9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Post-Game Quotes
Air Force vs. South Carolina State (Sept. 1, 2007)
Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun
"Our kids were excited to play a game, which I think teams are anytime you play an opener. I was impressed with our energy and by and large, our execution. We have a great deal upon which we need to work, so we go right back out there on Monday and practice."
"I tell you this, walking down that tunnel, the spirit of this school is intoxicating. That's the cadet wing, that's the alumni that are here, and certainly the community of Colorado Springs, too. I love the crowd, I love the energy of the crowd. We're going to need that throughout the season. The crowd's got a way to give you a little bit of a boost, and this is a crowd that's going to be able to help us as we go throughout the season."
"We didn't convert one time when we got into the red zone, when we threw the pick, and that's one of the ones we've got to learn from. We've got to get points every time we're down inside the 20. The other time, we created a turnover on defense, when Carson (Bird) made a good play there. As good of field position as we had there, we had to convert that.
"By and large, we did some good things. The kickers kicked it well, which I think we all knew there was a chance that could happen throughout the year. There'll come points where (Ryan Harrison) will have to hit some key ones for us. Chad (Hall) has got a little spark to him, we need to get him involved in reverses and pitching him the ball once in awhile. Defensively, I was pleased with our effort. Overall, credit has to go to our players and assistant coaches, the whole group."
South CarolinaStateHead Coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough
We got a lot of work to do ... I thought we played pretty poorly on both sides of the ball ... We pretty much knew what they were going to do ... the stuff that we practiced was the stuff that they did ... Those guys came out and outplayed us and made plays in circumstances when we didn't make plays.
We are not quite there yet, and we got a lot of work to do and we'll see what happens when we get a little more experience.
After the first couple of series I thought we were going to be OK ... But they made an adjustment or two and tried to put a little pressure on us and I got to take my hat off to those guys ... they did a nice job. And we just kind of stuck around for the rest of the day.
Air Force Post-Game Notes
Vs. South Carolina State (Sept. 1, 2007)
Team Notes
- Air Force improved its consecutive games scoring streak to 169 games. The streak is the eighth longest active streak in the nation and second-best among teams in the Mountain West Conference (TCU, 176). Michigan leads the nation with a streak of 274.
- Air Force played its first game without stripes on its helmet since 1979. The Academy added stripes to the helmet in 1980 and they remained until this season.
- Air Force is using game captains this season for the first time since 1995. The team was represented by Garrett Rybak and Blaine Guenther for the South Carolina State game. The honorary team captain was David Hlatky, who is a 1989 graduate and a three-year letterwinner as an offensive lineman.
- Air Force recorded six sacks vs. SCSU. The team's single-game best last year was five vs. New Mexico. Players with sacks included: Jake Paulson with 1.5, John Rabold, Stephen Larson one (first of his career), Josh Clayton one and Hunter Altman, Chris Thomas and Ryan Kemp with a half sack each.
- Air Force's three touchdown drives in the first half all had at least 10 plays and took at least four minutes in length.
- Air Force snapped a four-game losing streak dating back to last season with the win over South Carolina State.
- Air Force won its first-ever game against a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with the win over South Carolina State.
- Air Force improved to 12-0 all-time against teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly knows as Division I-AA)
- Air Force improved to 31-19-2 all-time in season openers. The Falcons have won 11 consecutive home openers dating back to 1994 vs. Colorado State.
- Air Force's 31-point victory margin is its largest since defeated Army, 43-7, last season. The margin is the largest on opening day since beating Wofford, 49-0, in 2003.
Individual Notes
- Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun won his first game as a collegiate head coach. Calhoun, who is the sixth head coach in Academy history, is the fifth coach to win his opening game as Air Force head coach.
L.T Buck Shaw, 1956 at San Diego University W 46-0 Ben Martin, 1958 at Detroit W 37-6 Bill Parcells, 1978 at UTEP W 34-25 Ken Hatfield, 1979 vs. Tulsa L 7-24 Fisher DeBerry, 1984 vs. San Diego State W 34-16 Troy Calhoun, 2007 vs. South Carolina State W 34-3
- Senior WR-Z Chad Hall has now gone 115 touches (104 rushes, nine catches and two punt returns) without a fumble. His last fumble came on a pass play against Colorado State in 2006. His last rushing fumble was vs. Army in 2005. The rushing streak covers 14 games and 56 quarters.
- Air Force had seven players make their first-career start today.
- Offense: Keith Williams (LT), Chris Monson (RT), Scott Peeples (FB), Kip McCarthy (TB)
Defense: Hunter Altman (OLB), Chris Thomas (SS)
Special Teams: Ryan Harrison (PK/P)
- Offense: Keith Williams (LT), Chris Monson (RT), Scott Peeples (FB), Kip McCarthy (TB)
- Junior TE Keith Madsen made the first catch of his career on the team's first offensive drive of the game.
- Senior TB Kip McCarthy recorded career highs in every rushing category. McCarthy set a new career high with six carries on Air Force's opening drive of the game which he capped with his first-career touchdown on a one-yard run. He finished the game with 22 carries for 129 yards rushing to record his first-career 100-yard game. His previous career highs were four carries and 17 yards which were both set vs. Colorado State last season. McCarthy also recorded a career-long run of 50 yards. His previous long was 12 yards vs. TCU in 2005. McCarthy is the first Falcon with a 100-yard rushing game since Chad Hall vs. Colorado State last season.
- Junior PK/P Ryan Harrison scored the first points of his career in his first-career start with an extra point on Air Force's opening drive. Harrison also kicked his first-career field goal, a 48-yarder in the second quarter. He also added his first-career tackle on a South Carolina State kickoff return. Harrison also punted twice for a 48-yard average in his first-career game as a punter.
- Senior TE Travis Dekker recorded his career-long reception in the first quarter with a 31-yard catch on Air Force's second drive. Dekker recorded career bests in catches with three and yards with 64. His previous bests were two catches for 15 yards last season vs. Navy. Dekker entered this season with four career catches and 40 career yards.
- Junior DE Jake Paulson recorded his career high with 2.0 tackles for loss. Paulson's previous best was 1.5 vs. Wyoming in 2006.
- Senior CB Carson Bird recorded his third-career interception. Bird also had interceptions in 2004 and 2005. Bird also added his second-career fumble recovery. He also had a fumble recovery in 2004 as a freshman.
- Freshman TB Savier Stephens had a solid collegiate debut. Stephens rushed for 29 yards on seven carries and scored his first-career touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter. He is the first Air Force freshman to score a touchdown since Shaun Carney is 2004. Stephens is the first freshman to score on opening day since Jacobe Kendrick vs. Wofford in 2003. Kendrick's score was the last by a freshman running back until Stephens' touchdown.
- Senior OLB John Rabold recorded a career-best 2.0 tackles for loss. His previous best was 1.5 vs. Utah in 2005.
