2006 Week 10

With a balanced attack, Air Force moved to within one game of bowl eligibility with a win over rival Army today. The Falcons were anything but crisp in their victory, but the Black Knights were obviously outmatched from the get-go.

Air Force took an early 10-0 lead when Justin Handley broke free for a 60 yard TD run in the first minute of the game, and Zach Sasser tacked on a 28-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter. Army would come back to make a game of it thanks to poor defense on the part of the Falcons, however, as Army scored on three consecutive drives (one added by a muffed punt recovered by the Black Knights) to tie the game at 17 early in the second half.

Air Force's usually-reliable receiver Victor Thompson had a rough game, dropping 5 balls, one on a critical 4th down attempt, and the Falcon passing game was held without a touchdown. Air Force did manage to pull away in the second half thanks to a solid 196 yard performance by Handley, with Shaun Carney contributing 81 yards of his own on the ground. The Falcons had their biggest lead at 14, and were threatening to make it 21 when a long drive early in the 4th quarter ended on an interception on 3rd-and-goal from the 5. Carney saw his tight end Travis Dekker wide open in the endzone, but didn't get enough air under his pass and a leaping Army linebacker made the play. Army responded with a sub-one-minute touchdown drive to cut the lead to 7 with 3:16 to play, but the Falcons' ground game used up the rest of the clock, and a TD run by Ryan Williams with 2 seconds to go ended any hope of a Black Knight come-back.

While the game puts Air Force in a position to be bowl eligible with one more win, the critics aren't optimistic, as the Falcons must play #1 Notre Dame and #15 Utah at home, and 2-loss UNLV and TCU on the road to close out the season. When asked about his upcoming date with the top-ranked Irish next week, coach Hemmen sarcastically replied "We spent the week preparing for Utah the following weekend." Apparently the critics aren't the only ones doubtful of Air Force's chances.

[video] - Justin Handley starts the scoring with a nice 60-yard TD run.
[video] - Hunter Altman sets Air Force up with good field position leading to a 10-point lead with a nice interception, thank in no small part to some rare backfield pressure from the defensive line.
[video] - Victor Thompson has one of his five crucial drops on the day on a Falcon 3rd-and-long.
[video] - Shaun Carney unexplicably craps his pants on a routine handoff play.
[video] - Carney hits Travis Dekker for one of the uncharateristic catches by a tight end.
[video] - Threatening to increase their lead to 21, Carney throws a pick in the endzone while looking for an open Travis Dekker but failing to get enough loft on his pass.
[video] - On a grind-the-clock-out FB Dive, Ryan Williams adds to the Air Force point total to close out the game.