Air Force Academy – Travis Dekker had his way of saying that the tight end was reintroduced to the Air Force offense Saturday.
Dekker, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior from Albuquerque, caught three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown against South Carolina State in the Falcons’ 34-3 rout. The three receptions were one short of his season total a year ago when Air Force ran the triple option.
“I could say it was a little bit of a coming out for the tight end,” Dekker said. “We need to get this ship turned around a little bit from the last couple of years.”
Dekker could have matched his season total of last year, but he missed the first pass thrown to him. After that he caught everything that came his way, including a 10-yard touchdown strike that gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. Keith Madsen, Air Force’s backup tight end, also had a catch.
“It was exciting to know that we were in the game plan and that we were expected to contribute to the win,” Dekker said of the Falcons’ tight ends. “Last year was a different mind-set.”
AFA coach Troy Calhoun hinted his tight ends might get more calls as the season progresses.
“I’ve always felt the tight end is as good a matchup as there is in college football,” Calhoun said. “Travis has great length and he’s pretty agile, and he has very good ball skills. He did miss a block, though.”
Footnotes
Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney and center Blaine Guenther seemed to be off-center on the first few exchanges in the shotgun formation. Carney looked as if he was playing shortstop at times. “If you ask Blaine, he’d tell you they were a little weak at first,” Carney said of the snaps. “He was nervous.” … AFA senior linebacker Drew Fowler, who led the Mountain West Conference with 123 tackles last year, said the Falcons’ blitzes “had their linemen’s heads spinning a little bit. I hope the (tackle) numbers are spread around more this year. You don’t see any great defenses having a player lead the conference in tackles.” Fowler had four tackles against the Bulldogs.
THE GRADES | By Irv Moss
Offense
B Solid showing overall, but an interception and false start penalty at South Carolina State’s 1-yard line knocked the grade down a notch.
Defense
A Six sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery. What more do you want? AFA kept an opponent out of the end zone for the first time since Nov. 8, 2003.
Special teams
A Ryan Harrison converted two field goals on two attempts and averaged 48 yards on two punts. Three of the junior’s kickoffs weren’t returned.
Overall
A Even with the Falcons adjusting to a new offense and new coach, their performance was nearly flawless.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
