It may become known as the hit that put some spunk into Air Force’s season.
Defensive end Ben Garland and outside linebacker John Rabold instigated the collision Saturday, their target Frank Summers, UNLV’s 240-pound running back.
To set the stage, consider Air Force was struggling to cling to a 7-0 lead. Summer and the Rebels were faced with a fourth down from Air Force’s 1-yard line halfway through the second quarter.
Summers leaped to go over the top, but Garland and Rabold turned Summers upside down and kept him out of the end zone.
The Falcons went on to win 31-14, improving to 4-2 and 3-1 in the Mountain West Conference. Summers got his 100 yards, but the denial at the goal line set the stage for the rest of the game.
Runs key in otherwise disappointing game. Calhoun said long touchdown runs by Chad Hall (52 yards) and quarterback Shaun Carney (71 yards) were sparks, but otherwise he wasn’t pleased with his team’s overall performance. Two fumble turnovers by tailback Jim Ollis didn’t sit well with Calhoun.
“The one thing I liked about the long run by Carney was that I saw a lot of blue shirts down in front of him,” Calhoun said. “That tells you a little bit about our players and what we’re capable of doing. We didn’t play like a hard-nosed football team tonight and that has to change.”
Calhoun said it was inexcusable that Air Force’s defense couldn’t get the Rebels off the field at critical times.
The Rebels ran 30 more plays than the Falcons (86-56), but Air Force’s defense limited third-down conversions to 7-of-18 and fourth-down tries to 1-of-4.
CSU up next. Calhoun is apprehensive about Saturday as the Falcons face CSU and running back Kyle Bell.
“Next week, when we go to Fort Collins, we better be ready to tackle that big thoroughbred,” Calhoun said of facing Bell. “If we play like we did in the first half (Saturday), we’re going to have some cleat marks in our chests.”
Bell riddled the Falcons two years ago in a 41-23 Rams victory. Bell missed last year’s game with a knee injury and the Falcons won 24-21.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
