Hurt, But Hope

There have been a lot of challenges this year for Troy Calhoun and his Air Force football team. Losing 2 starting quarterbacks, injuries, youth, inconsistency. But Thursday night the Falcons got off the mat and played an inspired game. They gave up a 14 point 4th quarter lead and succumbed to San Diego State 27-20. Yes, its easy to say Air Force is 1-6 and should have won last night, and the season is going nowhere. But if you looked closely you saw a lot from a gutty group of football players. 1st, Air Force loses another quarterback. Karson Roberts went out after taking a shot and Freshman Nate Romine came on. I asked him afterwards if he felt nervous, calm, anxious. He said to me, "Excited." Love that attitude. He can play. Romine managed the game well. Late in the 4th quarter, and out of timeouts he threw the best pass this year by a Falcon quarterback over the middle to Garret Griffin for a big gain and a first down. (Griffin made a hell of a catch too, up around his helmet.) 2nd-Signs of life from the Air Force Defense. I have been critical of the defense all season long. They play too far off the ball and have not attacked. Part of that is how the coaches have asked them to play. Last night, completely different. The Falcons were aggresive on the line of scrimmage. They had two sacks, and plenty of Quarterback hurries. They were spirited, animated, hungry, and even desperate, which is a good way to play. They stopped the Aztecs 3 times on 4th down, 2 in 4th and goal situations and once, on a big time one on one tackle by Christian Spears to save a touchdown at the 1 yard line. In recent weeks the coaching staff has simplified the playbook and helped the kids think less and play more. Plus, in watching last night I really believe the Coaches were more aggressive in their play calling and not sitting back playing everything underneath. I have said on this blog you can't play defense backing up. You attack. They did last night. Yes they did give up 21 4th quarter points and yes its a loss, but I believe you saw the beginnings of this team shaking off their malaise. Can good things come from a loss? Yes. In life sometimes the best lessons come from pain. Dawn still hasn't broken for the Falcon Football team, but the sky is slowly getting brighter.

Is there Time to Salvage the Season

Following the Falcons loss to Navy Saturday the title of this blog seems appropriate. At 1-5 Air Force is staring at a December without a bowl game for the first time in 7 seasons. Win out, or take 5 of 6 and you can go to a bowl. But you don't get any sense this team has that kind of run in them at the moment. Its youth has been a big factor. Injuries have not helped. And they are playing good teams. The team has been inconcistent in so many areas. The hope is things can turn around but you wonder if there's time this season for that to happen. Its more than a young team getting experience. And more troubling is the trend that says in its last 31 games Air Force is 14-18. And 3 of the 13 wins are against Football Championship Teams. Take them out and you are 11-18. There's a lot at stake these last 6 games. I've always believed this is where Coaches earn their money the most-when teams are down and struggling. There is hope for the rest of the year, but the window is closing.

The One That Got Away

The Air Force Football team showed a lot of heart and guts Saturday night in Reno Nevada. They wound up losing to the Nevada WolfPack 45-42 after coughing up a 12 point lead in the 4th quarter. Air Force will long regret two killer illegal substitution penalties late in the game that turned a 3rd and 1 into a 3rd and 11, and resulted in another dropped pass by a Falcon Reeceiver. Air Force had a chance to run out the clock late in the game, but those two penalties, the result of poor coaching, forced the Falcons to punt, and once again, the Air Force Defense could not stop another team. The Falcons were in such a position to win because of a gutty effort by Karson Roberts, who 3 weeks ago was the 3rd string quarterback. He ran for 161 yards and two scores and threw for another touchdown. His guile and leadership stood out bright and strong among the disaster this season has been so far. And although the defense struggled I saw some improvement. The Falcons played man to man in the secondary, and had their moments. Defensive back Gavin Mchenry had 11 tackles and knocked away 4 passes. I though Justin Decood also played well, as did Ryan Fitzgerald. Can Air Force build from this? Don't know? They play at Navy Saturday, and if there's a silver lining, the Midshipmen don't throw it all over the field like the previous 4 opponents. While Satudays game is the one that got away, it may also be the one that points Troy Calhouns team in the right direction. Because at this point, there's only 1 way to go.

No Awini

A bad Air Force season just got worse when it was announced Quarterback Jaleel Awini is not a cadet in good standing and thus, cannot represent the Academy. It means he can't play football because of an unknown violation of Academy Standards. Its the worst news Troy Calhoun could have received for his young football team. In 3 games we have seen flashes of the potential Awini has. He can throw. He's strong, and durable. But the term student-athlete means school comes first, and for Awini it looks like his sophomore season is done. So in steps Quarterback #3 Karson Roberts. I watched him practice and focused on him. I think people will be surprised how he does. He is the only quarterback on the roster with a touchdown pass-2 actually, both to Jalen Robinette. He looks very comfortable to me under center. He has played a little, and now he gets the bright lights as the new Air Force Starter. All he needs to do is manage the game for the Falcon offense. Don't try to be the hero. And hopefully he gets some help from his defense. They have simplified things in practice this week. Less thinking and scheming, and more playing closer to the line of scrimmage. Thursday Night join us for the Troy Calhoun show at Back East Bar and Grill at 630 on KVOR, and of course we'll have Saturdays game live from Reno at 6 on Colorado's 740 KVOR.

No Progress

The pain and the frustration were evident in the Air Force Lockeroom following Wyomings 56-23 win Saturday Night. And its now 3 weeks in a row the Falcons have this same kind of feeling. Its more than just losing a game. Its how Air Force is losing. The defense is getting shelled. Teams are throwing the ball all over the field and scoring at will. A 5 yard pass turns into a 15 yard gain or more. The numbers the Falcons defense have given up are staggering: In the last 3 games Air Force has given up 150 points, 1732 yards of Total Offense, and the last 3 quarterbacks the Falcons have faced are a combined 96-112 for 1037 yards and 10 touchdowns. So, what to do? Look, its not just one issue with the defense, and blame can't fall on just one person. Troy Calhoun certainly has to look at the defensive scheme he uses. It tends to be a 3 man front with 4 linebackers, with the outside guys up on the line on occasion, and 4 deep in the secondary. The last 3 games the Falcons have played a lot of nickel with a 5th defensive back coming in for a linebacker. Against Utah State Air Force gave wide receivers a big cushion off the line of scrimmage. Against Boise state they tightend up a bit in the second half. Saturday, Wyoming did not throw as many bubble screens but were more aggresive throwing down the field. Whatever the Falcons tried did not work. I would like to see the Air Force play man to man on the receivers and blitz as often as they can. You can rush 5, have 5 guys playing man to man when the offense uses 5 wide receivers, and your 11th guy can be a hybrid. He can "spy" the quarterback, especially if he tends to run. He can drop back in coverage, or he can blitz. The problem with blitzing is, most qb's throw from the shotgun and throw quick so its hard to get to them. But you have to do something to knock offenses off their rhythm. You need to take away the short passing game and make them throw over your head. You don't play defense backing up. And these days you can't drop 7 or 8 guys into zone ccoverage and stop teams. It does not work. A lot of fans have asked me about coaching. Here's what I know. The Air Force defense has not been the same since Tim Deruyter left. I think Defensive Coordinator Charlton Warren has to look at everything he is doing and, if need be, simplify the defense, and make it more aggressive. Here's what I don't know-Have the Falcons used essentially the same gameplan the last 3 games? If the answer is yes, then the coaches have to take a lot of blame. Youth-There is a lot of it on the defense. The only way you get older and wiser is play through it. I did like the fact we did see more of older players like Jared Jones, Chris Miller and Connor Healy, who have playing experience, in the 2nd half. Bottom line-everyobe must share the blame for the demise of the defense. Its Coaches, its players, its gameplans. Change must happen. If they don't, get used to more big numbers, especially in the loss column.

A Lot of Work to Do

The last two weeks Air Force has played two very good football teams, Utah State, and Boise State this past Friday Night. The Falcons are a young football team, and there are growing pains. But Friday night underscored the problems Air Force is having on defense. Boise State did not have to punt the football. They had the ball for 9 possessions. They scored touchdowns on 6 of them, turned the ball over twice, and took a knee to end the game. The Falcons defense did not stop the Broncos once on 3rd down-not once. And going into the game opposing teams were converting 3rd downs into first down against Air Force 60% of the time. I'm not a coach-but I am more than a casual observer. I can't tell you what kind of schemes were drawn up by the Falcons Coaches. I can tell you it looked like the defense was playing 15 yards off the ball trying not to get beat deep. I can tell you a number of times Air Force had linebackers covering wide receivers. I'm not trying to be critical. Perhaps the schemes were changed and the players did not adapt. Certainly the Broncos are an excellent team and that accounts for much of what they did. However.....The Falcons have to re-think dropping 15 yards off the line scrimmage. All Football teams are now throwing underneath. All Football teams are throwing bubble screens. All Football teams are trying to get skill guys in open space. As a defense you have to be more aggresive in the box, within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. You may have to play some man to man. As a defense you need to set a tone, for the offense to react to you. Easier said than done? Yes...and perhaps a bit unfair of me to sit on a Monday Morning and type this. However, if what you are doing isn't working, you need to try something else. The Air Force Defense isn't working....That much I know.

Improvement Needed Fast

Somebody asked me after the Falcons season opening win against Colgate what we learned about the Air Force football team. I replied, "Not a thing." After Saturdays loss to Utah State I don't know if things have become any clearer. But here's what I do know...The Falcons defense will face a lot of teams like Utah State this year and they need to get better fast on defense. When you are young, you learn on the fly and thats the task the Air Force defense has. The Aggies Chuckie Keeton is an excellent quarterback and will wreak havoc against a lot of teams. But you can't blow assignments, miss tackles, leave guys wide open and hope to win. And on offense I counted 6 catchable balls Air Force receiver and tight ends dropped. And if you can't get a first down in the 2nd half until there's 10 minutes left in the game, thats not good. And it only gets tougher the next 3 weeks. Friday night its Boise State with their high flying offense. A week from Saturday its Brett Smith and the Wyoming Cowboys, followed by Cody Fajardo and Nevada. 3 similiar styles of teams who can pile up the points. The defense needs stops and the offense needs first downs so the defense can rest, so they can get stops. There's a lotta "need" at the moment for the Air Force Football Team.