AIR FORCE ACADEMY — On a cold, snowy Saturday, the Air Force Falcons had everything cooking on their hot stove.
Coach Troy Calhoun put all the ingredients into a winning recipe that cooked up a 45-17 rout of Nevada-Las Vegas at Falcon Stadium.
With their third consecutive victory, the Falcons (7-4, 5-2 Mountain West Conference) put their best foot forward for bowl selection committees that will take a serious look at Air Force in the next two weeks.
But the Falcons’ focus now shifts to Provo, Utah, where they finish the regular season next weekend against Brigham Young. Beating the Cougars could widen the possibilities for bowl games in Las Vegas, San Diego (Poinsettia) or Fort Worth, Texas (Armed Forces).
“If you look over 10 of the last 12 quarters, we played good football,” Calhoun said. “We played well against CSU, and the second half against Army.”
All of Air Force’s offensive weapons were in use Saturday — tailback Asher Clark, 160 yards rushing and three touchdowns; quarterback Tim Jefferson, 189 yards of total offense; fullback Jason Tew, 61 yards rushing and a touchdown; and receiver Kevin Fogler, three catches for 73 yards.
“I think so far this season this was our most complete game as a unit, overall, everybody,” Jefferson said. “Our offense was clicking and our defense made stops when they needed them.”
While the Air Force running game was amassing 431 yards on the ground and 24 of the team’s 30 first downs, the Falcons’ defense stopped the Rebels (4-7, 2-5) cold after a deflected punt gave UNLV the ball at the 20-yard line. The AFA defense also compiled four tackles for losses and an interception just before halftime by star safety Chris Thomas.
“We had a special plan in tonight to stop the run and we didn’t get it done,” UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. “But we had the ball inside the 10-yard line before halftime and threw an interception. It was 17-3, but that turned out to be a big momentum-turning point in the game.”
Clark registered his first 100-yard game for the Falcons at halfback this season, and a 40-yard run for his third touchdown of the game caught the attention of everyone.
“He has an ability to take some plays that look initially like 4-yard gains and sometimes those plays are longer than that,” Calhoun said. “That means there’s some good stuff that is happening up front.”
Clark called it a breakout game for him.
“I couldn’t have done it without the line,” said the 5-foot-8, 185-pound sophomore. “They blocked well all game. All five seniors up front were playing hard because it was their last game at Falcon Stadium.”
Air Force’s offense was cooking from the start. The Falcons scored three touchdowns and a field goal on four of their first five possessions and led 24-3 at halftime.
In the first half, Jefferson led a scoring drive of 95 yards and two of 80 yards. The Falcons added a 72-yard scoring drive in the second half on the way to building an 84-62 advantage in plays run.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
Three questions
A look at how Air Force answered Irv Moss’ three questions going into the game:
1. Will UNLV senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp disrupt Air Force’s running game enough to keep the Falcons’ offense in check? Beauchamp not only didn’t disrupt Air Force’s running game, he ranked fifth on UNLV’s tackles chart with eight. The Falcons finished with 431 yards on the ground, second this year to the 474 gained in the opener against Nicholls State.
2. Can Asher Clark give Air Force its first 100-yard rushing game by a halfback this season? Clark did . . . and then some, with 160 yards on just 18 carries — including a long run of 40 yards — and three touchdowns from the sophomore.
3. Will Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson pass for more than 100 yards for the third consecutive game? Jefferson also stayed on a roll with 126 yards in the air (8-of-13 passing), including a 43-yarder to Kevin Fogler.
Key stat
160: Rushing yards for sophomore tailback Asher Clark, who scored three touchdowns. It was his first 100-yard game this season and third of his Air Force career.
Key play
Clark’s first touchdown run of 24 yards put the Falcons ahead 7-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter and signaled the Air Force tailback was off and running to a big game.
