FORT WORTH, Texas — With all the gnashing of garments and rending of teeth about the state of college football in Colorado, the one program that actually works doesn’t get much love.
But, if you started your New Year’s Eve bowling early enough, you should have no trouble identifying the best program in the state.
“Honestly, I think that the Air Force Academy is probably the best team in the state of Colorado this year,” sophomore quarterback Tim Jefferson said after outplaying his celebrated counterpart, Houston’s Case Keenum, in a blowout win at the Armed Forces Bowl.
“We probably have the best record out of all the teams as well, and we won our bowl game. The Air Force Academy as a whole made a great statement to the nation today.”
The Falcons’ 47-20 rout over the 25th-ranked Cougars was made of all the attributes Colorado’s state university programs have lacked of late — guts and confidence, execution and teamwork, and pedal-to-the-metal killer instinct.
Air Force hadn’t won a bowl game since 2000. It had lost this bowl, on the TCU campus, the past two years. In fact, throw in four losses to the Horned Frogs and they were winless at Amon G. Carter Stadium in six tries.
“We were ready,” Falcons coach Troy Calhoun said. “Phenomenal preparation is where it starts. You could just sense something about our guys. I thought two years ago we were extraordinarily giddy just to be here. I thought last year we were a little bit wide-eyed at some spots.
“We played terrific football today. If you want to break it down into the three phases, defense, offense and kicking game, one by one, were outstanding. Yet even above that, just the unity, the kind of team chemistry and the esprit that’s a part of these guys. Special, special group.”
The conventional wisdom was Houston would pass and Air Force would run. This is what they had done all year. The question was whether the Falcons could hold the explosive Keenum in check long enough to stay in the game.
The battle between the nation’s top passing offense and top passing defense was no contest. The Falcons hounded Keenum into six interceptions, three of them by sophomore defensive back Anthony Wright.
“We threw the first one, hit our hands first, threw it up in the air and they got it,” Houston coach Kevin Sumlin said. “The next two were tipped balls at or around the line of scrimmage that they got. You get those balls by playing hard. So that’s a credit to them. They created their own breaks.”
The surprise was the Falcons didn’t rely on just the ground game, although their 402 yards rushing were their third-highest total of the season. Air Force also lived up to its real-world mission by going aerial with a far more efficient passing attack than Houston could manage.
Jefferson needed only 14 attempts to throw for 161 yards. Keenum required 41 to throw for 222, and that’s not subtracting the return yardage on those six picks.
“He was throwing the ball really well today,” junior wide receiver Kevin Fogler said of Jefferson. “He was putting it right on guys and giving guys a chance to not only catch it but catch it and make something happen afterwards.”
“I knew that everybody was talking about Houston’s offense and how potent they are,” Jefferson said. “I was flying under the radar and that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to have my name thrown out there because then I would feel a lot more pressure on my shoulders to perform well.”
One of the most attractive aspects of football at Air Force is that nobody makes it out to be more important than it is. The mission at the academy is too important to overemphasize an extracurricular activity. The nation’s top military commander, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was on hand for the bowl game, which celebrates all the armed services.
“Our academy teams know that their mission is serving the country, and the people who surround them, their teammates and classmates, are making a difference in the world,” he said.
To hear other schools complain about recruiting handicaps is laughable when you compare them to the obstacles Calhoun and his staff face in recruiting to a service academy. But the contrast makes success that much sweeter.
“Most of these guys in here aren’t worried about attention from the outside,” Fogler said. “We know we have a good team and that’s enough for us.”
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com or
