38- 7 | |
| Oct. 13, 1973 | Colorado | 38-17 | (B) |
| Oct. 5, 1974 | Colorado | 28-27 |
By the time CU and AFA reunite on the gridiron in the year 2020, 46 years will have passed between then and when they last met; going back to their last meeting on Oct. 5, 1974, here's are some fast facts of the day/year:
- The No. 1 song in the nation that week was I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton-John (the top song of the year was The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand);
- 38 Special, The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Blondie and Boulder's own Firefall all debuted in the music world, while The Moody Blues and Jefferson Airplane disbanded, though the Blues returned in 1977;
- All In The Family aired that night as the No. 1 show on television, a position it would finish in for the year;
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Taking Of Pelham 123 were the top movies of the week, but for the year, The Godfather II ruled the roost;
- Book: Jaws, by Peter Benchle, topped the best seller lists that week;
- Gerald Ford was just two days away from completing his second month as U.S. President, as Richard Nixon resigned on August 8; Ford of course would spent many days after his tenure as POTUS in Colorado (Vail);
- Countries with different names now included Burma, Czechoslovakia, Dutch Guiana, Rhodesia, Southwest Africa, Yugoslavia and Zaire.
And on the professional landscape:
- The Denver Broncos, coming off their best record in its 14-year franchise history (7-5-2 in 1973), sat at 0-2-1 on the year but would win their first game the next day (17-14 at Kansas City);
- The Denver Nuggets were still in the old American Basketball Association (ABA), and were ready to embark on their first season with the new nickname; having previously been called the Rockets the previous seven seasons – the team opened 35-5 en route to a 65-19 record for 1974-75, but lost in the second round of the playoffs to Indiana.
- Major League Baseball was 19 years away from Denver; the AAA Denver Bears finished 62-74 (last place in the American Association West Division) and were ending a two-year association with the Houston Astros;
- Hockey? Colorado was still two years away from its first NHL franchise—the Colorado Rockies—but the Denver Spurs were still around, finished second in the Northern Division of the Central Hockey League (36-29-13, 85 points).
- Remember the Denver Racquets in the World Team Tennis? Pacific Section champions with a 30-14 record, they won the league's inaugural title in 1974, defeating the Philadelphia Freedoms, 2 matches to 0 (55-48 overall).
- And in soccer, the Denver Dynamos finished 5-15 in their first season in the North American Soccer League; the team would compete at Mile High Stadium for one more season before moving to Minnesota (and becoming the Kicks).
- 1974-75 champions: Oakland (MLB/World Series), Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL/Super Bowl), Golden State Warriors (NBA), Kentucky Colonels (ABA), Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), Los Angeles Aztecs (NASL), Denver Racquets (WTT), Oklahoma & Alabama (NCAA football), UCLA Bruins (NCAA basketball).
Here's a look at some numbers-related trivia in the Colorado-Air Force series:
| No. 6 | The highest national ranking for Colorado in a game against AFA (1961; CU won, 29-12 in Boulder); |
| No. 10 | The highest national ranking for Air Force in a game against CU (1970; CU won, 49-19 at AFA); |
| 9-1 | Colorado's record against Air Force when scoring 20 or more points; |
| 41 | The number of years since CU and Air Force last played in football (46 by the time they revive the series in 2020); |
| 16 | Number of games played between Colorado and Air Force in their football histories (CU leads, 12-4); |
| 100 x 3 | The number of players with 100 yards rushing in the 1970 game, the second (and last) time that occurred in CU history (Jon Keyworth 124, Paul Arendt 116, Ward Walsh 101); |
| 52 | CU Dave: The length of a punt return for a touchdown in the '73 game by CU's Dave Logan; |
| 60 | AFA Dave: The length of a Dave Lawson (AFA) field goal in the '74 game, the first 60-yarder in pro or college in the state of Colorado; |
| 84 | The number of miles between Boulder, Colorado, and the USAFA campus just north of Colorado Springs; |
| 100 | Colorado's play count against Air Force in the 1970 game (83 rushes, 17 passes), still the fourth-most in school history; |
| 675 | Colorado's total offense against Air Force in the 1970 game (482 rush, 193 pass), still the fourth-most in school history; |
| 708 | The combined number of points in the series (or 44.3 per game; Colorado 443, Air Force 265); |
| 1,276 | The difference in elevation (feet) between Folsom Field (Boulder, 5,345) and Falcon Stadium (USAFA, 6,621); |
| 16,412 | The number of days between the last CU-AFA football game (Oct. 5, 1974) and the next one (Sept. 12, 2020). |