Air Force Academy – Shaun Carney not only has played quarterback for Air Force the past two years, but he also has taken the time to learn about the other teams in the Mountain West Conference.
His knowledge tells him San Diego State’s 0-5 record is not a good indication of the kind of team the Aztecs have on the field.
“San Diego State always has a ton of athletic ability on its team,” Carney said Wednesday. “I know they’re not happy with their season. If all their ability comes together, they’re a very dangerous team.”
Falcons coach Fisher DeBerry throws in the fact that this week’s opponent is looking at Saturday night’s game in San Diego as the beginning of a new season.
“We have to be a mature team on this trip,” DeBerry said. “This is a very important game. I know they’re building their plan around the theme that it’s a new season.”
DeBerry is reminding his team the Aztecs haven’t been kind the past four years, beating the Falcons three times. AFA (3-2, 3-0 MWC) heads into Saturday’s matchup atop the conference.
“We haven’t done nothing yet,” DeBerry said. “We have a lot of important conference games yet to play.”
After the Aztecs, Air Force plays BYU on Oct. 28, steps out of the league to play Nov. 3 at Army and Nov. 11 against Notre Dame at Falcon Stadium, and finishes the season with a conference game at home against Utah and games at UNLV and TCU.
Carney isn’t expecting his game plan to be any different to meet the challenge of San Diego State’s tenacity.
But the triple-option offense does put wear and tear on the quarterback. The junior seems up to the challenge and isn’t planing to do any body-saving slides to avoid hits.
Carney got some mileage passing the ball in last week’s 24-21 win over Colorado State. Air Force’s last two touchdowns in the rally were passes to receivers Spencer Armstrong and Victor Thompson. Carney has four touchdown passes and four rushing touchdowns among his 767 yards of total offense.
“The mentality you have to have in the option is that you’re a running back,” Carney said. “I haven’t done anything like that in 21 years. Physically, getting hit throwing the ball is worse than getting hit running with the ball.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
