Air Force Hosts Service Academy Foe Navy
9/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 30, 2002
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THE RECORDS: Air Force is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference. Navy is 1-3 overall.
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.
LAST WEEK: Air Force posted the school's fourth largest come-from-behind win with a 30-26 win at Utah. The Falcons overcame a 26-6 halftime deficit to win the game. Navy lost 43-17 at home against Duke.
STREAKS: Air Force has won five consecutive games dating back to last season. The Falcons have won three straight conference games dating back to last year. The five-game streak is the longest at the Academy since 1998. Navy has lost three straight.
NEXT WEEK: Air Force returns to Mountain West Conference play by hosting BYU on Saturday, Oct. 12. Navy hosts Rice on Saturday, Oct. 12.
THE SERIES: Air Force leads the series, 24-10, overall. The Falcons are 13-3 at home, 7-5 at Navy and 4-2 in neutral site games. AFA has won five straight and seven of the last eight games in the series. The team's first played in 1960 in Baltimore, Md. The Midshipmen won the game, 25-2.
THE LAST MEETING: Air Force defeated Navy, 24-18, in Washington, D.C.
THE COACHES: Air Force is coached by Fisher DeBerry (Wofford, 1960), who is in his 19th season. He has a 145-78-1 career record at the Academy. Navy is coached by Paul Johnson (Western Carolina, 1979), who is in his first season. He has led the Midshipmen to a 1-3 record. Johnson has a career record of 63-13 in his fifth season.
THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Air Force ranks 25th nationally in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The Falcons are 27th in the Associated Press writers poll. This week marks the first time since the final poll in 1998 that the Falcons have been nationally ranked.
THE AIR FORCE / NAVY SERIES: Air Force and Navy meet for the 35th time. The Falcons hold a 24-10 overall series lead. Air Force is 13-3 at home, 7-5 at Navy and 4-2 in neutral site games. AFA has won five straight and 18 of the last 20 games in the series. Navy's last win in the series came in 1996, 20-17, in Falcon Stadium.
TWO OF NATION'S BEST MEET THIS WEEK: Air Force and Navy sport two of the nation's top rushing offenses. Air Force ranks second nationally in rushing with a 305.0 per-game average. The Midshipmen rank just behind Air Force in the third spot with a 288.5 average.
LAST YEAR VS. NAVY: Air Force defeated service academy rival Navy, 24-18, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. The game was typical of service academy football -- hard hitting, close and emotional. Navy got on the board first behind a 54 yard pass from Brian Madden to Tony Lane to make it 6-0. The Falcons took over momentum in the game when Justin Pendry blocked the extra point attempt. Anthony Butler then put the Falcons in front, 7-6, on his first-career touchdown run (23 yards). Following a David Hills 23-yard field goal, Air Force quarterback Keith Boyea scored on a 43-yard run to put the Falcons ahead for good, 15-9. Boyea capped the TD run with a two-point conversion. Kicker Brooks Walters added a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Falcons an 18-9 halftime lead. Navy opened the third quarter with another Hills field goal to pull to within 18-12. Halfback Leotis Palmer answered with his first touchdown of the season on a 14-yard run to make it 24-12. The Falcons looked to be going in for a final score to put the game away late in the fourth quarter when Boyea fumbled deep in Navy territory. The Midshipmen responded with an 80-yard drive to make it 24-18 with 3:27 left. Following an Air Force punt, safety Adam Hanes put the game away with an interception at midfield for Air Force. Boyea led the Falcons with 118 yards rushing. Palmer added 65 yards while fullback James Burnes chipped in with a career-best 81 yards. Boyea also passed well, hitting seven of 11 passes for 78 yards. Defensively, Andy Rule led the way with a career-best 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and a quarterback sack. Wes Crawley added a career-best 10 tackles while Hanes chipped in with eight.
THE LAST IN FALCON STADIUM: Air Force and Navy played a typical service academy football game. The Falcons won the hard-fought contest, 27-13, in Falcon Stadium. Nate Beard put the Falcons on the board in the first quarter with a three-yard run to give AFA a 7-0 lead. Navy answered with a 44-yard field goal from David Hills to cut the lead to 7-3. Cee Harris gave Navy its only lead of the game, 10-7, with a five-yard TD run in the second quarter. Quarterback Mike Thiessen then hit Ryan Fleming with a 61-yard pass to set up a one-yard TD run by Thiessen to give AFA a 14-10 lead. Dave Adams closed the first half with a 38-yard field goal to give AFA a 17-10 halftime lead. Navy cut the lead to 17-13 on another Hills field goal before Air Force controlled the fourth quarter to secure the win. Adams added a 40-yard field goal while Beard scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run to make up the final margin. Defense dominated the day, as Air Force held Navy to 248 yards. The Midshipmen held Air Force to just 236 total yards, including 135 rushing. C.J. Zanotti led the Falcon defense with a career-high 19 tackles, four tackles for loss, a quarterback sack and two fumble recoveries. Beard led the offense with 45 yards rushing. Thiessen added 101 yards passing.
AIR FORCE LAST WEEK: Air Force saved its best for last. The Falcons rallied from a 26-6 halftime deficit to defeat Mountain West Conference foe Utah, 30-26, in Salt Lake City. Air Force's first half was one the team would like to forget. After taking a 6-0 lead behind a Chance Harridge touchdown run, the extra point was missed. Utah answered with the first of three Brandon Warfield touchdown runs to take a 7-0 lead. Warfield's second scoring run gave the team a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter. Utah added a safety when Robert Barkers' punt was blocked and recovered by AFA in the endzone. Warfield added his third TD run and Bryan Borreson kicked a field goal with five seconds left to give the Utes their commanding lead. The Falcons were held to just 116 total yards in the first half while turning the ball over twice. Warfield looked to be on his way to a record day, collecting 149 yards rushing in the first half. The second half was all Air Force. The Air Force defense held Utah to just 57 total yards and forced four turnovers while the offense rolled up 24 points. Harridge opened the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Don Clark to cut the lead to 26-13. Joey Ashcroft added a 22 yard field goal to make it 26-16. Anthony Butler put the Falcons within stricking distance in the fourth quarter with a six yard scoring run to cut the lead to 26-23 with 10:24 remaining in the game. Harridge and Clark sealed the win with their second touchdown pass connection to make up the final margin with just 17 seconds left. The touchdown pass capped a nine-play, 60-yard drive. The Falcons finished with 287 total yards, including 99 passing. Harridge led the Falcons with 75 yards rushing, while Butler chipped in with 56. Harridge also hit six of 16 passes for 99 yards. Clark finished the game with three catches for a career-high 54 yards. Utah finished the game with 290 total yards, including 181 rushing. Warfield led the Utes with 193 yards on 30 carries. Lance Rice led the team in passing with 109 yards on 11-of-19 passing. Linebacker Anthony Schlegel led the Falcon defense with a career-high 17 total tackles. He also had two tackles for loss and a quarterback sack. Larry Duncan added 11 tackles and an interception while Marchello Graddy chipped in with 10 tackles.
THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Air Force is 25th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and 27th in the Associated Press writers poll this week. The national ranking is the first for Air Force since the final poll of 1998 when Air Force was 10th in the coaches poll and 13th in the AP poll.
FALCONS IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: Air Force is 21-4 in its last 25 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 2000 and last season to third-ranked Oklahoma, 44-3, in Falcon Stadium. AFA head coach Fisher DeBerry is 58-26 during his career in non-conference games.
4-0 START A SIGN OF GOOD THINGS: This season marks the fifth time in the Fisher DeBerry era that the Falcons have opened the season 4-0. In the previous four seasons, Air Force has averaged 10 wins per season and gone to a post-season bowl game every year. This is the team's first 4-0 start since 1997.
ROAD WARRIORS: Air Force has been tough on the road recently. Including this season's 2-0 road mark, the Falcons are 32-18 in the last 50 road games, including bowls, since 1994. Air Force is 22-12 in the last 33 regular season conference road games. AFA has won 20 of the last 31 games on the road dating back to 1997.
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.
AIR FORCE 12TH NATIONALLY SINCE 1997: Air Force ranks second in the Mountain West Conference and 12th nationally since 1997 in total wins. The Falcons have a 47-18 record (.723). During the last six 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, 38 and 30 points so far. Petersen has led the Falcons to 18 30-plus scoring efforts in his 28 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 69-32 overall.
DEFENSE MUCH IMPROVED: The new Air Force defensive system (3-3-5) has paid off big for the Falcons. The unit is much improved this season over 2001. The most important category is scoring defense. AFA allowed 32.2 points per game last year. This year, opponents are scoring just 20.2 per contest which ranks second in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force gave up an average of 452.7 yards per game last year. This season, that figure stands at 302.0 which leads the conference. A closer look at AFA's defensive rankings in the conference follows below. Twelve different Falcons have combined for 24 tackles for loss. Senior Eric Thompson leads the way with four for 13 yards. Seven different Falcons have combined for the team's nine quarterback sacks. Finally, 11 different players have combined for AFA's 21 pass deflections. Senior Wes Crawley leads the team with four. Crawley leads the MWC with two interceptions.
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 SECOND IN THE NATION IN RUSHING: Air Force ranks second in the nation in rushing this week with a 305.0 per-game average. This week is the first this season that AFA has not led the country. 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. Air Force has blocked three kicks this season (2 punts, FG). Nate Allen has two of the blocks with blocked punts vs. Northwestern and Utah. He earned MWC special teams player of the week honors for the block vs. Utah. He scored the first touchown of his career vs. Northwestern when he recovered his own block in the end zone. Allen is the active career leader on the team with three blocks, as he also blocked a punt last season vs. Army. Eric Thompson has AFA's other block this season, a field goal vs. Cal. He was named MWC special teams player of the week for his block. Air Force has blocked 78 kicks since 1990 which ranks second nationally to Virginia Tech, who has 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 13 consecutive years.
SCHLEGEL / ALLEN EARN PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: Linebacker Anthony Schlegel and defensive back Nate Allen earned Mountain West Conference defense and special teams player of the week honors, respectively, for their efforts vs. Utah Sept. 28. Schlegel recorded a career-high 17 tackles, including two tackles for loss and his first-career sack. He also had a pass breakup. His 17 tackles are the most by a Falcon since 1998. The honor is the second of Schlegel's career. Allen blocked a punt to earn the special teams honor which is the first of his career. The block is the second of the season for Allen and the third of his career.
FULLBACK RUSHING GAME: Air Force is tough to beat when the fullback rushing game is working. Air Force is 33-7 since 1990 when the position rushes for 100 or more yards. The fullbacks rushed for a season-high 139 yards at California in Air Force's 23-21 win. Steve Massie and Adam Cole each had their best days as Falcons. Massie rushed for a career-high 76 yards on 12 carries and had a career-long 45 yard run. Cole added a career-best 63 yards and a career-long 40 yard run. Cole entered the game with one carry for two yards on the year.
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.
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.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Air Force selected season captains this season. The entire team voted on the captains following spring drills. This year's captains are: senior Leotis Palmer (HB), senior Bryan Blew (QB), senior Tom Heier (HB), junior Jeff Overstreet (FS), junior Trevor Hightower (ILB) and sophomore Anthony Schlegel (ILB).
