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 300th 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
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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.