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.