Air Force Opens 2009 Football Season Hosting Nicholls State
8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 31, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (0-0) vs. Nicholls State (0-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 5
Kickoff Time: 12 p.m. MST
Stadium: Falcon Stadium (46,692), USAF Academy, CO
Radio:
KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
KCKK 1510 AM in Denver and Northern Colorado
Goairforcefalcons.com
Radio Talent:
Jim Arthur (play-by-play), Lee Douglas (anaylst), Jay Ritchie (pre- and post-game)
TV: None
PROMOTIONS
-This weekend is Parent's Weekend at the Academy. Falcon's Nest tickets available for $5 and Upper Level tickets in selected areas are on sale for $10. Contact the athletic ticket office (719-333-3951/800-666-USAF) or visit on-line at goairforcefalcons.com.
AIR FORCE OPENS 53RD SEASON; THIRD UNDER CALHOUN
- Air Force opens its 53rd season of varsity football this week.
- This season marks the third under head coach Troy Calhoun, who is a 1989 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He is the sixth head coach in school history and first graduate to hold the position.
- Air Force has won two straight home openers dating back to a 2006 loss at Tennessee. Air Force has won four of the last five home openers dating back to a 2001 loss to defending national champion Oklahoma. The only loss coming in the last five was to 13th-ranked California in 2004.
THE SERIES
Air Force and Nicholls State are meeting for the first time.
AIR FORCE VS. THE SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
This week's game vs. Nicholls State is Air Force's first vs. a team from the Southland Conference.
SEASON OPENERS
- Air Force is 32-19-2 overall in season openers, including a 27-8 mark in season openers at home. Air Force has won two straight and three of the last five season openers with the only losses coming at No. 11 Tennessee in 2006 and vs. No. 13 California in 2004.
- The Falcons have won four of the last five season openers at home with the only loss coming vs. No. 13 California in 2004. - Air Force has won 11 straight season openers vs. unranked teams dating back to 34-21 setback vs. Colorado State in 1994.
- Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun is 2-0 in season openers, both coming at home. Air Force defeated South Carolina State, 34-3, in 2007 and Southern Utah, 41-7, last season. AIR FORCE VS. FCS TEAMS Air Force is 13-0 all-time againsts teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA).
AIR FORCE VS. NON-CONFERENCE FOES UNDER CALHOUN
Air Force is 6-4 against non-conference foes under head coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons are 3-1 at home, 2-1 on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games.
OPENERS UNDER CALHOUN
- Air Force is 2-0 in season openers under head coach Troy Calhoun. Both wins have come against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision.
- The Falcons have per-game averages of 37.5 points, 356 rushing yards, 12555 passing yards and 481.5 yards of total offense. Air Force has allowed just 5.0 points per game and per-game averages of 38.5 yards rushing, 106.5 yards passing and 145 yards of total offense.
DID YOU KNOW.....
- Air Force's 17 wins since 2007 are the best in back-to-back season since 1998-99 when it combined for 18 (12-1 in 1998, 6-5 in 1999).
- Air Force has posted 11 MWC wins in back-to-back seasons which is a school record. The previous mark was eight in 2000 (5-2) and 2001 (3-4). Air Force finished 5-3 in 2008 and 6-2 in 2007, marking the first time in school history the team has won four or more MWC games in back-to-back seasons.
- Head coach Troy Calhoun has led Air Force to 17 wins in his two seasons at Air Force. The 17 wins are the second-best of any service academy head coach in his first two years. Fisher DeBerry, who took over Air Force in 1984, has the best mark with 20 wins. Air Force was 12-1 in 1985 and 8-4 in 1984. The Falcons were a combined 18-7 in 1982-83 prior to his taking over.
- Air Force had a five-game winning streak last season. The five-game streak is the longest since the 2003 season when the team opened 5-0. The five-game streak is the best in the second half of the season since 1998 when the team won nine straight. - Air Force had a four-game MWC winning streak which is a school record.
AIR FORCE FOURTH NATIONALLY WITH 194-GAME SCORING STREAK
- Air Force has scored in 194 consecutive games dating back to 1992.
- The Falcons were last shutout by Mississippi, 13-0, in the 1992 Liberty Bowl.
- Air Force's streak is the second-longest active streak of teams in the Mountain West Conference and the fourth longest in the country.
- Air Force's 194-game scoring streak is the 16th longest in Division I-A college history
- Of the top 16 all-time, nine were started in the 1980s while the other five began in the 1970s.
100 YARDS RUSHERS UNDER CALHOUN
- Air Force is tough to beat when it has had a 100-yard rusher under head coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons are12-3 in games when they have a player rush for 100 or more yards.
- The team's only losses came in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl vs. California, vs. No. 16/14 BYU and vs. Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl last season.
AIR FORCE TAKEAWAYS
- Air Force is a combined +23 in two seasons under head coach Troy Calhoun and defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter.
- Air Force was a ball-hawking squad, collecting a +13 turnover margin last season. The Falcons have had multiple takeaways in 11 of 13 games. The team's 1.00 per-game turnover margin average ranked second in the conference and 11th nationally.
FALCON STADIUM GETS SOME LOVE
Falcon Stadium was ranked 24th by The Sporting News in a poll this summer on college football most unique stadiums. The poll measured everything from pregame tailgate parties to the roar of the crowd. Air Force was the only school from the Mountain West Conference in the top 25. Notre Dame Stadium was No. 1, followed by Ohio State's Ohio Stadium and Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
AIR FORCE ONE OF ONLY 27 WITHOUT COACHING WITHOUT CHANGES
Air Force is one of just 27 schools that didn't have a coaching staff change in 2009. Every position coach and coordinator returned from the 2008 season. Other schools without changes: UAB, Baylor, Colorado State, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan State, Navy, Nebraska, Nevada, NC State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas A&M, Troy, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
FALCONS PICKED FOURTH
Air Force was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Conference in 2009 at the conference's annual media day in Las Vegas. TCU was picked to win the conference, followed by BYU and Utah.
FALCONS TO PLAY ARMY AT YANKEE STADIUM IN 2012
The Air Force-Army football game in 2012, originally scheduled for West Point's Michie Stadium, will be played at the new Yankee Stadium, as announced last summer by Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson and New York Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost at a Yankee Stadium press conference. The game will mark just the second time in school history that the Falcons will play in Yankee Stadium, the first being a 13-13 tie with Army in 1959.
FALCONS TO HONOR THE AIR FORCE AGAIN IN 2009
The Air Force Academy football team is honoring the the Air Force and and several different units throughout the season by wearing patches on its uniforms. The team will wear the Air Force patch to honor the men and women of the U.S. Air Force. The team will also honor 10 of the Air Force's Heritage Wings and Groups by wearing patches on their home uniforms; and six USAF Air and Space Expeditionary Wings by wearing patches on their away uniforms for the third straight year. The team will wore the Air Force logo on both uniforms for the first time in 2008.
The Heritage Wings and Groups date back to the foundations of the Air Force, beginning on Aug. 1, 1907, when the U.S. Army Signal Corps established a small Aeronautical Division to take "charge of all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines and all kindred subjects." But, it was not until May 26, 1909, that military aviation was born, when Lts. Frank P. Lahm and Benjamin D. Foulois made their first ascent and qualified as the airship's first Army pilots. The National Security Act of 1947 created a separate Department of the Air Force, headed by a Secretary of the Air Force; from that law, today's Air Force was officially born on Sept. 18, 1947.
The 10 patches represent active duty units that have colorful and distinguished histories. These "heritage units" not only represent the legacy of the Air Force past, but also the promise of its future. Each Air Force mission and capability is represented with this cross-section of units.
The Air and Space Expeditionary Force concept is the Air Force's vision for the 21st century to organize, train, equip and deploy forces for contingency operations while remaining ready to meet national crises. AEF also helps create a mindset and culture that embraces the unique characteristics of air and space power - range, speed, flexibility and precision. Military personnel that are deployed become a part of one of these six wings.
Heritage wing/groups:
8th Fighter Wing - Kunsan AB, Korea
31st Fighter Wing - Aviano AB, Italy
3rd Wing - Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
14th Flying Training Wing - Columbus AFB, Miss.
2nd Bomb Wing - located around the world
19th Air Refueling Group - Robins AFB, Ga.
9th Reconnaissance Wing - Beale AFB, Calif.
341st Space Wing - Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
1st Special Operations Wing - Hurlburt Field, Fla.
315th Airlift Wing - Charleston AFB, S.C.
Air and Space Expeditionary Force Wings:
380th Air Force Expeditionary Wing - SW Asia
455th Air Force EW - Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan
379th Air Force EW
332nd Air Force EW - Balad AB in SW Corner of Sunni Triangle
376th Air Force EW - Mansa International Airport, Bishkek, Krygyz Republic.
38th Air Force EW - SE Asia
THOMAS, CHARLES FIRST-TEAM ALL-MWC
Seniors Chris Thomas (DB) and Nick Charles (OL) were each named first-team preseason all-Mountain West Conference in 2009 at the conference's annual media day in Las Vegas. Both players were named second-team all-MWC in 2008.
CHARLES ON THREE WATCH LISTS
- Air Force senior guard Nick Charles is one of 40 college football players named to the 2009 Outland Trophy Watch List. The annual watch list includes only interior linemen - tackles, guards and centers on both sides of the ball. The Mountain West Conference had two players on the list as Charles was joined by Utah offensive lineman Zane Beadles. In 1987, Air Force defensive end Chad Hennings won the Outland Trophy, to become the first and only Falcon to win the prestigious award.
- Charles has been named a nominee for the Allstate/American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team. Charles is one of 106 nominees up for the 11-player Good Works Team which will be announced during the 2009 college football season. The Allstate/AFCA Good Works team honors college football players who make outstanding contributions in the areas of volunteerism and civic involvement. With their acts, AFCA Good Works team members distinguish themselves among the more than 50,000 student-athletes participating in the sport at all four-year collegiate institutions through off-the-field accomplishments.
- Charles has been named to the 2009 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List. The annual watch list includes football linemen, on offense or defense. The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi. To be eligible, the player can be an offensive lineman, defensive lineman, linebacker, or tight end.
Charles was a first-team preseason all-MWC selection. A second-team all-league selection as a sophomore and junior, Charles has anchored an offensive line that has helped the Falcons to a conference rushing title and a top 10 national rushing ranking each of the last two years. Last season, Charles led the Falcons with 16.4 knockdown blocks per game. He has started every game each of the last two years. Charles is active in his squadron as the point of contact for the Cadet for a Day program. He was also the cadet in charge of the Sunrise Senior Living Center Valentine's Ball and an Academy representative for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Charles is a two-time academic all-conference selection and a member of the dean's list at the Academy.
THOMAS GOING FOR NO. 3
Senior safety Chris Thomas has recorded two straight 100-plus tackles. He had 107 last year and 110 as a sophomore in 2007. Thomas will become just the fourth player in school history to record three 100-plus tackle seasons if he can do it again this season. Thomas would joinTerry Maki (1984-86), Tom Foertsch (1976-78), Brian Hill (1988-90).
LAMENDOLA GOING FOR 100, AGAIN
Junior linebacker Ken Lamendola was just the second sophomore with 100-plus tackles in a season since All-American Anthony Schlegel in 2002 with his 118-tackle effort last year. Lamendola could become the 15th Falcon with back-to-back 100-plus tackle seasons if he hits the century mark in 2009.
AIR FORCE INDIVIDUAL HONORS
- Chris Thomas , Sr., DB - First-team preseason all-MWC.
- Nick Charles, Sr., OL - First-team preseason all-MWC ... Outland Trophy Watch List ... Allstate/AFCA oaches Association Good Works Team nominee ... 2009 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List.
