AFA by the Numbers

THE “200 WATCH”. Having now signed a five year extension on a contract which was set to expire after the 2004 season, Falcons’ fans can rest assured that Fisher DeBerry will be stalking the sidelines through the fall of 2009. Never one to speak publicly about coaching standards he might reach as the result of being the most successful coach in service academy football history, I’ll mention a long term benchmark at which DeBerry may finally be able to take aim.

           As the current season began only sixteen coaches in division 1-A history had reached the 200 win plateau. Before retiring as head coach at Fresno State, Jim Sweeney became the man to most recently arrive at 200 career victories. (Falling just short of the 200 mark are: Dana Bible with 198 wins; Dan McGugin with 197 and Fielding Yost  and Howard Jones with 196).

     In posting his 159^th win with the team’s victory against New Mexico, DeBerry stands 41 triumphs short of the vaunted goal with approximately five and a half seasons to go on his contract. Let the “200 Watch” continue! 

         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. 1318      Darnell Stephens ç

       25. 1296     Nakia Addison

       26. 1278     Anthony Butler ç

       27. 1242     Keith Boyea

       28. 1233     Johnny Smith

       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 had his best afternoon of the season in running for 79 yards and 1 TD against the Lobos. His career stats now show he’s carried the ball 237 times for 1,278 yards a 5.39 yards per carry average and 11 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. Stephens ripped New Mexico for 94 yards in the first half and was well on his way to a 100 yard game before suffering an injury while returning the second half kickoff. Still, the 94 yard game represents a career high for the senior. His 58 yard TD run opened the game’s scoring. Stephens has now totaled 221 carries for 1,318 yards  a 5.96 yards per carry average and 9 rushing TDs in his career.

            The individual and collective performances of Stephens and Butler 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 pair of HBs now stand 24^th and 26^th on the career rushing list at AFA with a mere 40 yards separating them.

STUMBLING BLOCKS. This year's senior has two dubious distinctions. Its overall MWC record is a quite modest 12-12(.500) through and including the New Mexico game. The class has also seen three consecutive seasons end with 2-5 swoons over the course of the final seven games on the schedule.

            In the past three seasons AFA has lost two of three games to both San Diego State and New Mexico. In the same period of time AFA has lost three straight to CSU, bringing the Falcons' record against these three conference foes to an unacceptable 2-7 (.222).

            The second half of the schedule this season calls for AFA to play all three of their recent nemeses--N. Mexico, SDS and CSU--at home. The team’s most recent win, posted against the Lobos, raises the record of the class of 2005 to 3-7 versus New Mexico, SDS and CSU.

TAKING THE OFFENSIVE. Chuck Petersen, the national assistant coach of the year in 2003, has been the offensive coordinator for the Falcons from the outset of the 2000 season. Since Petersen has assumed the reins to the Air Force attack the Falcons have posted a record of 32-22(.592) in fifty-four games.

OUTPACING THE OPPOSITION.  Since the start of the 2001 season and through the New Mexico game, the Air Force Falcons have played forty-three games. AFA has compiled a 24-19 (.558) in those games. Here's a game by game look at the yards gained and allowed by the Falcons in this time and a look at how this performance correlates to AFA's record over the time span.

2001

AFA  249	Oklahoma	398	Loss   44-3
AFA  379	Tenn Tech	268	Win  42-0
AFA   427	S. D. State	403	Win  45-21
AFA  371	Navy	412	Win  24-18
AFA  524	Wyoming	516	Win  24-13
AFA  502	BYU	611	Loss 63-33
AFA  278	New Mex.	620	Loss  52-33
AFA  282	Army	486	Win  34-24
AFA  481	CSU	300	Loss  28-21
AFA  336	UNLV	353	Loss  34-10
AFA  603	Hawaii	572	Loss  52-30
AFA  274	Utah	543	Win  38-37
AFA outgained in 7 of 12 games

2002

AFA  523	N'western	221	Win  52-3
AFA  360	New Mex.	362	Win  38-31 (OT)
AFA  317	California	335	Win  23-21
AFA  287	Utah	290	Win  30-26
AFA  536	Navy	347	Win  48-7
AFA  463	BYU	304	Win  52-9
AFA  161	N. Dame	447	Loss 21-14
AFA  424	Wyoming	484	Loss 34-26
AFA  250	CSU	341	Loss 31-12
AFA  531	Army	330	Win  49-30
AFA  468	UNLV	469	Win  49-32
AFA  538	S.D.State	398	Loss 38-34
AFA  318	Va. Tech	278	Loss 20-13 (S.F. Bowl)
AFA outgained in 7 of 13 games

2003

AFA  469	Wofford	175	Win  49-0
AFA  409	N'western	452	Win  22-21
AFA  427	N. Texas	260	Win  34-21
AFA  510	Wyoming	486	Win  35-29
AFA  328	BYU	306	Win  24-10
AFA  362	Navy	326	Loss  28-25
AFA  324	UNLV	250	Win  24-7
AFA  430	CSU	564	Loss  30-20
AFA  362	Utah	459	Loss  45-43 (3OT)
AFA  446	Army	199	Win 31-3
AFA  273	N Mex.	364	Loss 24-12
AFA  286	SDS	383	Loss 24-3
AFA outgained in 5 of 12 games

2004

AFA  271	Cal	573	Loss  56-14
AFA  498	E. Wash.	413	Win  42-20
AFA  417	UNLV	258	Win  27-10
AFA 471	Utah	505	Loss 49-35
AFA  415	Navy	321	Loss 24-21
AFA   334	New Mex.	259	Win  28-23
Outgained in 2 of 6 games

    In their past forty-three games the Falcons have outgained their opponents 22 times and posted a 16-6 (.727) record in doing so. The two most recent outings in which Air Force gained more yardage than an opponent, yet still lost, are the 2003 and 2004 games against Navy. Since the start of the 2001 season the other teams to have been less productive than Air Force, but emerge victorious are: CSU (2001), Hawaii (2001),SDS (2002) and Virginia Tech (2002).

            In the remaining 21 games the Falcons have been outgained and posted a record of 8-13 (.380). It has been a crapshoot for AFA when being outgained since the start of the 2001 season. On the other hand it's clear that the Falcons' ability to pile up yardage has led to an increased likelihood of victory.