FORT COLLINS — It was the ballet of the pitter-patter of 1,000 feet Saturday at Hughes Stadium, and the performance by senior Chad Hall, Air Force’s Mr. Do It All, made it seem as if he left 998 of the footprints that covered the stadium’s floor.
Diminutive in stature but giant in heart, Hall ran in every direction imaginable and through the slightest of holes for a school-record 256 yards in the Falcons’ 45-21 rout of Colorado State. He did it on 31 carries, with four producing touchdowns, as the Falcons won at CSU for only the third time since 1991.
The 5-foot-8, 180-pound Hall was the springboard to the Falcons’ 385 yards rushing. With Air Force coach Troy Calhoun sensing a difficult passing game because of the weather conditions, the Falcons ran 69 times and quarterback Shaun Carney attempted just five passes.
“I keep saying it, but I can’t give enough credit to the offensive line. That was the game,” Hall said. “They owned the line of scrimmage and it was easy to run behind them. We just wanted to keep getting first downs and secure the win.”
The Falcons (5-2 overall) are off to their best start in Mountain West Conference play at 4-1.
Hall had his third game of more than 100 yards against the Rams, but this was the big one. His 256 yards broke the academy’s previous record of 249 yards rushing by quarterback Dee Dowis (Sept. 2, 1989, against San Diego State). Hall is the first Falcon with 200-plus yards rushing since Beau Morgan had 217 yards against Fresno State in 1996.
Calhoun knew Hall was close to the record and left him in the game on the final 16-play, 83-yard scoring drive, even though ahead 38-21.
“On the last drive somebody told me about the record,” Calhoun said. “My initial thought was just to play it out. But I thought this could be a special opportunity for the player. There were some lanes in there to run and that’s a credit to everybody involved.”
Hall carried on the drive’s last two plays, gaining 2 yards, then 13 on the next that went for a touchdown.
Asked if he felt the Falcons ran up the score, CSU defensive end Jesse Nading wasn’t miffed.
“I don’t want to speculate in their intentions,” Nading said. “You can’t be upset at them. We shouldn’t have been in that situation. At that point we were more mad at ourselves than who was in the game.”
Hall’s only blemish was a fourth- quarter fumble that caught his coach’s attention.
“He played really well, but I wish he would have held onto the one ball,” Calhoun said.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
