Air Force Academy – If there’s any thought things have changed regarding the importance of Saturday’s game against BYU, just ask Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney who the Falcons play next week.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you who we’re playing after BYU,” Carney said after a midweek practice. “Is it Army? I’m not sure. We’re totally focused on BYU right now.”
Carney was answering a question as to whether last week’s 19-12 loss to San Diego State had changed how the Falcons look at their schedule, which brings BYU to Falcon Stadium at noon Saturday.
Before the loss to the Aztecs, the hype on the BYU-AFA matchup was all about two unbeaten teams in the conference playing for command of the top of the Mountain West Conference standings.
Carney was pointing out nothing has changed.
“I can’t say that it’s good to lose a game, but either way this still is for the conference championship as we see it. We’re not unbeaten anymore, but the outcome still puts us on top if we win,” he said.
If the Falcons do win, they’ll be 3-1 and will own the first tiebreaker over Wyoming and BYU, their closest rivals.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall noted the recent loss on Air Force’s record isn’t a concern of his team.
“It has no effect on us,” Mendenhall said, noting that each week now is a big game.
“Everybody looks at this game as the game of the year in the conference,” Mendenhall said. “But after that one, the next one will be the game of the year and after that one, the next game will be the game of the year.”
The Cougars are riding a four-game winning streak, including conference victories over TCU, San Diego State and UNLV. The lone comparison score is BYU’s 47-17 victory over San Diego State.
BYU quarterback John Beck isn’t counting on any advantage from comparing scores.
“We’re preparing the same as if Air Force still is unbeaten,” Beck said. “The Air Force team we’re going to see is the same team we saw when it played San Diego State. When a team goes down to Tennessee and almost wins, it has to be a good team.”
Air Force lost 31-30 at Tennessee in its season opener.
Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry is pining to see his team play as it did two weeks ago in the second half against Colorado State. The Falcons scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to win 24-21.
“All we wanted to do was play four quarters of aggressive football at San Diego State,” DeBerry said. “But we didn’t play four quarters with the urgency we played in the second half of the CSU game. If we can play four quarters as we played the second half against CSU, we’ll be fine. It will be a heck of a competitive game.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Players to watch
BYU (5-2, 3-0): It’s difficult to look anywhere but at quarterback John Beck. The senior leads the Mountain West Conference in passing efficiency at 170.3 and 16 passing touchdowns, 17 overall. Beck’s total offense figures of 293.2 yards a game rank sixth in the nation. Running back Curtis Brown’s all-purpose yardage totals in rushing, receiving and kick returns of 145.3 yards a game rank 11th in the nation.
Air Force (3-3, 3-1): Halfback Chad Hall leads conference rushers at 81.3 yards a game. Quarterback Shaun Carney is third at 72.7 yards a game. However, Carney’s passing total is only 3 yards better than his rushing total at 75.7 yards a game. Linebacker Drew Fowler ranks third in the conference in tackles, averaging 9.7 a game.
Key stat
Air Force’s third-down conversion percentage of 59.3 percent leads the conference; BYU is second at 49.4 percent.
Key for BYU
Avoiding turnovers and negating Air Force’s high ranking in turnover margin at 0.83, rated second-best in the conference.
Key for AFA
Controlling the clock and getting touchdowns. The Falcons rank second in the league in scoring when nearing the end zone, getting points on 20-of-22 possessions inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
IRV MOSS
