Turnovers carry Air Force to 20-14 win over Wyoming

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
Junior defensive back Jonathan Davis sealed a 20-14 Air Force win over Wyoming with a first-quarter interception in the end zone and a fourth-quarter fumble recovery.

Davis' first takeaway occurred during Wyoming's first drive, when Cowboys quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels led his receiver too much, and Davis grabbed the errant pass in the end zone. With a little blocking, he returned the ball 23 yards.

"That was absolutely gigantic," said Falcons head football coach Troy Calhoun.  "I thought on the first drive, to come up with that, that was a nail.  In close games sometimes I've seen, even at our school, sometimes you get set on your heels. I really felt like, even when they made a play and started with that initial drive, our guys didn't get set on their heels."

Wyoming and Air Force kept the game close well into the fourth quarter, with score of 14-all, until a clock-devouring Air Force drive and some Falcon defense proved the turning point.

The game's decisive drive happened early in the fourth quarter, Falcons quarterback Tim Jefferson said.

"We got the ball on our 20 with 10 minutes left, and it was just a typical Air Force drive," he said. "We drilled the ball down the field, punched it in and took a lot of time off the clock."

But the drive was not that simple. The Falcons drove 26 yards and caused Wyoming to burn all three of their timeouts, but wound up facing a fourth-and-one at the Wyoming 46 yard-line. Instead of punting, Coach Calhoun called for another run.

"You would've like to have thought that there could've been some conversions on third down prior to getting to fourth. We kind of forced our own hand a bit," the coach said.

Regardless of how they got to fourth-and-one, the call to go for it was exactly what the Falcon football players wanted to do.

"We want to be out there on fourth and short," Jefferson said.  "We live for that. It's the money down."
 
He handed off to fullback Jared Tew, who took the ball five yards for a first down.

"The offensive line said, 'Put the game on our backs,' and it made my job easy," said Tew, who rushed for a season-high 136 yards.

Air Force continued the drive, taking the ball down to the 6 and grinding away at the clock. Taking the snap, Jefferson looked to pass, but saw a hole up the middle. He tucked the ball away and ran it into the end zone to give Air Force the lead.

The extra kick was blocked, leaving the score at 20-14 with 3:41 left to play.

Wyoming took over at their own 28-yard line, but their drive was short-lived. On second and 7, Carta-Samuels passed to senior wide receiver David Leonard at the Wyoming 43-yard line. But Falcon defensive back Reggie Rembert knocked the ball loose. At the bottom of the ensuing mad scrum was Davis.

"I grabbed the ball and rolled away with it," he said.

For Davis, it was a matter of backing up his words to his football brothers.

"We needed those type of plays and I said that right before the game that we needed to create those turnovers."

And so Davis grabbed both of Wyoming's turnovers.

With zero timeouts, Wyoming couldn't stop the clock as the Falcons' trademark running game ground up the remaining time.

"Nothing beautiful about it," Coach Calhoun said. "My hat's off to Wyoming.  I thought physically they popped us a little bit today, and yet the resiliency of our guys ... that's something we can work with. We've got so many darn mistakes and corrections to make, but we've got guts. We've got some heart, and when you've got that, you press forward."

The victory raises Air Force's record to 3-1, and 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming falls to 1-3, and 0-1 in the conference. But the Cowboys' record is not an indication of the team's strength: Wyoming's losses have come to No. 3 Boise State, No. 7 Texas and now Air Force, which was one vote shy of No. 25 in the Sept. 19 Associated Press Top 25 after losing by a field goal to No. 7 Oklahoma.

Air Force's focus now shifts to Navy. The Falcons host their service academy rival Oct. 2 at Falcon Stadium, with hopes of taking the Commander in Chief trophy from the Midshipmen for the first time since 2003.

"They are one of the least penalized teams in the country," Tew said. "They don't hurt themselves with penalties, and it works to their advantage."

Penalties bogged down several Air Force drives in the Wyoming games, as the Falcons totaled seven flags for 49 yards.

"Penalties and missed assignments," Jefferson said. "When we play Navy, we can't afford to let those happen."

Special teams also provided some letdowns, with one missed field goal and a blocked extra point attempt.

"We've got to get some things corrected," Coach Calhoun said, " but I can't think of doing it with a better bunch of guys."

Kickoff for the Air Force-Navy game is 12:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. The game will be televised regionally on the Versus Network. The game also will be broadcast online at www.kvor.com.