AIR FORCE ACADEMY — After Air Force’s 41-24 victory Saturday at Notre Dame, officials of the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, have penciled in the Falcons to be one of the teams in their Dec. 31 game.
Tom Starr, the bowl’s executive director, noted some remaining obstacles Monday but none seemed big enough to dislodge Air Force’s participation.
“As far as pulling the string, we haven’t completely done that yet,” Starr said. “We can’t say anything official, and remember we have the third choice among Mountain West Conference teams. We were extremely impressed by the victory over Notre Dame. It solidified our interest.”
Starr said that if Air Force is available after selections are made for the Las Vegas Bowl, which has the first choice from the Mountain West Conference, and the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, which has the second pick, he would have a difficult time looking past the Falcons (8-3, 5-2 MWC).
Air Force completes its regular season Saturday with a home game against San Diego State (4-5, 3-2).
If there is a need for more selling of Air Force to Starr’s selection committee or to any other bowl’s selection committee, first-year AFA coach Troy Calhoun sounds ready to do it.
“If it’s my responsibility to get on the phones, I’ll absolutely do it,” Calhoun said. “If I’m supposed to talk to the executive director of the Fort Worth Bowl or visit with people from the Poinsettia Bowl or the Albuquerque Bowl, if that’s part of my job I should do it. Our players have done everything they could possibly do. As far as a bowl game for them, it should be over, done. It should be a done deal, but that doesn’t mean it is.”
He pointed to Saturday’s game as an opportunity for the Falcons to finish their season the right way.
“Our players practiced well today,” Calhoun said. “They come out Monday and realize it’s a new day. We’ve lost four of the last five to San Diego State. They’ve had our number, and the only way we have a chance to change that is with quality work.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
