Air Force coach Troy Calhoun didn’t sound panicky Sunday after his Falcons lost Saturday for the first time this season, 31-6 to BYU. But he was adamant that his team play more inspired football this Saturday against Navy.
“We have to meet as a team head-on and eyeball to eyeball and look at our mistakes,” Calhoun said. “We have to handle it like big boys and get some things corrected. There’s still pretty much of a full season ahead of us, but there’s some urgency about it.”
After watching the tape of Saturday’s game in Provo, Utah, that left the Falcons limping out of LaVell Edwards Stadium, Calhoun couldn’t think of a single positive to come out of the game. But he knows his team can play better than it showed against the Cougars.
“We have to know as a team that we aren’t taller than anybody, we’re not going to outweigh anybody and we can’t think that we can outsmart anybody,” Calhoun said. “If you think you’re going to out-guru somebody, that’s bad football.”
Calhoun said he didn’t have any specifics in mind, but the statistics from the game made it clear he could talk about everything. The Cougars, with sophomore quarterback Max Hall throwing two touchdown passes, compiled 452 yards of total offense.
Air Force countered with only 231 total yards. Quarterback Shaun Carney was 10-of-21 passing for 98 yards.
Calhoun credited his team’s overall effort but said the repair work he faced this week would come from within.
“First and foremost, you take care of your own house,” Calhoun said. “Right now, we have furniture that’s not in the right place in the room. But the intangibles have to come from the heart.”
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
