FORT WORTH — With senior quarterback Shaun Carney, Air Force had a chance. But without their leader, the Falcons felt short, 42-36, to California here today in the fifth annual Armed Forces Bowl.
Carney led Air Force to a 21-0 lead but was knocked out of the game with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee with 3:03 left in the third period while being tackled near the Cal goal line. From that point on, the Golden Bears rolled.
With little used junior Shea Smith forced to take over, Air Force struggled on offense. A 47-yard field goal by Ryan Harrison brought the Falcons to within 35-30 with 7:25 left. Cal responded with a touchdown to increase its lead to 42-30. Air Force scored late after a Cal turnover, but the Golden Bears recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan had touchdown catches for Cal, which finished 7-6. Air Force closed at 9-4.
Jackson, Jordan and leading tackler Thomas DeCoud were held out of the starting lineup and didn’t play the first quarter because of unspecified violations of team rules that occurred before the team got here.
Jackson made an acrobatic 40-yard TD catch on the first possession he played and Jordan had an 18-yard scoring grab in the third quarter. Jordan finished with six catches for 148 yards, and Jackson caught five passes for 81 yards.
Freshman quarterback Kevin Riley, who took over for Nate Longshore in the second quarter, was 16-for-19 passing for 269 yards and three TDs and ran for a score. Longshore had been hampered by a sprained right ankle and coach Jeff Tedford wanted to get Riley some action.
The Bears opened a 35-27 lead on running back Justin Forsett’s 21-yard scoring run with 10:59 left. The sudden turn of events stunned a throng of blue clad Air Force fans that dominated the crowd of more than 44,000.
Irv Moss: 303 954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
