2012

Random Thoughts......The silence coming from Doug Bruce is deafening. The father of Tabor was found guilty of tax evasion charges. His lawyer says he will file an appeal. What I am enjoying the most is for once he is minding his own business and not trying to make news every 15 minutes. I love the quiet. Keep fighting Dougie.....Looks like a two man race between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for President. Both can survive a loss in Florida. However had Gingrich lost in South Carolina I think Romney would have steamrolled him. Now its a brand new game.......If the economy is hurting so much how come every plane I am in travelling for the Air Force Academy is PACKED?  I flew from San Diego to the Springs the other day. We left Cali at 630am and it was standing room only. Wow........Where is winter? Sorry guys. I love the snow. Its been too mild, and we need more snow in the mountains for the ski areas. I know its a hassle to drive in, but we've had nothing. Which makes you wonder if March and April, our two snowiest months of the year, will live up to their reputations.

Bowl Time

Fisher Deberry often said there's no such thing as a bad bowl. He's right, especially if you are a football coach. The Falcons are headed to a bowl. Which one is still up in the air. The Independence Bowl would love to have Air Force back. The Military Bowl had an agreement with Navy, but the midshipmen are not eligible. The Falcons appear to be an attractive alternative. For head coaches a bowl gives you about 15 extra practices to work with guys coming back next year. You also get extra exposure when it comes to recruiting and this year that's more critical than ever since Army and Navy are not bowl eligible. And if you work the dollars right you can add to the bottom line based on the bowl payout. Are some bowls more glamorous than others? No question. But for a head coach, or a senior, getting one more game is critical. I remember my last football game in HIGH SCHOOL, and I would have given anything (event today) to suit up one more time.

You can make a good argument 35 bowls is too many, and the number taints the bowl system. But that's the way things are set up. And if you are one of the 50 teams not going to a bowl, guess what? There's no such thing as a bad bowl.

All In

Saturday-last football game of the regular season. Air Force needs to beat CSU to become bowl eligible. At 7-5 the Falcons probably would get a bowl invitation. Should Air Force lose they could petition the NCAA to go to a bowl with a 6-6 record. However last year Arizona State tried the same thing and was turned down. Its been a funny season. Players were openely talking of running the table to start the year. Now, here they sit, needing a victory Saturday over a Colorado State University squad that would like nothing better than to keep the Falcons home for the holidays. Its been the year of the Turnover on Offense, and of Injuries on defense. One you can't help. The other you should be able to control.

Running back Asher Clark needs 144 yards to pass former QB Dee Dowis and become the alltime rushing leader at the Air Force Academy. Ashers performance over the years has been steady as she goes. Very solid. Its interesting because he has only had 10 100 yard rushing games in his career. Yet he''s on the verge of catching Dowis, who was simply electric every time he touched the ball. Clark has been solid and dependable, with the occasional burst like we saw Saturday, going 67 yards for a score against UNLV. If Air Force wins saturday Clark can count the upcoming bowl rushing yards toward his total. Asher, keep in mind (should the Falcons win) would have played in 4 bowl games to 1 for Dowis, and because of the change to a 12 game schedule, Clark had several more games in the regular season that Dowis. However, you still tip your cap to Clark who has been a model of consistency for the Falcons.

Playoff

Its pretty simple. Air Force has to win its last 2 Mountain West Conference games to get to 7 wins and bowl eligibility. The Falcons did it to themselves, after losing Saturday 25-17 to Wyoming. Look at how many chances Air Force had to win this game:

1) Could not score on 4th and 1 at the goal line
2) Fumbled , not once but twice deep inside Wyoming territory
3) Shrunk the playbook when Connor Dietz came in for an injured Tim Jefferson
4) Did not get the ball to playmakers Jonathen Warzeka and Mikell Hunter

Turnovers have killed the Falcons this year. These next two games are no gimmies even though both UNLV and CSU are struggling. Air Force is too, and I can imagine both the Rebels and Rams could see their games with the Falcons as a chance to make their seasons a bit more meaningful.

Air Force has backed itself into a position. They better get the boat turned around fast, otherwise this season ends on a cold night Thanksgiving weekend in Fort Collins.

3 Left

   Now that the Falcons are back on track, the focus is win 2 of 3 to become bowl eligible. Might not be that easy. Wyoming comes to Colorado Springs Saturday, and the Cowboys are much improved. They too are fighting for bowl eligibility. Both Wyoming and the Falcons have to win 7 games this year for bowl eligibility because they each played and won two games against Bowl Championship Division teams. ( And I hate the fact Air Force evens plays one of those schools-Whats the benefit?) The Cowboys Quarterback Brett Smith is a freshman and has really played well. This is a team that went to San Diego and knocked off the Aztecs. And they gave TCU everything they could handle before falling in Laramie last weekend. They could give the Falcons trouble with their short passing game. Air Force has a number of injured players back on defense and you could see the difference in the 2nd half Saturday against Army. They did a much better job of getting into the gaps on the defensive line and Army had nowhere to run after that. The Falcons can win all 3 of their remaining games and go to a bowl. However, they could just as easily lose all 3.

New Mexico

On paper it looks like the Falcons have a good chance to snap their three game losing streak-On Paper. But believe me, if the Falcons eye the Lobos as a chance to get back on track, New Mexico looks at a wounded, injured Air Force team with the same eagerness, hoping to kick start their awful season. On offense the Falcons should move the ball, but turnovers again will play a key role. That's been one of the stories of this year. There's been too many and its killed Air Force and put their defense in position to defend too many short fields...The defense may see the return of Ben Kopacka up front and Chris Miller at one of the corner spots. The Falcons don't need anything fancy Saturday. Simple football-Block and Tackle, and hold onto the football. Simple recipe, in a season that's been anything but simple.

Close But No Cigar

Air Force gave Boise State a scare Saturday before losing 37-26....I thought during the week the Falcons would try and keep the ball away from the Broncos offense and that's what they did, almost to perfection. Yet for the life of me I cannot understand why, after winning the coin toss the Falcons gave the ball to the Broncos. That never will make sense to me. The weather was great, there was no wind to worry about. Why, if your game plan is to keep it away from Boise State, give it to Boise State for the first drive of the game, which resulted in a touchdown? The Falcons did not lose the game on that but there was a lot of head scratching over that decision.....Again, as it has in other games, it came down to getting the Broncos offense off the field and the Air Force defense was unable to do that....The Falcons did play better in a lot of areas, and did force two turnovers. However it all adds up to being in last place in the conference at 0-3, and having to win 4 of their last 5 to become bowl eligible. Troy Calhoun was as angry as I have ever seen him after a game, because their gameplan worked, but not enough to win the game.....Now the good news...the schedule does get easier from here on out, however-keep in mind, teams are also looking at Air Force and thinking to themselves THEIR schedule is easier with the Falcons on it because Air Force is 3-4. And the scariest game to play is one against a team that has yet to win. You never want to be the team that loses to a winless squad, and that's what New Mexico is this weekend....The Falcons are hoping to have a couple of injured players back for Saturdays game. However they have lost sophomore receiver Ty MacArthur to a broken collarbone for the rest of the regular season.