Air Force Academy – If the path to the high road in the Mountain West Conference race had gotten any steeper Thursday night in Falcon Stadium, there might not have been a finisher.
But with a last gasp, a huff and a puff, the Air Force Falcons broke through and claimed a 24-21 victory over Colorado State in what had been described as a pivotal game for both the Rams and the Falcons. The Falcons took the high ground to a 3-0 conference record, while the Rams dropped to 1-1.
Hopelessly out of it in the first half and appearing to be a fumbling, bumbling team, Air Force roared back in the second half. The Falcons scored the first 21 points of the second half to gain their three-point advantage.
The Falcons made the three-point lead hold up, but not before Rams quarterback Caleb Hanie had a chance to bring CSU back in the last four minutes. But Hanie also surrendered two pass interceptions, including a pick by Air Force cornerback Chris Sutton with 1:59 left in the game.
“I told our players at halftime that I didn’t want anyone to go back out of the field who didn’t believe,” Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said. “I saw that look in their eyes that wasn’t there last week when we lost to Navy.”
The Falcons delivered the hex on the Rams by scoring the only points of the second half. Quarterback Shaun Carney got it done both in the air and on the ground. His touchdown strikes of 14 yards to Spencer Armstrong and 19 yards to Victory Thompson got the Falcons back in the game in the lead for the first time. The strike to Armstrong with 11:20 left in the fourth period got the Falcons over the top.
DeBerry said the key word for his team was composure. And safety Bobby Giannini, whose interception with 2:58 left in the third period started Hanie’s and CSU’s demise.
Giannini’s theft put the Falcons at the CSU 14-yard line and Armstrong’s touchdown followed two plays later. In that period of the game, the Falcons scored two touchdowns in 1:24, including fullback Jacobe Kendrick’s six-yard run on a drive that got a boost from Chris Sutton’s 26-yard punt return to the CSU 48-yard line.
Giannini’s interception was a catalyst for Air Force’s defense that controlled the second half. The Rams collected no points, no pass completions and just four first downs in the second 30 minues.
“I thought he would come in screaming at halftime,” Giannini said of defensive coordinator Richard Bell. “But he was real calm.”
Hanie wasn’t allowed to be calm in the second half after a determined first half performance appeared to leave the Falcons in a hopeless, fumbling bumbling state.
He finished with 282 yards and two touchdowns passing, but the two interceptions tarnished the effort.
“We didn’t move the ball and and make some plays in the second half,” CSU coach Sonny Lubick said. “If we had made a first down early and hit a couple of passes then all of a sudden we would have looked as if we were playing with more enthusiasm.”
Quarterback Shaun Carney led the Falcons’ second half charge, finishing with 106 yards on the ground, with a 102-yard boost from halfback Chad Hall. Carney also passed for 102 yards and the two scores.
While Air Force controlled the second half, he first half belonged to CSU.
Hanie’s passing had Air Force’s defense squirming throughout the first half. The CSU junior found flanker Dustin Osborn wide open behind the defense for the first score of the game, a 60-yard strike to 4:35 left in the first quarter.
Then it was h-back Kory Sperry who was left open at the back of the end zone on a 6-yard scoring pass that pushed the Rams ahead 14-0 with 6:26 left in the half.
Hanie bootlegged for the last three yards to score CSU’s third touchdown for a 21-3 lead with 16 seconds left in the half.
But Hanie’s work wasn’t just on touchdown passes.
As time was running out in the first half, Hanie and split end Damon Morton teamed on an 83-yard pass play, a career high for both, to the Air Force three. Hanie fooled the defense and ran it in for the 18-point lead.
Air Force’s chance to stay in the game was disrupted by two costly fumbles. Halfback Chad Hall fumbled the ball away at the CSU 40-yard line in the first period and fullback Ryan Williams fumbled at the CSU 14-yard line, giving the Rams the ball at the two-yard line.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
