AFA by the Numbers

In his twenty-first season as AFA's head coach, Fisher DeBerry's record through 254 games stands at 160-93-1(.635) overall; 75-59-1(.559) on the road or at neutral sites and 85-34(.714) in home games. A greater number of these games have been played on the road or at neutral sites--135 or 53.1%--while 119 or 46.9% have been played as home games.

      FISHER'S IMPACT. AFA's all-time record now stands at 298-248-13(.544) in 559 games. Fisher's tenure as head coach spans 45.4% of the total number of games the Falcons have played in their history, yet has produced 53.6% of the academy's victories. Another mark of Fisher's success is that his teams have registered only 37.5% of the academy's all-time losses while having played 45.4% of the total number of games in AFA's football history. DeBerry has already won 22 more games than all other head football coaches in AFA's history combined. The Falcons need two more victories to post their 300^th win. 

     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 254 games and posted an overall record of 160-93-1(.635). In 142 games the Falcons held their opponents to 23 or fewer points and posted a dazzling 122-20 (.859) winning mark. In the 112 games the Falcons allowed their opponents to score 24 or more points they have posted a desultory 38-73-1 (.343) record.            

This trend, established from 1984 through 1998, has continued in recent seasons as well. From November 18, 1999 through this year‘s Army game, Air Force has played fifty-six games against division 1-A opponents. In those fifty-six games Air Force has compiled a 30-26(.535) record. In 36 (64.2%) of those games Air Force allowed 24 or more points to the opposition. In those 36 games when allowing 24 or more points, AFA’s record is 12-24 (.333). In the twenty games in which the Falcons allowed twenty-three points or less AFA posted a mark of 18-2(.900).           

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.

        STEPHENS AND BUTLER CONTINUE THEIR CLIMB

            As the Falcons move onto the final two regular season games on their schedule in 2004, here's a look at where Darnell Stephens and Anthony Butler stand on the academy's all-time rushing list. 

       17. 1534     Mike Thiessen

       18. 1478     Jake Campbell

       19. 1470     Leotis Palmer

       20. 1466      Darnell Stephens ç

       21. 1464     Anthony Butler ç

       22. 1406     Qualario Brown

       23. 1400     Scotty McKay

       24. 1371     Mike Quinlan

       25. 1354     Spanky Gilliam

       26. 1347     Larry Thomson

       27. 1296     Nakia Addison

       28. 1242     Keith Boyea

       29. 1233     Johnny Smith

       30. 1129     Blane Morgan

       31. 1091     Curtis Martin

       32. 1074     Bill Berry

       33. 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. A solid 10 carry 66 yard day against Army in the final CIC game of his career shot Butler well past the 1400 yard mark and positioned two yards in back of teammate Darnell Stephens. Butler's career ledger now shows he’s carried the ball 264 times for 1,464 yards a 5.54 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. The senior from Midwest City, Oklahoma score a pair of TDs against Army in helping lead Air Force to a CIC victory at West Point. Stephens has now totaled 250 carries for 1,466 yards a 5.86 yards per carry average and 14 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. The tandem has a chance to gain a collective 3,000 career yards by the end of the 2004 season. Butler and Stephens enetr the final two regular season games of their career with remarkably similar numbers. By gaining just a hadful of yards against SDS this week both will surpass former teammate Leotis Palmer's career rushing total and speed by Jake Campbell as well.  Darnell and Anthony are the latest in a growing number of recent AFA halfbacks to etch their names among the top twenty rushers in academy history.