SOUTH BEND, IND. — Air Force coach Troy Calhoun calls them boomerangs – otherwise known as defensive touchdowns.
Air Force’s defense was at it again Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, and this time it was outside linebacker John Rabold making the play.
Rabold’s 19-yard return of a fumble by Notre Dame fullback Asaph Schwapp for a touchdown hit the Irish as if it were a boomerang, giving the Falcons a 10-0 lead that set the tone for the rest of the game.
In other boomerangs this season, Air Force safety Bobby Giannni returned a fumble 85 yards for a touchdown in a 20-12 victory over Wyoming, and linebacker Drew Fowler returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown in a 45-21 victory over CSU.
“For our guys to come in here and play as hard as they did, I can’t say enough about them,” defensive coordinator Tom DeRuyter said. “Overall, they were determined to win. It wasn’t a surprise to them. Any time you score on defense it gives you a great chance to win a game.
“Notre Dame has been struggling a little bit this year. When a team isn’t having success, they can seem to be snakebitten at times. It was a 15-round fight, and at the end our players had a couple of more swings in them.”
Rabold didn’t see the fumble at first, but his vision and legs were perfect after that.
“I didn’t see it until it was up in the air,” Rabold said. “If it had stayed on the ground, I probably couldn’t have gotten to it. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. It put the momentum on our side.
“Notre Dame is a really talented team. If you look at their recruits and compare them to us, they should beat us. But it all depends on what happens on the field. We have a big-play mentality on defense this year. We’ve been able to do that this year and it has been successful for us.”
Thoughts from the corner. Air Force cornerback Carson Bird on the victory:
“We knew we had to perform,” he said. “It was another chance to prove ourselves and it was on national television. It was a great feeling. We aren’t going to say this is the high point of our season, because our season isn’t over. It’s not going to be over next week, either.”
