Air Force Academy – The score was bad enough.
The only Air Force loss that was worse in the Falcons’ 25 years of conference play happened 15 years ago when BYU rolled 54-7 at Falcon Stadium.
No one could remember if the Falcons were booed that day, but there was no doubt they were booed Saturday while Texas Christian raced to a 48-10 victory before 33,210 fans.
With the AFA season on the slide, fans couldn’t hold back their feelings late in the first half. After giving the Horned Frogs the ball at the AFA 21-yard line after a blocked punt, the Falcons quickly fell behind 27-10. There still was 2:26 left on the clock, but the Falcons seemed content with running the ball. They walked away empty-handed after Scott Eberle missed a 32-yard field goal.
“I guess they thought we were being conservative,” AFA coach Fisher DeBerry said. “We weren’t going to give them another score, and we wanted to get the ball out of our territory. I don’t know why they were booing. They can do what they want. They pay their way in.”
The booing and the early exit of a number of fans had Air Force players upset.
“It was the worst,” strong safety John Taibi said. “It almost was embarrassing today.”
Said nose guard Russ Mitscherling: “Of course it hurts when fans walk out on the team. It doesn’t feel the best when you have your own town leaving early. They can have their own opinion. It doesn’t affect us much.”
Emotional reaction
TCU coach Gary Patterson charged officials after Air Force wide receiver Victor Thompson was called for a personal foul when he knocked down cornerback Drew Coleman at the end on a running play.
“It happened and I got upset about it,” Patterson said. “I’m over it.”
Thompson appeared to lose his footing on loose grass and lunged into Coleman, who had one of the Horned Frogs’ two interceptions. He said he wasn’t trying to intentionally hurt Coleman, who returned to the game.
