Air Force Academy – Air Force junior quarterback Shaun Carney was a realist Saturday in the aftermath of Brigham Young’s 33-14 victory in a key Mountain West Conference game.
The loss dropped the Falcons to 3-2 in conference play and out of consideration for the conference title, at least for now. Air Force’s chances to win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy are over after a 24-17 loss to Navy on Oct. 7.
Those factors leave bowl-game eligibility as a last resort, and Air Force (3-4) needs three wins in its last five games to become eligible.
“Theoretically, yes,” Carney answered when asked if the bowl picture was the last bright spot. “It’s possible that BYU would lose two games. It’s possible that Wyoming would lose another game. But we have to worry about things we can control, and that’s going out on Saturday and playing football as we know how.
“BYU’s a good defensive team, I’ll give them credit for that. We had opportunities and we didn’t make plays. We had two sacks and three dropped balls early. We didn’t execute and it was ridiculous how well we didn’t play together as a team. Everybody has been hit in the face and asking what we have to do.”
AFA cornerback Chris Sutton put another factor into the equation.
“I think it’s going out there for pride,” Sutton said. “There’s a bowl game in there if we get the wins. We want to get a win each week and the bowl game will come.”
The Falcons were off their game Saturday. Carney completed only 2-of-6 passes for 16 yards and was intercepted once. Jacobe Kendrick, a fullback, led the Falcons in rushing with 58 yards.
AFA coach Fisher DeBerry isn’t thinking about postseason play.
“We haven’t thought about a bowl game,” DeBerry said. “We live from one week to the next week and work on getting players ready to play another game.”
Next is Friday night’s game against Army in West Point, N.Y.
Anxious moments
With 10:48 left in Saturday’s game, Air Force defensive back Carson Bird was injured and was taken off the field on a stretcher with his neck in a brace.
After the game, DeBerry said there had not been an official report on the extent of the injuries. However, DeBerry said Bird was moving his arms and legs, allowing the team to breathe a little easier.
But the Falcons were banged up against BYU, and face a short week of practice and recovery time. Sutton suffered a shoulder bruise. Defensive lineman Grant Thomas limped off the field in the second half and guard Tyler Do- hallow, who returned to the field Saturday, also suffered a leg injury.
Footnotes
When the Falcons were shut out in the first half Saturday – coupled with a first- half shutout last weekend at San Diego State – it was the first time in DeBerry’s 23 years as head coach that his teams had scoreless halves in consecutive games. … AFA wide receiver Victor Thompson caught two passes, extending his consecutive game streak with at least one reception to 10. … Senior halfback Beau Suder scored the first rushing touchdown of his career, and it came with 27 seconds left.
