Air Force-Navy football game scheduled on 20th anniversary of 9/11

The Air Force-Navy football game next year has been scheduled for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the academies announced Tuesday.

The game will be the third time the two schools played in September, and the earliest they ever met. It was originally scheduled for Oct. 2.

Air Force Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said in a statement that the game “will be a fitting way to showcase the amazing future leaders of character from both academies on national television on this solemn anniversary.”

“We will use this nationally televised opportunity to reflect on the meaning of our freedom and the competitive spirit of our nation,” Chet Gladchuk, Naval Academy Director of Athletics, said in a statement.

“Two Service Academies coming together to display our strength of unity and our determination to forever persevere,” he added. 

CBS Sports will broadcast the game, the academies said. A kickoff time will be announced at a later date.