AIR FORCE ACADEMY — It’s TCU time for Air Force, and that means Falcons sophomore strong safety Anthony Wooding Jr. is ready to get back on the field.
It’s not that he isn’t ready to play every game, but the game against TCU last year and again Saturday means a special assignment for the 6-foot-2, 183-pounder.
Both games he has stepped in for injured teammate Brian Lindsay to make his first start of each season.
A year ago, the TCU game was Air Force’s eighth of the season. Lindsay suffered a broken collarbone the week before and Wooding got the call. This year, Lindsay likely will be sidelined against the Horned Frogs because of an undisclosed injury to the junior’s midsection.
“I was nervous last year,” Wooding said this week after practice. “Being a freshman, you don’t expect your name to be called. But you have to be ready if your name is called.”
The Falcons lost 38-7 last year to the Frogs, who were on their way to a 13-0 record that included a victory in the Rose Bowl.
“I think I had the first tackle of the game and that helped the nerves,” said Wooding, who made eight tackles and had an interception, which he returned 19 yards, last year against TCU. “Everybody in the secondary was talking to me. That probably helped the most.”
Wooding calmed his nerves and started the next five games, finishing the 2010 season with 30 tackles.
“He got to go out a little earlier than he might have liked,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said of Wooding’s performance as a freshman. “He’s very coachable and has a chance to be a significant contributor for us this year not only in the secondary, but on special teams too.”
Not only is Wooding getting more comfortable on the football field, the Folkston, Ga., product is better acclimated to Colorado’s weather.
Calhoun prefers to practice outside and there was a fall chill in the air as Wooding left the field this week.
“Coming from south Georgia, the cold (here) was the hardest thing to get used to,” Wooding said. “Last year I would have had long sleeves.”
He tucked his helmet under bare arms and left for the locker room.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
