AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Peter Lusk places the burden of stopping a string of no touchdowns in nine quarters squarely on the shoulders of all his teammates on Air Force’s offense.
“It’s time to come together and no more excuses,” Lusk, the Falcons’ senior right guard, said before a practice this week. “Our offense needs to grow up a little bit.”
At the beginning of the season, coach Troy Calhoun predicted the offensive line would be one of the team’s strengths. The five seniors who play from tackle to tackle have lived up to expectations. Air Force ranks second in the nation in rushing offense at 291.8 yards a game and second in fewest sacks allowed at 0.4 per game.
The figures and fame go to center Michael Hampton, guards Nick Charles and Lusk and tackles Chris Campbell and Ryan Gonzales. But lack of touchdowns is becoming a serious negative.
“We rode our offensive line a lot in terms of leadership and responsibility,” Calhoun said. “But as we look toward the second half of the season, some of our other players have to accept some responsibility.”
In other words, the Falcons (3-2) are heading into a tough part of their schedule, and it begins Saturday when No. 10 TCU comes to Falcon Stadium.
The Horned Frogs (4-0) lead the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 47 yards a game, and are sixth in sacks with 16. Regardless of the statistics, the Falcons have to get back into the end zone.
Asked if TCU coach Gary Patterson’s appraisal that his team might be better offensively than it was last year and maybe not quite as good defensively added some encouragement for the Falcons, Calhoun said:
“We have to find ways to encourage what you do as a squad from within. When I get around our players, I’m encouraged. Once in a while, you’re disappointed with the results, not because of effort and heart.”
While the play of the offensive line has been encouraging, some blemishes have shown up. Maybe the biggest was Saturday against Navy when the Falcons stalled after converting a fourth-down play in overtime, and it led to Erik Soderberg’s missed field goal in the 16-13 loss.
Gonzales said the films of the Navy game revealed some mistakes on that final drive. But he added the focus now has to be on TCU.
“What we see on the films right now is that everyone isn’t doing the right thing on every play,” said Gonzales, who began his Air Force career on defense. “TCU has athletes at every position. You have to be disciplined against them and do your job right on every play.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
