Horned Frogs trample Falcons, 48-10

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Texas Christian University trampled the Falcons, 48-10.

After the Oct. 22 victory, the 7-1 TCU Horned Frogs remain unbeaten in the Mountain West Conference, holding a two-game lead over the second-ranked team.

It also leaves the Falcons facing the possibility of a losing season.

“They handed us a good ‘ol fashioned butt-kicking today,” said Fisher DeBerry, Falcons head coach.

TCU took command of the game on the opening kickoff, when wide receiver Cory Rodgers scrambled for a 21-yard return. Rodgers added a 50-yard reception three plays later. 

TCU Fullback William Jackson finished off the drive with a one-yard burst, giving the Horned Frogs a touchdown and the lead for the remainder of the game.

Taking the ball, the Falcons drove to the 3-yard-line before a penalty knocked the Falcons back 15 yards. An interception killed the drive. The Falcons next possession ended with a 22-yard field goal by Scott Eberle narrowing the TCU lead to four.

However, that left the Falcons offense in a situation they have faced often this season, as head coach Fisher DeBerry reminded his offense after the field goal.

“We can’t keep trading field goals for touchdowns,” he shouted to his offense as they hit the bench.

TCU increased its lead to 11 early in the second quarter with a tailback Robert Merrill touchdown run and an extra point by Chris Manfredini.

The Falcons narrowed the deficit to four again when their triple-option offense grounded out 77 yards and allowed quarterback Shaun Carney to drag tacklers across the goal line on a 3-yard scoring run.

Falcon penalties and missed assignments continued to hamper the Falcons defense, and TCU ended the half ahead, 27-10.

After halftime adjustments, the Falcons drove the ball to the TCU 15, before Eberle’s field goal attempt went wide left.

“I felt we were still in the game at halftime,” DeBerry said. “We came back and had a good drive, but we got absolutely nothing out of it.”

The Horned Frogs continued to rack up points on offense, with a little help from the Falcons defense.

“We had several breakdowns on defense when players didn’t execute the defense that was called,” DeBerry said. “And at times, we didn’t tackle well enough to be a good football team.”

TCU converted 10 of 15 third downs, which sustained many of their scoring drives.

“You’re not going to win a lot of games when your opponent converts third downs that often,” DeBerry said.

However, the loss cannot be solely placed on the defense’s shoulder pads, said the coach.

“We had breakdowns in all three areas of the game,” DeBerry said. “I’m very disappointed our offense could not score in the second half.”

TCU stifled the Falcons fullback running game, and came away with two interceptions. On special teams, TCU blocked a punt deep in Falcons territory, which led to one of the team’s seven touchdowns.

Saturday’s loss leaves the Falcons at 3-5 for the year and one clear focus for the remainder of the year.

“We got three games left in the season, and we’re going to bust our butts to win them,” DeBerry said. “I’m not going give up on them and they’re not going to give up either.”

If the Falcons suffer just one more loss, this will become the fourth losing season and first back-to-back losing seasons of DeBerry’s 22-year head coaching career at Air Force.

The Falcon’s next game is at 1 p.m. Oct. 29 against Brigham Young University.