Air Force Academy – Coach Fisher DeBerry put on a brave face Saturday night in Falcon Stadium, but it only was a mask.
Utah had just won 17-14 in a colossal struggle of defenses and the Falcons slipped to 4-6, with games remaining against UNLV and TCU.
But the arithmetic would have been much better if the Falcons had won, leaving them with a chance for a winning record and a postseason bid.
“I don’t know the ramifications,” DeBerry said. “I’m not concerned about the ramifications right now.
“I’m concerned about the hearts of our players because they fought their guts out.
“I know they wanted to win for each other. I know how hard it hurts.”
The Falcons took the loss hard, especially for the seniors, who were playing their final game in Falcon Stadium.
“It was pretty frustrating,” junior quarterback Shaun Carney said. “Not coming through with a victory for our seniors in their last game was very disappointing.”
There wasn’t anyone more disappointed than senior kicker Zach Sasser, who had a chance to add six first-half points on field goal tries of 35 and 34 yards.
“I’m just as much responsible as anyone for the loss tonight,” Sasser said.
“No, it shouldn’t affect my confidence. I’m definitely disappointed, but we still have two games left and I need to be there.”
DeBerry said the Falcons didn’t take advantage of opportunities.
He put his offense on the field first in hopes they could get off to a fast start.
“Very frankly, we didn’t get it done in the red zone,” DeBerry said.
“The last thing I told the team this afternoon was that they’d start fast and we had to finish strong.
“Our team finished strong, but we had no turnovers and we got no turnovers. We’ve lost three games by a total of six points. This was a big game.”
Statistical highlights
Senior receiver Victor Thompson was the top performer on the receiving end of Carney’s passes.
He caught five for 99 yards and a touchdown. Halfback Chad Hall caught five passes for 27 yards.
The Utes beat the Falcons for the fourth straight time, the fourth-best streak among teams on Air Force’s schedule this year.
