There couldn’t have been a better time for Air Force freshman Tim Jefferson to reach another level as a collegiate quarterback.
After leading early in the game Saturday night against Nevada-Las Vegas, the Falcons fell behind 28-20 with 14:50 left in the fourth quarter. But in only his second start, Jefferson took the Falcons 55 yards for a touchdown on a 44-yard pass to receiver Kyle Halderman and then 91 yards on 17 plays leading to Ryan Harrison’s 19-yard field goal with 2:36 remaining and a 29-28 victory.
Teammates were impressed.
Outside senior linebacker Hunter Altman called the finish “unbelievable. I was so proud of our offense coming back like that.”
Fullback Todd Newell added, “It’s going to be awesome to see him develop in the next couple of years.”
Coach Troy Calhoun called it a maturation of not only Jefferson but other young players.
Jefferson finished with 261 yards of total offense, including 162 in the air and two touchdowns. Overall, the Falcons amassed 508 total yards, 368 on the ground. Newell had his first 100-yard game, finishing with 134 rushing yards.
“I always go into a game thinking we might run, but the coaches didn’t say they were going to run the fullback the whole time,” Newell said. “I think there was a good balance to what we did.”
While the offense brought the Falcons back, it was a defensive play at the end by linebacker Justin Moore and safety Chris Thomas that clinched the victory.
The two Air Force defenders knocked down a fourth-down pass by UNLV’s Omar Clayton, and the Falcons ran out the clock.
“We were blitzing off the weak side,” Thomas said. “I kind of went over the top, and Justin went low and we knocked the ball out.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
EYE ON
The Lobos
New Mexico at Air Force, 6 p.m., Thursday, CBSCS
For the record:After crushing San Diego State 70-7, New Mexico evened its record at 4-4 and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
Streaking: Senior cornerback DeAndre Wright is looking toward his 39th straight start.
Who’s hot: In his last two games — against BYU and San Diego State — freshman quarterback Brad Gruner is 16-of-23 for 178 yards and a touchdown and has rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Who’s not: After starting the year 10-of-11, field-goal kicker James Aho is 2-for-5 with one blocked kick in the last three games.
Key stat: The Lobos have averaged 290.8 yards rushing in their last four games.
FYI: In the Saturday rout of San Diego State, the Lobos tied a MWC record and set a school record with 49 points in the first half.
Injuries: None to report.
Coachspeak: “We started looking at New Mexico a little bit on Thursday and Friday. We also looked at some of their stuff over the summer, because we knew we had this short turnaround. They (the Lobos) do a good job of utilizing the quarterback as a runner, and they have two really good backs. Last year, they pounded away at us and were quite successful at it.” — Air Force coach Troy Calhoun
