Ouch!!!!

    Fresno State 48 Air Force 17......That's a big ouch.....The Bulldogs handled the Falcons easily last Saturday to win a share of the Mountain West regular season title. If you blinked you missed 3 touchdowns by Fresno State in the 1st quarter and you knew Air Force would have a tough time coming back.
    But to me the big "Ouch" came in the 4th quarter. The Bulldogs had built a big lead and on a 4th quarter drive used two defensive players to run the football. Then they ran the "Fumblerooski" followed by coming out in a wishbone formation, and throwing a halfback pass off of it for a first down. It had all the earmarks of Tim Deruyter taking a shot at Troy Calhoun. Deruyter is Fresno States head coach. He graduated form the Air Force Academy in 1986 and spent several seasons as Defensive Coordinator under Troy Calhoun. After Deruyter left to take the Defensive Coordinator job with Texas A&M there seemed to be a falling out between he and Calhoun. Look, you can't blame anybody for wanting to move up to a bigger program, especially when that program doubles your paycheck. And Deruyter wanted to be a head coach. You get those jobs by moving around the country and coaching at larger schools. Calhoun, when asked last week about Deruyter, talked more about the guy he replaced, Pat Hill. There is friction between Calhoun and Deruyter despite what both may say about the relationship. So to see Fresno State run Fumblerooski, and then line up in the wishbone and throw a halfback pass was, in my opinion, Deruyter taking a shot at Calhoun. I like both men, and Deruyter could not say enough good things leading up to the game about how much Calhoun has helped him in his career. But it was an odd way to end Saturdays game. And Calhoun won't forget.

Bowl Eligible, but Bowl Worthy?

    Air Force has made it to a bowl. Following their 21-7 win over Hawaii the Falcons were invited to, and accepted, an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl December 29th in  Fort Worth Texas against a team yet to be named. Air Force sits at 6-5 pending their final regular season game this weekend at Fresno State. Its been an up and down year for Air Force, between injuries, and turnovers, and their sometimes great, and sometimes less than aveage play. I've always had a filter called "Bowl Worthy." Plenty of teams can qualify for a bowl but are they "Bowl Worthy?" I think you can argue both for and against Air Force, but at the end of the day, the fact is, there are 35 bowls, and you need 70 teams to play in them. Air Force has hit
the requirement set out by the NCAA to play in a bowl ,and have received an invite. I also think some circumstances rise above others, and in this case the Falcons are a great fit for the Armed Forces Bowl. Certainly the theme of the bowl and the week are reasons to invite Air Force. And the Falcons do an amazing job of selling tickets to the game. They hold the Armed Forces record for tickets sold by one team. That will always make you bowl worthy, in the eyes of the men and women with loud sportscoats representing their bowls. And with this being the 10th anniversary of the game, the Falcons justly were offered an invitation to play in Fort Worth. On the field the Falcons are not boring, and they have kept it interesting for everybody. It should be no different in late December in Fort Worth.

What is Wrong?

      9 turnovers in the last two weeks. No big plays. The Air Force offense is in a big time rut, and time is running out to steer out of it. Saturdays 28-9 loss to San  Diego State was another reminder the Falcon offense is suffering. Here are some chilling stats from Saturday:

4 Turnovers
1 missed extra point
1 missed field goal
2 missed 4th down conversions (which are just about the same as a turnover)

    Air Force looked good early, scoring on its first drive. But then the mistakes began, and continued, and San Diego State was very gracious in accepting them.
    The Falcon defense wasn't bad, and got two turnovers of their own. But this team is hurting right now in a number of different areas. As I said Saturday the Falcons have seen the enemy, and its them.
    There are two games left. The first, this Friday night in the last home game (senior Night) vs Hawaii. The Warriors have had a long year under first year head coach Norm Chow. This may be the best chance for a Falcon win and a 6th victory which means bowl eligibility. The last game of the season is at Fresno State and won't be easy. So the Falcons have to win Friday if they hope to go to a 6th consecutive bowl. But before anything else happens, they have to look hard at the offense and all the self destructive errors its made. If the Falcons aren't careful, they could be home this December.

Critical Game

   When was the last time Air Force played a meaningful conference football game in November? According to Head Coach Troy Calhoun it has not happened-until now. Saturday the Falcons are at San Diego State. Both teams have 1 conference loss, and the loser is out of the Mountain West title race. Perhaps its a bit surprising the Falcons find themselves here in November a half game out of first place because of their up and down season. But a win, and an ultimate Conference Championship would ease the pain of losing to both Army and Navy for the first time since 2005.
   The standings show San Diego State and Fresno State at 5-1, while Air Force and Boise State are 4-1. For the Falcons its very simple-win out against the Aztecs, Hawaii and Fresno State and at the worst they are Co-Champions with Boise St or win the title outright. The Broncos still have Hawaii, Colorado State and Nevada on their schedule. Air Force and Boise State don't play this year, and the Mountain West does not break first place ties.
   But for the Falcons San Diego State is a very large hurdle. The Aztecs won last week in Boise and have been rolling. Their defense is giving up less than 130 yards a game on the ground, and has been excellent since the first of October. Their offense has been mostly powered by running backs Walter Kazee and Adam Muema, and an opportunistic passing game with backup Adam Dingwall. Their starter Rayna Katz was lost for the season with an ankle injury against Nevada. I don't think San Diego State knows how good they can be. They have really come on and played lights out, especially with on-the-road wins at Nevada and last week in Boise. Their head coach Rocky Long has faced the Falcons for a number of years and at times has slowed the Air Force offense. I believe for an Air Force win, this game has to be all about the Falcons. Look, last Saturdays loss against Army was the worst I have seen the Falcons play in a long long time. They were dominated in every area. So in Saturdays game in San Diego Air Force has to play up to its capabilities. This offense is electric and must play that way. Cody Getz has to again look like the best running back in America. The offensive line must play like they did against Nevada. The defensive can't be pushed around like they were at Army. The linebackers have to fill gaps and make plays behind the line of scrimmage. The secondary has to cover guys tight, and perhaps play a lot of man to man, so the front 7 can slow down the Aztecs rushing attack. and Parker Herrington has to be the  Parker Herrington of  2011. Its all about the Falcons Saturday. Win this weekend and you'll forget your bowl eligible, because the Falcons
will play for a conference title Thanksgiving weekend. Air Force has to get back to being Air Force.

Domination

   Domination.......That's the only way to describe what Army did to Air Force Saturday in West Point. Their 41-21 win was not that close. The Black Knights played their best game of the year, mauling the Falcons in every department, including coaching. That will happen once in a while, but what was so perplexing is why this game? Air Force had so much to play for, with bowl eligibility sealed with a victory. Instead Army came out with urgency and took the Falcons to the woodshed. Its a reminder that when service academies meet it doesn't matter what the records are. If Army plays that way against Navy in early December,  the Black Knights will have the Commander in Chiefs trophy for the first time in forever.
   It was a long plane ride home for the team. And the loss begs the question? Can Air Force recover from it? Its the first time since 2005 they lost to both Army and Navy in the same year. And there is so much to play for, because the Falcons are still in the thick of the Mountain West conference race, thanks to San Diego States win Boise St. Saturday night. The Falcons play at San Diego this weekend. More on that game later this week.

Army

   My favorite Air Force road trip comes every two years when the Falcons play Army at West Point. The campus is gorgeous, the stadium beautiful in a throwback kind of way, and the scenery is spectacular. Air Force likes it too because the Falcons have won 7 straight in Upstate New York. But those games have not been easy and Saturdays contest sets up as another struggle.
   Last year Army came to the Springs and led 14-0 at halftime WITHOUT starting quarterback Trent Steelman. He's healthy this year and is excellent at both running, and operating the Black Knights option attack. Also in the backfield is Raymond Maples, a punishing back who runs hard between the tackles. And that's what Army does is rush the football. They lead the nation in that category. Their hope Saturday against the Falcons is to keep the ball away from Connor Dietz, Cody Getz and company. That's their best chance to win. Hold the football and go on long offensive drives thus shortening the game. The Falcon defensive has played better the last several weeks. They need to force Army into some 3rd and long situations. They won't stop the Black Knights, but if they slow them enough (like they did Nevada last week) that should be good enough. The Air Force offense steamrolled Nevada last Friday Night. They meet a very very young Army team who has stopped NO ONE this year. If the Falcons start slow, don't worry, they'll get moving by the 2nd quarter, So expect a game with a lot of points and some big plays.
   Injury update: Troy Calhoun told KVOR Thursday morning he expects running back Cody Getz to play. He's been out with an ankle injury. And cornerback Stephon Batts should play as well. He went out of the Nevada game with an undisclosed injury.
   Watch the game and turn down the TV volume to get your hometown coverage, beginning Saturday morning at 10 on Colorado's 740 KVOR.