AIR FORCE ACADEMY — If coach Troy Calhoun doesn’t believe everything he has said about Morgan State, he has done a convincing job of selling it.
In spouting off stat after stat, gushing over experience and even bringing up Hall of Fame linebacker Willie Lanier, the Air Force leader painted a picture of the Bears as something far beyond the typical opening opponent that the Falcons have handled by an average of 35 points over the past eight years.
“We’ve never put more into an opening-game opponent,” Calhoun said. “Quite frankly, that’s where all of our focus and attention has been over the last week.”
Morgan State returns nearly all of its skill position players, including 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback Moses Skillon and 1,400-yard rusher Herb Walker Jr. That offense jelled late in the season, averaging 30.5 points over the final six games as it won its league title and advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The defense also returns nine starters into its 3-4 alignment. The Bears run an effective screen game, they create big plays in the return game and they play for a program that has produced four NFL Hall of Famers — including Lanier.
“They’ve been doing it for a long, long time, and yet this — based on some of the feedback we’ve had — might be the best squad they’ve had in the last 40 years,” Calhoun said.
Of course, the Falcons are feeding off this rhetoric.
“They’re a great team,” defensive tackle Sam Byers said of Saturday’s visitors. “They’re great up front. We’re going to have to bring it to them just like we’re going to bring it to every game.”
The Bears certainly bring some complications, mostly on offense. Walker is clearly a big-play threat, and Skillon has mobility to go with that size. He is built a bit like recent Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo, who certainly gave the Falcons fits over the past two years in throwing for 664 yards and five touchdowns and running for 181 yards and two scores.
