DEE-FENSE, DEE-FENSE? 
The Fisher DeBerry era, now in its
twenty-first season, has demonstrated that a crucial determinant in AFA’s
ability to win a game is the frequency with which the Falcons hold opponents to
twenty-three points or less. Fisher
DeBerry had coached AFA in 252 games and posted an overall record of 159-91-1(.635).
In 141
games the Falcons held their opponents to 23 or fewer points and posted a dazzling
121-20 (.858) winning
mark. In the 111
games the Falcons allowed their opponents to score 24 or more points they have
posted a desultory 38-72-1 (.346) record.
This trend, established from 1984 through 1998, has
continued in recent seasons as well. From November 18, 1999 through this year‘s
BYU game, Air Force has played fifty-four games against division 1-A opponents.
In those fifty-four games Air Force has compiled a 29-25(.537) record. In 35 (64.8%)
of those games Air Force allowed 24 or more points to the opposition. In those
35 games when allowing 24 or more points, AFA’s record is 12-23 (.342). In the nineteen games
in which the Falcons allowed twenty-three points or less AFA posted a mark of 17-2(.894).
The preponderance of evidence over twenty
years is clear: when AFA limits the opposition to 23 points or less it wins.
When AFA allows twenty-four points or more its chances to win decrease rapidly
and the figures support this assessment. Whether you take the long view over
Fisher’s twenty years as the team’s coach or the short view from November 1999
to the present the outcomes are strikingly similar: when AFA holds its opponent
to twenty-three or fewer points it wins and when it allows twenty-four or more
points it loses.
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. 1379
Darnell Stephens <=
22. 1371 Mike Quinlan
23. 1354 Spanky Gilliam
24. 1347 Larry Thomson
25. 1304 Anthony
Butler <=
26. 1296 Nakia Addison
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
was held in check by BYU as the Cougars allowed Butler to gain just 26 yards on half a dozen
carries. His career ledger now shows he’s carried the ball 243 times for 1,304
yards a 5.36 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
231 carries for 1,379 yards a 5.96 yards
per carry average and 11 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 stands 21st and 25th on the career rushing list at AFA just
75 yards apart.
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.
The MWC has completed its regular season meetings
with BCS affiliated teams in 2004 and posted a lackluster 6-13 (.315) record.
Utah went 3-0 in its
games versus BCS aligned teams. Here are the embarrassingly bad records
compiled by the rest of the MWC teams against BCS affiliated teams: AFA 0-1;
BYU 1-2; CSU 0-3; SDS 0-2; UNM 1-2; UNLV 0-2; and Wyo 1-1.
Once again as a conference, in the 2004 regular season the MWC's play
versus BCS aligned teams did nothing to warrant its inclusion in future BCS
postseason extravaganzas. But remember: there's always next year.
|
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
|
Utah 46-16 (6-13)
|