AFA By the Numbers

THE MWC VERSUS THE BCS. There’s a frequent cry of anguish which arises from camps of followers of MWC teams bemoaning the fact that the league’s teams deserve more recognition on a national basis given their individual and collective records against BCS affiliated teams. Frankly, since the inception of the MWC, its teams have not fared well when stepping outside conference play to face teams in leagues affiliated with the BCS.

            During the course of the 2004 regular season MWC teams are scheduled to face members of BCS affiliated conferences in19 games. Here’s a look at when and where the match-ups are taking place as well as the outcomes and the MWC’s  record in the games played to date. 

Date	Home team	Visitor	Score
Sept. 2	Utah	Texas A & M	Utah  41-21 (1-0)
Sept. 3	New Mexico	Washington State	WSU  21-17 (1-1)
Sept. 4	BYU	Notre Dame	BYU  20-17 (2-1)
Sept. 4	Air Force	California	Cal  56-14  (2-2)
Sept. 4	Colorado	Colorado State	Colo.  27-24 (2-3)
Sept. 5	Tennessee	UNLV	Tenn  42-17  (2-4)
Sept. 11	Southern Cal	CSU	USC  49-0  (2-5)
Sept. 11	New Mexico	Texas Tech	UNM  27-24  (3-5)
Sept. 11	Wisconsin	UNLV	Wisc.  (3-6)
Sept. 11	Arizona	Utah	Utah  23-6 (4-6)
Sept. 11	Texas A & M	Wyoming	A & M 27-24  (4-7)
Sept. 11	Stanford	BYU	Stan. 37-10  (4-8)
Sep. 18	CSU	Minnesota	Minn. 34-16 (4-9)
Sept. 18	Oregon State	New Mexico	OSU  17-7 (4-10)
Sept. 18	Michigan	San Diego State	Mich. 24-21 (4-11)
Sept. 18	Southern Cal	BYU	USC  42-10 (4-12)
Sept. 25	Wyoming	Mississippi	Wyo  37-32 (5-12)
Oct. 2	UCLA	San Diego State	UCLA 33-10(5-13)
Oct. 16	Utah	North Carolina

 CHARTING CARNEY’S CAREER. On the premise it’s never too soon to start keeping track of a good thing here’s a look at QB Shaun Carney on a game by game basis as he leads AFA’s offense from the QB position.   

Game	Rushing	Passing	Total yards	Game result
California	18-75-0TDs	9-15-89-1TD	164	Cal 56 -14
East. Wash.	13-62-1TD	10-15-139-2td	201	AFA 42-20
@UNLV	21-64-0TD	12-14-139-2td	203	AFA 27-10
@Utah	21-95-3 TDs	9-13-158-1TD	253	Utah 49-35
Navy	20-49-0TD	17-21-221-2td	270	Navy 24-21
Totals	93-345-4 TDs 3.70 yds/carry	57-78-746-8tds  73%	1,091/ 218.2 yds. per game	AFA 2-3

             In five starts for the Falcons in his freshman year, Carney has been directly involved in a play 171 times either running or passing the ball. Those 171 plays have netted the team 1,091 yards or a healthy 6.38 yards each time Carney has touched the ball. Perhaps most impressive of all is his 73% completion rate when throwing the ball. The balance Carney has helped provide the offense was most evident in the UNLV game. The Rebels defense was off-balance during the evening because it had to respect AFA’s ability to throw the ball effectively. This balance enabled the Falcons to sustain drives, score points, keep its own defense well-rested and open the conference season with an impressive17 point road win. At his current pace Carney would amass 2,400 total yards in his freshman season.

            There is always a danger in extrapolating figures over a period of time, but for the purpose of having a little fun and putting Carney’s performance after a month of playing collegiate football into perspective, consider the following. The career record for total offense at AFA is 6,627 yards held by Beau Morgan. Assuming an injury free career, production that mirrors his efforts of the first five games this season, an eleven game schedule--such as the one AFA will play this fall--and no bowl games for the rest of his stay at the academy, in a 44 game career Carney would amass 9,600 yards of total offense. That figure would shatter the existing school record by 2,973 yards or 44.86%.

MWC REVIEW. Since football play began in the MWC in 1999 the Falcons have been a decidedly mediocre team whose record in league games is 18-19 (.486) through the Utah game on September 25^th. 

            Here’s a chart showing the Falcons’ football fortunes from the league’s inception to the present. 

Year	MWC record	Home	Road
1999	2-5	1-2	1-3
2000	5-2	3-1	2-1
2001	3-4	2-1	1-3
2002	4-3	2-2	2-1
2003	3-4	2-1	1-3
2004	1-1	0-0	1-1
Totals	18-19 (.486)	10-7 (.588)	8-12 (.400)

         The Falcons are: 3-2 vs. BYU; 1-4 vs. CSU; 3-2 vs. San Diego State; 4-2 vs. UNLV; 1-4 vs. UNM; 3-3 vs. Utah and 3-2 vs. Wyoming. 

Wyoming	Cowboys

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RUSHING AHEAD. Here is an updated look at the leading rushers in AFA history through the most recently played game. 

         1. 3612     Dee Dowis

         2. 3379     Beau Morgan

         3. 2726     John Kershner

         4. 2324     Chance Harridge

         5. 2284     Brian Bream

         5. 2284     Pat Evans

         7. 1993     Greg Johnson

         8. 1860     Marty Louthan

         9. 1762     Jason Jones

       10. 1760     Rodney Lewis

       11. 1702     Rob Perez

       12. 1677     Bart Weiss

       13. 1633     Terry Issacson

       14. 1630     Ken Wood

       15. 1551     Shelby Ball

       16. 1534     Mike Thiessen

       17. 1478     Jake Campbell

       18. 1470     Leotis Palmer

       19. 1406     Qualario Brown

       20. 1400     Scotty McKay

       21. 1371     Mike Quinlan

       22. 1354     Spanky Gilliam

       23. 1347     Larry Thomson

       24. 1296     Nakia Addison

       25. 1242     Keith Boyea

       26. 1233     Johnny Smith

       27. 1224     Darnell Stephens ß

       28. 1199     Anthony Butler ß

       29. 1129     Blane Morgan

       30. 1091     Curtis Martin

       31. 1074     Bill Berry

       32. 1005     Joel Carlson     

            Anthony Butler continues his climb up the chart of career rushing leaders at the academy. After topping the one-thousand yard plateau in the 2003 season Butler stands positioned to make a concerted charge up the ranks of the all-time leaders during his senior campaign in 2004. Butler gained 29 yards on four carries in the Navy game. His career stats now show he’s carried the ball 224 times for 1,199 yards a 5.35 yards per carry average and 10 TDs.            

            The newest name to be added to the list of career rushers to have reached or surpassed the 1,000 yard mark is Darnell Stephens. He was limited to 10 yards on five carries versus Navy. Stephens has now totaled 213 carries for 1,224 yards  a 5.74 yards per carry average and 8 rushing TDs in his career.  

The individual and collective performances of Butler and Stephens give evidence as to why the AFA ground based option attack has focused more upon the halfbacks’ efforts and less upon production from the fullbacks in recent years, although this year‘s team has shown the fullback game may be reemerging as a central force in the Falcons’ option attack. The two have a solid chance to surpass the 1,400 yard career barrier as seniors which would place them among the top twenty ground gainers in academy history. The senior HBs now stand 27^th and 28^th on the career rushing list at AFA with a mere 25 yards separating them.