New San Diego State coach Chuck Long and his defensive coordinator, Bob Elliott, join the fraternity of Mountain West Conference coaches who annually try to solve the Air Force shuffle on short notice.
If there’s one thing consistent throughout the conference, coaches fret about preparing for the triple-option offense when the Falcons are on the schedule. It’s usually the only game of the season that the defensive plan changes much from week to week.
“We’ve had some experience with them before,” Long said. “I was on the Oklahoma coaching staff when we played them in 2001.”
Long got his view of the Falcons from the offensive staff at Oklahoma, but he heard the grumbling from down the hall.
“Our defensive coaches struggled all week in preparing to play them,” Long said. “Give coach Fisher DeBerry credit for implementing a system and staying with it. He stuck by his guns, and it has paid off.”
Coming off a national championship, Oklahoma beat the Falcons 44-3 in the 2001 season opener.
Long’s challenge now is doing it as the head coach and with a team that hasn’t won in its first five games. He got a break in the schedule with an extra week to prepare for Air Force because of a bye. Most of the time, teams prepare for the Falcons with just three days of practice.
Elliott came to the Aztecs’ coaching staff after four years as defensive coordinator at Kansas State. While coaching the Wildcats, Elliott gained experience in facing some option offense when playing Nebraska.
“I’ve seen Air Force’s scheme before, but no one runs it as well as they do,” Elliott said. “Playing against the option is all about discipline and having your eyes in the right place all the time. That’s easier said than done. But this league’s amazing. One week you’re playing BYU and a spread offense and the next week you’re playing Air Force. You have to change gears in a hurry.”
DeBerry isn’t ready to concede advantages. He thinks his team’s challenge of preparing for the workings of a new coaching staff is as formidable.
“I really and truly believe it’s tougher on us because we haven’t played against this coaching staff before,” DeBerry said. “The only research we have is based on films. We’ll be making adjustments during the game as we find out what they do. But you really have to play a team once or twice before getting a good idea.”
Footnote
The status of Aztecs quarterback Kevin O’Connell (hand ligaments) and tailback Lynell Hamilton (torn meniscus) has been elevated to possible in backup roles. Long said freshmen quarterback Kevin Craft will start, and Atiyyah Henderson will start at tailback.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
