Air Force Academy – After a light practice session Saturday, Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry reminisced on how his team of 11 years ago salvaged a season that looked hopeless. The 1994 Falcons lost their first three games – 34-21 to Colorado State, 45-21 to BYU and 14-10 to Northwestern – before turning their season around, winning eight of their next nine games.
“We only lost to Notre Dame,” DeBerry said, “and we had a chance to win that game, too.”
The Falcons don’t play Notre Dame this season, but they have plenty of incentive to rebound starting right away. After losing Thursday night 41-23 to Colorado State and dropping to 2-3 for the season, Air Force moves into military league play Saturday, facing Navy in Annapolis, Md.
With any chance to contend in the Mountain West Conference race gone, the Falcons can salvage an opportunity to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, awarded to the winner of the Air Force-Navy-Army round robin. Navy has won the trophy the past two years and the Falcons must win Saturday to have any chance of putting it back in their trophy case, where it rested for six straight and 13 of the last 14 years before the Midshipmen won in 2003 and 2004.
DeBerry said it’s time for his team to stop the slippage.
“I’ve been waiting for five weeks for this team to play a complete game and it hasn’t done it yet,” DeBerry said. “But they’re very capable of doing that and when they do it, they’ll like it and do it again.
“You never stop believing, but there sometimes comes a place when you quit talking and go do it.”
Turnovers and mistakes have plagued the Falcons, even though they beat Washington and San Diego State.
Against the Rams, the Falcons turned the ball over on two of their first three offensive plays. DeBerry said those miscues took his team out of its offensive game plan.
“I think we’ve been competitive, but I’m not satisfied in any way,” DeBerry said. “The trophy is the No. 1 goal in our program, and it has been for 22 years I’ve been the head coach.”
Footnote
Senior tight end Robert McMenomy won’t play against Navy. He missed Thursday’s game with a bruised foot suffered against Utah.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
