2006 Week 13

Air Force put together a 5th straight win in Las Vegas this afternoon, taking it to a slumping and over-matched Runnin' Rebels team. UNLV looked downright pathetic at times, mustering up only 144 yards of total offense and scoring just 3 points with the offense on the field. Their other touchdown was a game-tying 70-yard punt return by John Guice in the first quarter. The new, more conservative Falcon offense allowed only two 3rd down conversions and never let the Rebel offense into the redzone.

On the other side of the ball, the offense was humming as usual. Despite two Shaun Carney interceptions in the endzone, the Falcons still managed to pile up 549 yards with a balanced attack (38 rushes, 35 passes), and amass an incredible 31 first downs. The ordinarily mistake-prone offensive line also stayed out of trouble, committing only one false start for 5 penalty yards against the Falcons. Despite the lack of penalty yards, the offensive line still struggled with the unorthodox 3-3-5 defense of the Rebels, giving up 5 ugly sacks. Fortunately, Carney was able to keep most drives alive, as the Falcons punted only 3 times.

"Today was the culmination of a season's worth of practice," Air Force coach Hemmen said after the game. "We're playing the best we've played all season on both sides of the ball, and we're fortunate that that's happening at the right time." Air Force, who signed three recruits after impressive back-to-back wins over ranked teams, is expected to sign 3-star prospects Vincent Cabral (WR, Aurora, CO) and Lee Schifano (CB, Brigham City, UT) this week.

The Falcons close out the regular season next week in Fort Worth against the recently-struggling TCU Horned Frogs, who dropped a second straight last week, falling to 9-3.

[video] - Guice ties the game with a 70-yard punt return for a Rebel touchdown.
[video] - The Falcon offensive line struggles pathetically with a 3-man Rebel front.
[video] - Air Force's Hunter Altman picks off a pass after tipping it to himself.