LAS VEGAS — With an old-time car show featured in downtown Las Vegas, the Air Force Falcons put on an old-time running show Saturday night outside of town and stole the show in Sam Boyd Stadium.
With the Falcons’ backs to the wall and trailing UNLV 28-26, freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson took the Falcons 91 yards in 17 plays to a 19-yard field goal by Ryan Harrison. The three points with 2:36 to play lifted the Falcons to a dramatic 29-28 victory before 21,055 fans.
Before the winning field goal, coach Troy Calhoun said he was considering going for a touchdown on the fourth-and- goal play from the UNLV 2.
“We got the lead with the field goal,” Calhoun said, “and I thought ‘you just have to let the players play it out.’ ”
Jefferson said the game-winning drive was “a situation that I dream for. Me being a competitor, I wanted to go for (the touchdown). But we made the field goal and it was the right call.”
With the Rebels facing fourth-and-10 from the Air Force 47 on the ensuing drive, Falcons linebacker Justin Moore and safety Chris Thomas knocked down Omar Clayton’s pass with 57 seconds left in the game to secure the win.
The Falcons’ running game finished with 346 yards and 21 first downs and was spearheaded by fullback Todd Newell’s 134 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Jefferson was right behind with 99 yards on 13 carries; he also was 6-of-7 passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons (5-2, 3-1 Mountain West) had to survive a shaky third quarter when their lead slipped away. But a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson to receiver Kyle Halderman stopped the swoon.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Rebels signaled they were serious about making a move in the Mountain West Conference race. After having a quiet game until then, Rebels tailback Frank Summers bolted 45 yards for a 28-20 lead.
The turn of events woke up Air Force’s offense and the Falcons scored in three plays when Halderman caught the 44-yard play-action pass from Jefferson. The Falcons failed on a two-point conversion and trailed 28-26 in the first minute of the fourth period.
UNLV took its first lead, 21-20, late in the third quarter on Clayton’s 9-yard pass to Casey Flair. Clayton finished 19-of-30 for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
Before the Rebels drove 80 yards in 11 plays to gain the lead, the Falcons missed a chance to open a bigger advantage.
Tight end Travis Dekker put on an aerial show of his own, vaulting over a UNLV defender on the way to a 58-yard pass play to a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. But the Falcons had to settle for Harrison’s 23-yard field goal and a 20-14 lead with 7:22 left in the third period.
Before the third period ended, the Rebels were on the move again after Asher Clark’s fumble on a fourth-down run turned the ball over at the Air Force 47-yard line.
There was little surprise in Air Force’s game plan in the first half. Facing a Rebel defense that had been rolled over by the run, Jefferson didn’t mix in much of anything else.
With Newell leading the charge with 100 yards at halftime, the Falcons went into intermission with 219 yards rushing and a 17-14 lead.
But Clayton didn’t allow Air Force’s defense to complete the deal. He took the Rebels on a six-play, 76-yard scoring drive in the last 1:36 of the first half.
His 28-yard pass to receiver Phillip Payne cut Air Force’s lead to three points at halftime. Payne won a jump-ball leap against Air Force’s Reggie Rembert in the end zone for the score.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
KEY STAT
261: Total yards for Air Force freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson. He threw for 162 yards (6-of-7 passes) and ran for another 99 (13 carries).
Key play
Air Force defenders Justin Moore and Chris Thomas couldn’t have picked a better time to be in the right place at the right time. They converged to knock away UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton’s fourth-down pass at the AFA 47 on the Rebels’ final play.
