No. 8 Utes survive AIr Force comeback, 28-23

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Five turnovers sabotaged the Air Force Academy's offense as the Falcons fell to the University of Utah at Falcon Stadium Oct. 30.

This was the second straight week the Falcons faced a team ranked both in the top 10 of the nation and the BCS rankings, and was fourth nationally-ranked opponent the Falcons have faced this season.

Utah entered the game ranked at No. 7 and No. 8 in separate polls with a 7-0 record, while the Falcons came in at 5-3, ranked fourth in the Mountain West Conference.

Air Force got the ball first, but Utah ended a promising drive three plays later. Falcons quarterback Tim Jefferson completed a pass to sophomore wide receiver Mikel Hunter, who had the ball popped loose from him by Utah cornerback Brandon Burton and recovered by free safety Greg Bird.

Utah then made the Falcons stop the run, which is something Air Force has had trouble doing for the past few games, giving up 5.2 yards a carry this season coming into the Utah game. The Utes started their first drive at their 34-line, and ran the ball 12 of 13 plays to put the ball on the Air Force 1-yard line. Senior running back Eddie Wide followed his eight-man line into the end zone for the score, to put Utah on the scoreboard first. With the extra point, Air Force was down 7-0.

The Falcons settled down and returned the favor eight plays later, when wide receiver Jonathan Warzeka went option left and found paydirt with an 11-yard run. Erik Soderberg's extra point tied the score.

Freshman linebacker Jamil Cooks added to the cadets' celebration when he recovered an onside kick at the Air Force 45-yard line. Cooks has made a name for himself this season on special teams, blocking a field goal and a punt against Navy in an acrobatic fashion as well as a point after attempt against Colorado State.

But Air Force's drive ended in another fumble by a receiver. Jefferson connected with backup tight end Joshua Freeman for 36 yards, but Ute cornerback Lamar Chapman stripped the ball as Freeman was going to the ground, and the Utes recovered at their 18-yard line to stop another Falcons offensive possession cold.

The two teams traded possessions, with Air Force using field position and its option attack to drive close enough for Soderberg to nail a 23-yard field goal and give the Falcons at 10-7 lead.

Utah took back that lead with their power running game and the second effort of senior running back Matt Asiata on a third and goal. Senior placekicker Joe Phillips added an extra point to put the Utes up 14-10.

A third Air Force drive was stopped on a fourth and 2 after running back Asher Clark gained the first down yardage -- when Utah free safety Greg Bird popped the ball loose from Clark's grasp, and Utah recovered a third forced fumble.

Air Force looked to return the favor on turnovers after the half, and Falcons defensive back Anthony Wright, Jr., did the honors by intercepting Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn, giving the Falcons a post-halftime boost and possession at the Air Force 36-yard line. But Utah held the Air Force triple-option attack back. Tim Jefferson punted a pooch kick, and Air Force downed the ball at the Utes' 9.

Retaking possession, the Utes mixed it up between passes and runs to drive 91 yards and cap the drive with a 36-yard pass to Luke Matthews for the touchdown. Phillips' extra point put the Falcons down 21-10.

Air Force retook the field, but this drive ended three plays later when freshman strong safety Brian Blechen intercepted Jefferson and returned it to the Air Force 18-yard line. The Falcons defense held firm, forcing Utah to face a fourth and four and bring on the kicking unit. But the kick was a fake, and the holder carried it 7 yards to make it first and goal at the 5. After that, Utah's power running game gave the Utes another score, putting Utah up 28-10.

Utah held on to that lead by intercepting Jefferson again at the top of the fourth quarter, to kill a fifth Air Force drive. The pass was deflected by a defender, but the result was the same: Utah ball.

The Falcons' defense forced the ball over on downs, and the offense capitalized. As he has been apt to do throughout most games with the triple-option attack, Jefferson broke a long one in the fourth quarter with a 59-yard touchdown run, the longest run of his career. Soderberg's extra point was good, narrowing the gap to 28-17, with more than 11 minutes left to mount a comeback.

After forcing to Utah to a three-and-out, Air Force took possession at the Utah 49 yard line, and came out shooting. Jefferson found wide receiver Kyle Halderman wide open 10-yards deep on the left for a completion and Halderman took an angle to hit the end zone for the touchdown. Now down by only five points, the Falcons opted to go for the two-point conversion. The Falcons offense lined up in the I formation and ran right, but Jefferson was stopped short, and the score remained 28-23.

The teams battled back and forth through most of the fourth quarter, with Air Force getting one final chance to pull out a win with the ball at their 1-yard line and only 19 seconds left on the clock. Jefferson completed a pass to Warzeka to moved the ball 21 yards, but he was tackled in the field of play and the clock kept ticking. Another quick out to Halderman moved the ball to the Air Force 35-yard line before he stepped out of bounds to stop the clock with four seconds left. The Falcons were out of timeouts, and Utah burned its last timeout to prep its defense for the final play of the game.

Jefferson took the snap, read the coverage and couldn't find an open receiver. He then tucked the ball away and tried to run up the middle, but Utah middle linebacker Chaz Walker made a shoestring tackle to bring Jefferson down and end the game.

"We were trying to get as many guys down the field and trying to set up a tip. "He was trying get those guys a chance," said Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun. "He thought he could step up and a guy got him by the foot."

Air Force-Utah football games have traditionally been close ones, with last year's game being decided in overtime and the last five games being decided by a touchdown or less. This year was no different, with a 28-23 score when time ran out.

But a season-high five turnovers was the real margin of victory, Coach Calhoun said.

"Turnover margin, without a doubt, you see was a very significant difference," said Coach Calhoun. "To beat the eighth-ranked team in the nation, you have to be plus in turnover margin, and we were not. You give them every bit of credit because you can certainly see they are big, they are fast, they're powerful and a very good football team. To their credit, to be able to come in here and win, is indicative of the caliber of squad they have."

The loss to Utah is the third straight loss for the Falcons, dropping their season record to 5-4. That leaves three more regular season games on the Air Force schedule: Army on Nov. 6, New Mexico on Nov. 13 and UNLV on Nov. 18. On paper, this will be the easiest stretch of the Falcons' season, as the three teams and a combined record of 6-18. Army beat VMI today 29-7 today to advance their season record to 5-3, and remains the toughest opponent left on Air Force's schedule.

"It's a challenge because to have a chance against Air Force we're going to have to play much better than we did (today)," said Army head football coach Rich Ellerson. "The good news is, we had a lot of guys step up and play well today. We found a way to be successful against a determined and in many places a gifted opponent. The bad news is that if we don't play a lot better than we did just against VMI, we don't have a chance. The good news is that we can play better than that, we can play a lot better than that, and we'll need to."