AIR FORCE ACADEMY — When Air Force and No. 15 Texas Christian square off Saturday, it could be described as a test of Texas wills.
The point of contention concerns the ground and whether Air Force can claim more of it than TCU’s defense, which is the best in the country in three important categories — total defense (220.0), rushing defense (39.5) and sacks (3.64).
On the other side, the Falcons will aim their fourth-ranked rushing offense (279.7 yards) and 4.6 yards per rush into TCU’s defense that has allowed just 1.5 yards per carry. As well, the Falcons lead the country in sacks allowed, giving up two this season.
With TCU’s defensive front loaded with Texans, Air Force having five Texans on the two-deep from tackle to tackle, and with all the hype about high school football being supreme in Texas, it’s easy to see where this is going.
“We do take pride in Texas high school football,” said Air Force junior tackle Chris Campbell from Waxahachie, Texas. “It’s going to be one of those grind-it-out games, and that’s the type of football I love to play. When you watch (TCU) on tape, you see it’s the kind of football they love to play, too.”
TCU coach Gary Patterson believes this year’s defensive unit may be the best he has had.
“This team not only is fast and strong, but it’s accountable,” Patterson said. “With both teams wanting to control the ball on the ground, special teams and (turnovers) could become big factors.”
Footnotes.
In preliminary talk of bowl game selection, Air Force is a long shot to play in the Las Vegas Bowl or the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.
“The Mountain West Conference has three teams in the top 25 (Utah, BYU, TCU) and we’re going to get one of them,” said Tina Kunzer-Murphy, executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl.
“If there’s an 11-1 Utah team sitting there, we’d grab it,” said Bruce Binkowski, executive director of the Holiday and Poinsettia bowls.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
