Falcons travel to Boise State for Mountain Division showdown
11/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
THE SERIES
Air Force and Boise State are meeting for the fourth time overall with all four meetings coming as conference foes. Boise State leads the series, 2-1, overall and 2-0 at home. The teams first played Oct. 22, 2011 at Boise State. The Broncos won the game, 37-26. Boise State defeated Air Force, 42-20, the last time the two played in Boise. The Falcons defeated Boise State, 28-14, last season in Falcon Stadium.
Year by Year
2011 - BSU 37-26 (A)
2013 - BSU 42-20 (A)
2014 - AFA 28-14 (H)
Site is for AFA
LAST SEASON VS. BOISE STATE
Air Force defeated Boise State, 28-14, to snap a 10-game conference losing streak and hand the Broncos their first loss against a Mountain Division team since joining the conference. The Falcons rolled to a 28-0 lead early the fourth quarter before giving up a pair of late touchdowns to make up the final margin. Kale Pearson hit Garrett Brown with a four-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring, than added a five-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter. Will Conant hit a 25-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Falcons a 17-0 advantage at halftime. Conant hit his second field goal and Jacobi Owens scored on a 10-yard run and Pearson and Brown hooked up on a two-point conversion to make it 28-0 with 11:35 left. Pearson finished the game with a career-high 127 yards rushing on 20 carries. Owens chipped in with 108 yards on 24 carries. Pearson also hit five of 11 passes for 48 yards. Weston Steelhammer led the defense, matching a school record with three interceptions while adding two tackles for loss. Jordan Pierce led the defense with 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception that he returned 56 yards. The Falcons had 335 total yards while allowing 467 total yards, but forced seven Boise State turnovers.
AIR FORCE LAST WEEK
Air Force beat Utah State, 35-28, to complete a 6-0 home season for the second straight year. The team exchanged four scores in the first quarter with Air Force's scores coming on touchdown runs by D.J. Johnson and Jacobi Owens and Utah State's coming on touchdown passes from Kent Myers. The Falcons took the halftime lead, 21-14, on a Karson Roberts TD run and opened the second half with a Roberts to Jalen Robinette 74 yard TD pass to take a 28-14 lead. Utah State answered with a Myers TD pass before Owens added his second touchdown run to keep the Falcons in front 35-21. Myers threw his fourth touchdown pass on the final play of the third quarter to make up the final margin. Safety Weston Steelhammer prevented a late scoring toss, batting a pass away in the end zone in the final minute. Air Force rolled up 580 total yards with a balanced attack. Air Force rushed for 309 yards and passes for a season-best 271. Johnson and Tyler Williams led the team in rushing with 79 yards each. Roberts hit 11 of 17 passes for a career-best 271 yards while Robinette hauled in a career-best seven passes for 210 yards, the third most in Air Force history. Utah State finished with 439 total yards, including 364 passing from Myers. Hunter Sharpe had 13 catches 193 yards and three touchdowns.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 - Air Force did not trail for a single minute in five of six home games.
6 - Air Force has six shutouts as a member of the Mountain West which is second only to Boise State's 11.
8 - Air Force has gone to eight bowl games since joining the MW, second only to Colorado State, who has gone to nine.
8 - Air Force has been bowl-eligible eight times in Troy Calhoun's nine season as head coach.
9 - Air Force's nine touchdowns vs. Morgan State came from nine different players.
12 - Air Force has won a school-record 12 consecutive home games dating back to 2014.
20 - Air Force improved to 20-0 all-time vs. FCS teams with a 63-7 win over Morgan State.
315 - Air Force freshmen cadets did 315 pushups in Air Force's 63-7 win over Morgan State. Freshmen do pushups after each Air Force score during home games.
