Air Force-Navy game is on; Army to also play

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The football game between Air Force and Navy will be played this weekend despite a threat that the U.S. government shutdown would lead to its cancellation.

Navy officials said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Defense gave approval for the Air Force team to travel to Maryland for the game. A record crowd is expected at Navy Memorial Stadium and the game is to be televised by CBS.

Game time is 11:40 a.m. EDT.

Navy takes a 2-1 record into the game while Air Force is 1-4.

Army (2-3) also will be allowed to travel to Boston College (2-2) for its scheduled game 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Defense Department Tuesday suspended all service academies' intercollegiate athletics events after Congress failed to reach a budget agreement and the federal government began a partial shutdown.

The Air Force-Navy game is one-third of the round-robin series of games pitting the U.S. military academies against each other with the team that wins two games being awarded the Commander in Chief's Trophy. Navy won the award last year and Air Force the two years before that.

The other games are Army-Air Force, to be played in Colorado Springs Nov. 2, and Army-Navy, scheduled for Dec. 14 in Philadelphia.