Air Force Academy – Maestro Brady Quinn’s concerto Saturday at Falcon Stadium was music enough to keep Notre Dame high on the list of college football’s hit parade.
Quinn’s passing work directed ninth-ranked Notre Dame to a 39-17 victory over outmanned Air Force before 49,367 fans, some of whom turned out to see if the Falcons could muster one of their storied upsets over the Irish.
Quinn filled the absence of the Notre Dame band and the Irish fight song with his own version of “The Notre Dame Victory March.”
He made short work of any upset hopes, passing the Irish to a touchdown in the first two plays of the game. A 51-yard strike to wide-open receiver Jeff Samardzija completed the two-play, 80-yard drive for a 7-0 lead almost before the Air Force defense had settled into position.
The Irish and their Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback led 27-3 at halftime and didn’t look back until they were safely ahead 33-3 early in the third period.
Quinn threw only 19 passes, but four of them went for touchdowns, his seventh career game of four scoring throws. He finished with 207 yards passing, but also got yeoman help from running back Darius Walker, who tormented the Falcons with 153 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries.
Ever conscious of national ranking and national image, Irish coach Charlie Weis let his team’s performance and some critical results from around the country do the talking.
“All I know is that three teams ahead of us in the polls lost and we won convincingly,” Weis said. “So I don’t think those three teams that were ahead of us are ahead of us anymore.”
The Irish (9-1) have games against Army and at USC remaining.
Weis said the most miraculous thing about Quinn’s day was that he threw only 19 passes. Maybe the clearest examples of Notre Dame’s dominance and efficiency were in the final statistics in plays and possession time as well as a second quarter that had the makings of an Air Force rally, but was nothing more than consolation time.
Air Force built a 79-46 advantage in offensive plays and a 38:35-21:25 lead in possession time. The Falcons were on offense for all but 1:09 of the second quarter, but couldn’t score. And to make matters worse, in a crushing turn of events, Notre Dame scored when cornerback Terrail Lambert returned a blocked Zach Sasser field-goal attempt 76 yards for a touchdown.
“We’re the greatest host in the country,” said AFA coach Fisher DeBerry, whose team is 2-3 at home this season. “Everybody in the country should want to play in Falcon Stadium. We’re the nicest people in the country for a half. We didn’t finish drives in the second period. We had some chances, but we didn’t convert on fourth down.”
The second quarter and a roughing-the-kicker penalty late in the first quarter that was converted into Notre Dame’s third touchdown were enough to end any hopes of an upset.
“They had too many weapons for us,” DeBerry said. “Their quarterback is a very good player, and he has a legitimate chance for the Heisman Trophy. When you put yourself behind 14-0 against the ninth-ranked team in the country, those are pretty high odds to overcome.”
Weis said the one throw that Quinn would like to have back was his last pass of the game, a fourth-down incomplete pass midway through the fourth quarter.
“That was his last throw and the one he’ll worry about,” Weis said. “Air Force made a couple of plays on him when he was waiting for someone to come open, but I thought our pass protection was pretty good all day.”
Air Force linebacker Austin Randle and strong safety John Ribald each collected a sack. But their performances were overshadowed by Irish free safety Chinedum Ndukwe, who drilled Air Force ball carriers for 22 tackles.
Air Force scored three first-half points on Sasser’s 32-yard field goal, and quarterback Shaun Carney threw two second-half touchdown passes to keep it out of blowout proportions.
THE GRADES
Offense
D: The end zone wasn’t off limits to the Falcons, but it might as well have been. Even with 33 more offensive plays and an entire second quarter with the ball except for four plays, Air Force could muster only two consolation touchdowns in the second half.
Defense
D: Give the defense a passing mark on effort. But allowing the opposing running back to gain 153 yards on 15 carries and the quarterback to throw four touchdown passes among 14 completions doesn’t cut it.
Special teams
D: When a blocked field goal is returned for a touchdown and a kickoff is unwisely run out of the end zone, there isn’t much to work with. Without Zach Sasser’s first-quarter 32-yard field goal and two blocked extra points, it would have been an F.
Overall
D: It’s best to move along and not take this one over again. A passing mark going into Saturday’s home game against Utah is the best anyone could hope for.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
