Air Force Travels to No. 23 California
9/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2002
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THE RECORDS: Air Force is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference. California is 3-0 overall.
LAST WEEK: Air Force was idle. California defeated 15th-ranked Michigan State, 46-22, on the road.
STREAKS: Air Force has won three consecutive games dating back to last season. The Falcons have won two straight conference games dating back to last year. California has won four consecutive games dating back to last season.
NEXT WEEK: Air Force returns to MWC play by traveling to Utah. The game is on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. in Rice-Eccles Stadium and will be broadcast by ESPN Regional. California opens Pac-10 play at home vs. Washington State at 2 p.m.
TELEVISION: None.
RADIO: Locally on KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs and AM 950 The Fan in Denver. Jim Arthur (play-by-play), Irv Brown (color) and Ben Martin (color) call the action. They are joined by KVOR's Jay Ritchie for the pre- and post-game shows.
THE SERIES: California leads the series, 4-1. The Bears are 2-0 at AFA and 2-1 at home. The week will be the first meeting between the schools since 1977. The team's first played in 1961.
THE LAST MEETING: California defeated Air Force, 24-14, in Berkeley in 1977.
THE COACHES: Air Force is coached by Fisher DeBerry (Wofford, 1960), who is in his 19th season. He has a 143-78-1 career record at the Academy. California is coached by Jeff Tedford (Fresno State, 1983), who is in his first season. Tedford became Cal's 32nd head coach after four successful seasons as offensive coordinator at Oregon. He is 3-0.
AIR FORCE TRAVEL PLANS: Air Force will depart Colorado Springs via charter aircraft on Friday, Sept. 20. Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Troy Garnhart may be reached at (719) 440-6134.
CALIFORNIA CONNECTIONS: Air Force has several players from California. They are Anthony Butler (Newark), Charles Bueker (Camarillo), Tyler Hess (Canyon Lake), Tyler and Nathan Terrazone (LaCrescenta), Jon Hicks (Los Angeles), Wes Crawley (Sacramento) and Larry Duncan (San Diego). Air Force assistant coach Vic Shealy (secondary) was the head coach at Azusa Pacific from 1995-98. He led the school to the national championship in 1998 before coming to the Academy.
THE AIR FORCE / CALIFORNIA SERIES: Air Force and California meet for the first time since 1977. The Bears lead the overall series, 4-1, including a 2-1 mark at home and 2-0 record at Air Force. The teams first played in 1961 in California. The Falcons won the game, 15-14. Cal has won the four games since.
TWO OF NATION'S TOP SCORING TEAMS TO PLAY: Air Force and California are two of the nation's top scoring teams. The Falcons rank eighth nationally in scoring with a 45.0 average. California ranks second with a 50.0 average. Kansas State leads the nation in scoring this week with a 59.7 average. Miami (Fla) is third at 49.3, Oklahoma is fourth at 47.3 and Hawaii ranks fifth at 46.5.
AIR FORCE'S LAST GAME: Air Force tasted sweet revenge as the Falcons defeated New Mexico, 38-31, in overtime in Falcon Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the season. More importantly, the victory snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lobos and put the Falcons atop the Mountain West Conference standings with a 1-0 mark. The Falcons pulled out all the stops for the win, as the team scored on a halfback pass and a tackle eligible play. Senior Leotis Palmer had his best day as a Falcon in the win. He opened the scoring with a 54-yard run to give AFA a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The team's exchanged field goals before Casey Kelly tied the score at 10-10 with a one-yard run early in the second quarter. Air Force then went to the back pages of the playbook. Palmer connected with Ricky Amezaga on a 55-yard halfback pass and quarterback Chance Harridge hit tackle Blane Neufeld with a three-yard scoring toss to give the Falcons a 24-10 lead. Just as it appeared the Falcons had taken control of the game, disaster struck. New Mexico blocked a punt and took over at the Air Force six. Kelly scored three plays later on a four-yard run. Following a three-and-out offensive possession, Kelly struck again. This time he hit Quincy Wright with a 48-yard scoring toss to tie the score at halftime. Harridge put the Falcons on top, 31-24, in the third quarter with a one-yard run to cap a 15-play, 80-yard drive. The Lobos tied it when Kelly hit Joe Manning on a 12-yard pass to cap an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive with 11:03 remaining in the game. UNM linebacker Nick Speegle forced the overtime period later in the fourth when he intercepted a Harridge pass with under a minute to play inside Lobo territory. Air Force went back to old fashioned option football in the overtime, keeping the ball on the ground and using the fullback. Steve Massie, who started the first game of his career, scored the first touchdown of his career on Air Force's first possession in the extra period. The defense then took over, forcing UNM into a fourth and long situation. Pressure on the quarterback from Marchello Graddy forced an errant pass that Joel Buelow knocked down to secure the win for the Falcons. Palmer led the offense with a career-high 125 yards rushing. He also hit two-of-two passes for 70 yards and a score. Harridge added 57 yards rushing and Massie 55 for the Falcons, who finished with 360 total yards. Kelly led New Mexico with 213 yards on 19 of 31 passing. Wright rushed for a game-high 145 yards.
FALCONS IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: Air Force is 20-4 in its last 24 non-conference games dating back to 1997. Two of the losses have come at the hands of nationally-ranked teams. Air Force fell to eighth-ranked Notre Dame, 34-31, in overtime in 1999 and last season to third-ranked Oklahoma, 44-3, in Falcon Stadium. AFA head coach Fisher DeBerry is 57-26 during his career in non-conference games.
ROAD WARRIORS: Despite a 2-4 road record last season, Air Force has been a tough out on the road recently. The Falcons are 30-18 in the last 48 road games, including bowls, since 1994. Air Force is 20-12 in the last 32 regular season conference road games. AFA has won 18 of the last 29 games on the road dating back to 1997.
AIR FORCE VS. THE PAC-10: Air Force is 24-30-2 all-time vs. teams in the Pac-10 conference. This week is the team's first meeting against a team from the Pac-10 since beating Washington, 31-21, in 1999.
AIR FORCE FOLLOWING AN OPEN WEEK: Air Force is 13-10-1 under head coach Fisher DeBerry following an open week. The Falcons are 4-3 at home and 9-7-1 on the road. AFA has won two straight and five of the last six games following and off week dating back to 1998. Air Force defeated San Diego State, 45-21, last season following its only open week.
PICKING THE FALCONS: Air Force was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference by the league's media at the 2002 media day in San Diego, Calif. The Falcons received one first place vote and 64 points. Colorado State was picked to finish first, followed by Utah, Brigham Young and UNLV. A closer look at the preseason MWC poll follows below. AFA had no players selected to the preseason first-team all-conference squad. In the other national polls, Air Force was not picked to finish higher than sixth. The breakdown follows: Athlon (6), Lindy's (6), Sporting News (6), Street & Smith's (6), CBS Sportline (8), Blue Ribbon (7), College Football News.com (8).
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S TROPHY: This season marks the 32nd year of Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition between Air Force, Army and Navy. Air Force has dominated the competition, with 15 trophy titles. Army has won it six times and Navy five. The Falcons have a 41-19-0 all-time CIC record and have won 10 consecutive games. This year's senior class at Air Force is 6-0 in CIC games and is attempting to become the fourth class overall and third consecutive (1992, 2000, 2001) in school history never to fall to Army or Navy. Last season, the Falcons defeated Navy, 24-18, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., and beat Army, 34-24, in Falcon Stadium to secure the title for the fifth consecutive year. Fisher DeBerry has led the Falcons to 13 of the 15 titles and has a 30-6 CIC record. The Falcons have been in possession of the Trophy for all but one year (Army, 1996) since 1989.
2-0 START A GOOD SIGN: Air Force's 2-0 start to the 2002 season is a good sign if history repeats itself. This year is the 12th time in the Fisher DeBerry era (1984-) that the team has opened 2-0. In the previous 11 times, Air Force has never had a losing record, has gone to a post-season bowl game eight times and won eight or more games eight times. The team has also won 10 or more games four times. AFA has averaged just under nine wins per year during the span.
AIR FORCE 13TH NATIONALLY SINCE 1997: Air Force ranks second in the Mountain West Conference and 12th nationally since 1997 in total wins. The Falcons have a 45-18 record (.714). During the last five years, Air Force has posted seasons with nine (2000), 10 (1997) and 12 (1998) wins. Air Force posted the first back-to-back 10-win seasons in program history in 1997-98 with 10 and 12 wins, respectively.
REBOUNDING: Air Force has never had back-to-back non-winning seasons in the Fisher DeBerry era (1984-present). In fact, the Falcons have rebounded strongly following down seasons under DeBerry. The Falcons have averaged eight wins a year following a down year. The Falcons followed up a 5-7 year in 1988 with an 8-4-1 mark in 1989. The team then followed a 4-8 mark in 1993 with an 8-4 record in 1994. Last year, the Falcons finished the season 6-6 which is just the third non-winning season under DeBerry.
SCORING BIG: Air Force's offense has been high-powered the last three years since Chuck Petersen took over as offensive coordinator. The Falcons closed the 2000 season with five consecutive 30-point scoring efforts and had eight games of 30 or more overall. Last season, the string continued with seven games of 30 points or more. The offense is off and running this season with games of 52 and 38 points. Petersen has led the Falcons to 17 30-plus scoring efforts in his 26 games as offensive coordinator.
EIGHT AND COUNTING: Air Force has posted eight consecutive seasons at .500 or better. Air Force's last losing season was in 1993 when the team went 4-8. During the last eight years, Air Force has averaged 8.1 wins per season and has a .676 winning percentage. The school is 67-32 overall.
BRING ON OVERTIME: Air Force has been very successful playing in overtime games since the format was added to college football in 1996. Air Force is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Falcon Stadium during the extra period. The team is a perfect 3-0 in conference overtime games. All five games have been decided in the first extra period.
AIR FORCE LEADS THE NATION IN RUSHING: Air Force leads the nation in rushing again this week. The Falcons are averaging 368.5 yards per game. AFA opened the season with a 476 yard effort vs. Northwestern. The team then rushed for 261 yards vs. New Mexico. AFA won its 18th conference rushing title last season with a 273.2 per-game average. The Falcons ranked third nationally. Air Force has been one of the premier rushing teams in college football over the years. Since Fisher DeBerry took over in 1984, AFA has finished among the nation's top 10 17 times and the top five 14 times.
BLOCKED KICKS: Air Force is one of the premier kick-blocking teams in college football. The Falcons got the 2002 season off to a great start vs. Northwestern, recording their first block of the season when Nate Allen blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for his first-career touchdown. Air Force has blocked 76 kicks since 1990 which ranks second nationally to Virginia Tech, who had 80. During the 1990s, Virginia Tech led the nation with 62 while Air Force was second with 59. AFA has blocked at least three kicks in 12 consecutive years.
The Falcons blocked seven kicks last season and tied a school record with three blocked kicks against Tennessee Tech. Senior Justin Pendry blocked two field goal attempts while Brandon Brown added a blocked punt for the first block of his career. Pendry added a blocked extra point against Navy and finished his career with 3.5 blocks. Allen recorded his first-career block against Army when he deflected a punt. Senior Zach Johnson picked up his first career block on a field goal attempt vs. Colorado State. He added his second-career block with a PAT vs. Utah.
FALCON STADIUM ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST: Mel Kiper, Jr. selected Falcon Stadium as the seventh most scenic venue to watch a college football game in a recent column for ESPN.com. He selected the stadium because of the view of the mountains, flyovers, cadet march-on, parachuters and the Falcon Fan Fest.
LIGHTS IN FALCON STADIUM: Permanent lights were installed in Falcon Stadium in August. Musco Lighting from Oskaloosa, Iowa, installed the lights at a cost of $497,140. Air Force Academy Athletic Association funds, not taxpayers, were used. The project includes 168 lighting fixtures at 2000 watts each. The total wattage of the project is 386,400. Approximately five miles of electrical cable and wire were utilized in the project. The operating cost to run the lights is $19.92 per hour. The Academy used to spend between $50,000 and $60,000 per week to rent lights.
FULLBACK RUSHING GAME: Air Force is tough to beat when the fullback rushing game is working. Air Force is 32-7 since 1990 when the position rushes for 100 or more yards. The fullbacks had their best effort last season at Hawaii with 170 yards. Dan Shaffer led the way with 101 yards. Despite the fullback's success, the Falcons lost for the first time since 1995. The loss snaped an 11-game winning streak.
SCHLEGEL NAMED TO FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM: ILB Anthony Schlegel was named to the third-team freshman All-American team by The Sporting News last season. Schlegel started the last six games for Air Force last season and recorded 48 total tackles, including four for a loss. The Dallas, Texas, native was named Mountain West Conference player of the week in the team's final game against Utah. He recorded 11 total tackles. None were bigger than the one he made on the game's final play when he tackled Utah's Lance Rice at the two yard line to secure a 38-37 win for the Falcons.
PALMER WINS MR. INTENSITY AWARD: Senior Leotis Palmer won the team's Mr. Intensity Award which annually goes to the player that worked the hardest in the weight room during the off-season. Palmer recorded career bests in bench press (380), squat (500) and strength index (782). His strength index is the third highest ever at the Academy. Palmer also set a new team record with a 42-inch vertical jump.
CRAWLEY NAMED TO EAST-WEST SHRINE GAME: Air Force senior defensive back Wes Crawley has been selected to play in the 78th Annual East-West Football Game in 2003. The game will be played Jan. 11, 2003, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, Calif. Crawley is the 17th Falcon to be selected to play in the post-season all-star game. He is the first defensive back selected since All-American Carlton McDonald in 1992.
DEBERRY HONORED: Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry was honored last season with the State Farm National Coach of Distinction Award. The award is given annually to a coach who contributes to his university and community. DeBerry has donated his time through the years to the March of Dimes, the Ronald McDonald House and to the Salvation Army.
