Air Force Academy
Notre Dame
Falcons Can't Control Fighting Irish
10/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct 20, 2002
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - This time, it was Notre Dame's offense that made the big plays. The defense wasn't too shabby, either.
Ryan Grant ran for 190 yards and a touchdown, and the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish stuffed the nation's top rushing team, beating Air Force 21-14 Saturday night to remain unbeaten.
Notre Dame won the battle of two of college football's biggest surprises by taking advantage of its size up front, giving Air Force its first loss of the season.
"Our young men executed that scheme flawlessly," Irish coach Tyrone Willingham said.
After relying on their defense the first six games, the Irish gained a season-high 447 yards behind linemen that were up to 60 pounds heavier than Air Force's.
Notre Dame entered the game with the nation's fifth-worst offense at 293 yards a game, but at 7-0 the Irish are off to their best start since opening the 1993 season with 10 straight wins.
The Irish can't let up now; they play at Florida State next Saturday.
"Since we've got a late-night flight, they don't have much time to celebrate," Willingham said. "We'll get right to work on Florida State."
Air Force (6-1), playing in front of a record crowd of 56,409, couldn't keep Notre Dame's defenders out of the backfield and wasn't able to get around the speedy Irish on the outside.
The No. 18 Falcons finished with just 104 yards rushing, 235 below their average.
Notre Dame dominated most of the way, totaling 199 more yards than Air Force in the first half. But the Irish allowed the Falcons to stay in it with three fumbles and two missed field goals by Nicholas Setta.
Carlyle Holiday fumbled on Notre Dame's first drive when he was sacked by Cameron Hodge, then he put the ball on the ground again when he was blindsided by Jon Hicks on a run up the middle.
Air Force didn't capitalize on the first fumble, but Marchello Graddy returned the second one 21 yards for the game's first score.
Notre Dame led 14-7 at halftime on touchdown runs by Holiday and Grant, but Air Force quickly tied it after Sean Rodgers stripped Vontez Duff on the second-half kickoff. Kenny Smith recovered at the Notre Dame 16, and Chance Harridge scored six plays later on a 1-yard sneak.
Setta pushed a 41-yard attempt wide right in the second quarter, and he missed left on a 36-yarder in the third.
Notre Dame took a 21-14 lead midway through the third on a 1-yard sneak by Holiday, his second touchdown of the game. He also scored on a 53-yard run after being flushed from the pocket.
Notre Dame allowed a season-high 420 yards in a 14-6 victory over Pittsburgh last week, but in this game it stopped Air Force by keying on Harridge.
The Irish consistently had two players in Harridge's face immediately after he made the first fake on the option, then kept the running backs from reaching the corner on the outside.
Harridge came in averaging 102 yards and 15 points a game, but had just 31 yards on 13 carries. He also was just 6-for-14 for 57 yards passing, and he had a pass intercepted by Shane Walton in the third quarter. It was Walton's sixth pick of the season.
Air Force had just 57 yards rushing on 23 carries in the first half.
Offensively, the Irish easily sealed off the smaller Falcons at the line of scrimmage, giving Grant up to 4 and 5 yards of cushion before he reached any tacklers.
Grant had 129 yards on 15 carries in the first half, and he scored on an 18-yard run late in the second quarter through a huge hole up the middle.
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
