Air Force Academy – Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry was in a reflective mood Saturday after his Air Force Falcons lost to Army for the first time at Falcon Stadium since 1977.
There was even more for DeBerry to dwell on: The 27-24 Army win spelled the first time Air Force has lost to both Army and Navy in the same season since 1996.
“We’re going to re-examine a lot of things when the season is over with,” DeBerry said. “I don’t think we’re at rock bottom by any stretch of the imagination. I’m in the same place where they (Army and Navy coaches) have been. I can imagine how some great football coaches came in here and left feeling like I do right now.”
Fresh in DeBerry’s mind was a string of Air Force victories in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy race with Army and Navy. From 1989 through 2002, Air Force won the service academy trophy 13 of 14 times.
But the Falcons have not been in the trophy hunt for three years, having lost to Navy three straight seasons and now to Army, a team that had beaten Air Force only once in 16 previous games.
Saturday’s victory keeps Army in contention for a possible first trophy win since 1996. This year’s Army-Navy game is Dec. 3 in Philadelphia.
Final-drive analysis
Despite staying on the ground for seven of nine plays in Air Force’s last possession, DeBerry said his team wasn’t necessarily playing for a potential tying field goal.
He said afterward that quarterback Shaun Carney was running the offense and was in charge of the play selection. Carney said some of the plays were signaled in from the sideline as the Falcons went into a no-huddle offense.
Halfback Chad Hall’s fumble with 55 seconds left on the Army 48 ended AFA’s chances.
Air Force has lost seven of its past eight games and fell to 3-7.
“I certainly don’t think we lost the game on our last play,” DeBerry said of Hall’s fumble. “It cost us a chance to maybe tie it or maybe even win the game.”
DeBerry pointed to first half kicking woes and defensive problems in the second half, when Army put together scoring drives of 14 and 11 plays. He noted that difficulty in getting Army’s offense off the field allowed the Black Knights to beat Air Force at its own game. By converting six of 15 third-down chances and two of three fourth-down chances, Army collected an advantage in possession time of 34:03 to 25:57.
Carney had his sights set on the end zone in the final series.
“Our plan was to score a touchdown,” Carney said. “The coaches just told me to not make any bad decisions.”
The loss was especially devastating to the Air Force seniors, who played their last home game and have time to dwell on the loss before playing New Mexico on Nov. 19.
“I don’t know if there’s a word that describes this,” Falcons center Jon Wilson said. “You look back and pick situations where you could have made better plays.”
