Air Force Crushes Cal State Northridge, 55-6
9/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
AARON J. LOPEZ
AP Sports Writer
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- Martha Stewart's checkbook might not be this balanced. Mike Thiessen ran for 101 yards and was one of seven Air Force players to score touchdowns as the Falcons fell just short of the school record for total yards in a 55-6 victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
Attacking the inside and perimeter with equal success, Air Force used 16 rushers and had eight receivers catch passes en route to 698 total yards -- two short of the academy record.
"That's a lot of yards on offense right there," Thiessen said. "I think that just proves the depth we have on our offense. That might have been a little bit of a question mark coming into this game and into the season."
Air Force, which averaged 285.5 yards rushing last year, dominated on the ground despite having three first-time starters along the offensive line. The Falcons finished with 583 yards rushing, 63 shy of the school record.
"We just didn't really understand the speed it was going to come at us," Cal State linebacker Joseph Roberson said. "Practice can't really prepare you for what you're going to face when you step onto the field with a different-caliber athlete. That's the reality we had to face today."
Air Force's offensive output was second only to its 700 total yards in a 47-7 victory at UTEP in 1994, and the rushing yards ranked fourth in school history.
"I don't know what the stats were or anything, but it's good to know that we've got some balance," said halfback Scotty McKay, one of nine Falcons with at least 30 yards rushing.
Tuning up for next week's conference opener against Brigham Young, Air Force led 41-0 before Cal State Northridge scored on a 6-yard pass from Marcus Brady to Drew Amerson 10 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Cal State Northridge, a Division I-AA team out of the Big Sky Conference, has lost six straight games to Division I-A opponents. The last three losses have been by an average of 49 points.
"I really thought athletically with our receivers, our quarterback and our secondary, we'd match up with them very well," Cal State coach Jeff Kearin said. "I was really worried about us up front, and I think that came to reality."
Leading 27-0 at halftime, Air Force effectively put the game out of reach in the third quarter on Thiessen's 21-yard TD run and a 10-yard scoring run by his backup Keith Boyea less than five minutes later.
Third-string quarterback Bryan Blew also scored, diving in from the 1 in the fourth quarter.
"Obviously it feels good to win your opening game," Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said. "There were some things that we are going to have to work on to get ready for (BYU). WE know that we will be challenged a little more next week."
Air Force, which improved to 15-2 in openers under coach DeBerry, controlled the game from the outset, building a 27-point lead by halftime.
The Falcons had 248 yards rushing at the half and held Northridge to 64 total yards and two first downs in the first 30 minutes.
"It's a low point for Northridge offense certainly since I've been here," Kearin said. "We could get no rhythm. We couldn't complete balls. We'd even get a ball off and then we'd bobble it or fumble it."
Qualario Brown had a 30-yard touchdown run, Dave Adams kicked a 27-yard field goal and Nate Beard added a 1-yard scoring plunge to put Air Force up 17-0 in the first quarter.
Bert Giovanetti took a pitch 22-yard untouched for another score in the second quarter, and Adams' 45-yard field goal made it 27-0.
CS Northridge 0 0 0 6 -- 6 Air Force 17 10 14 14 -- 55 First Quarter AFA--Q.Brown 30 run (Adams kick), 10:51 AFA--FG Adams 27, 3:35 AFA--Beard 1 run (Adams kick), 2:39 Second Quarter AFA--Giovanetti 22 run (Adams kick), 10:15 AFA--FG Adams 45, 1:58 Third Quarter AFA--Thiessen 21 run (Adams kick), 7:11 AFA--Boyea 10 run (Adams kick), 2:22 Fourth Quarter CSN--Amerson 6 pass from Brady (kick failed), 14:50 AFA--Kelley 12 run (Walters kick), 12:23 AFA--Blew 1 run (Walters kick), 4:52 A--50,166. ------ CSN AFA First downs 11 38 Rushes-yards 32-125 74-583 Passing 102 115 Comp-Att-Int 15-29-1 11-20-1 Return Yards 122 78 Punts-Avg. 9-48 4-42 Fumbles-Lost 4-2 1-0 Penalties-Yards 2-10 6-41 Time of Possession 24:43 35:17 ------ INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING--CS Northridge, Molock 9-81, Wright 9-26, Milton 4-15, Brady 9-2, Amerson 1-1. Air Force, Theissen 10-101, Becker 13-97, Kelley 10-65, Blew 3-56, Beard 5-50, Brown 3-43, Palmer 4-32, McKay 6-30, Giovanetti 2-30, Burns 5-29, Boyea 7-24, Fieberkorn 1-10, Danquah 1-7, Clark 1-4, Sargent 2-4, Brazier 1-1. PASSING--CS Northridge, Brady 15-29-1-102. Air Force, Theissen 7-12-0-75, Boyea 3-7-1-27, Blew 1-1-0-13. RECEIVING--CS Northridge, Amerson 9-52, Hackett 5-43, Rodriguez 1-7. Air Force, Fleming 2-25, Ireland 2-19, LaBasco 2-14, Jessop 1-16, Brown 1-15, Malin 1-10, Giovanetti 1-9, McKay 1-7.
