Air Force Academy
North Texas
Falcons Soar Past North Texas, 34-21
9/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 13, 2003
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Chance Harridge threw three touchdown passes as Air Force beat North Texas 34-21 on Saturday to improve to 3-0.
Harridge completed 10 of 15 passes for a season-high 156 yards and came within 13 passing yards of his career high.
J.P. Waller caught two touchdown passes for Air Force, which entered the game with the nation's third-best rushing offense.
The Falcons still managed 271 yards on the ground, slightly less than their 325-yard average in the first two games, and scored 28 straight points after falling behind 7-6
Scott Hall was 9-for-15 for 156 yards with a touchdown pass and ran for another score for North Texas (1-2), which played without leading rusher Patrick Cobbs. He was held out because of a bruised thigh. His replacement, Kevin Moore, managed only 33 yards on 14 carries for the Mean Green.
North Texas took it's only lead, 7-6, on a 3-yard run by Moore in the final minute of the first quarter. Harridge found Waller alone in the left corner of the end zone for 20-yard touchdown pass on Air Force's second possession, but the Falcons failed to convert the 2-point conversion
Air Force took advantage of excellent field position and a defensive stand on fourth-and-inches to score three touchdowns in the second quarter.
Following a short punt by Brad Kadlubar, the Falcons drove 41 yards in five plays, capped by an 18-yard pass from Harridge to Darnell Stephens with 7:51 left
North Texas faced a fourth-and-inches from its own 39 on its next possession when Dennis Polland stopped quarterback Scott Hall short. Six plays later, Matt Ward scored on a 15-yard reverse to put the Falcons ahead 20-7.
The Falcons got the ball back again at their own 47 with 1:26 left in the half. Harridge needed 48 seconds to score again. Harridge found Waller between two defenders in the end zone on an 11-yard pass as Air Force took a 28-7 lead into halftime.
Air Force managed only field goals of 25 and 42 yards from Joey Ashcroft in the second half. Hall connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Andy Blount for North Texas and had a 7-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
