Air Force has leaned a whole lot on its all-senior offensive line this season. But who will replace this standout group when they leave? I wrote about some of the candidates for today’s edition of The Gazette.
Also, hockey writer Joe Paisley looks at the Air Force hockey team’s young defense and gives three things to watch in this weekend’s series against Bentley.
In today’s edition of The Gazette is my story on senior inside linebacker John Falgout, who has re-written his Air Force legacy in recent weeks.
Also, my notes have information about attending the filming of ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday on the academy terrazzo.
Had a chance today to speak with first-year Army coach Rich Ellerson for a story that will appear in Saturday’s special preview section.
Enjoyed talking to Ellerson, who really seems like a good fit for West Point.
He’s a triple-option guru (he worked with Paul Johnson at Hawaii and then ran the offense during a super-successful stint at Cal-Poly), and he’s got Army focused on that scheme.
He said he’s talked to former Army coach Jim Young, who had a 51-39-1 record from 1983 through 1990, and he’s studied the successes of Fisher DeBerry at Air Force and Paul Johnson at Navy.
And he’s an old-school guy who won’t make excuses (like Air Force’s Troy Calhoun). Here was his response when asked about playing at altitude this Saturday in The Springs:
“It’s going to be uncomfortable. Get over it. There’s going to be a lot of talk this week about the trip, the crowd noise, and the altitude. None of those are the challenge. The challenge is Air Force’s football team, and that’s where our focus is. Any of those other things are just a distraction and we are not going to spend 30 seconds on those things. We are going to focus on the challenge, and the challenge is absolutely Air Force’s football team.”
(Gotta love that. Actually, I enjoyed reading the transcript of his entire press conference this week).
Moreover, this is Ellerson’s dream job. His father and two of his brothers are West Point graduates, and he told me it’s “an honor” to be the coach there.
“Obviously it’s a great challenge, but it’s also a special group of young men who have taken on a tremendous opportunity and chosen a different and demanding path, and I get to get my fingerprints on it,” he said. “Professionally, I can’t imagine a greater compliment than to be given the opportunity to participate in the execution of the mission of West Point and develop leaders of character. … If you’re a college football coach and you understand and value what the United States Military Academy is, this has got to be the best job in the world.”
He’s got a tough task ahead of him, as Army has been woeful for a while. The Black Knights have had 12 straight losing seasons and haven’t won more than four games in any of them.
But Army – which messed around with some wide-open passing offenses earlier this decade – thinks it has the right guy to revive the program. At the time he was hired, athletic director Kevin Anderson was quoted as saying that if Ellerson can’t turn the program around, “I don’t know if there is a coach who can.”
ESPN’s College GameDay program will broadcast live from the Air Force Academy on Saturday from 8-10 a.m.
The show, which features the crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard, will set up on the academy Terrazzo and is open to the public.
TO GO: The academy’s north gate will open at 6 a.m. Park in the Cadet Field House’s East Lot. Shuttle buses will begin taking fans from the front of the Cadet Field House to the Terrazzo starting at 6:30 a.m.
The shuttle is the only option for the public to gain admittance to the event.
WHAT YOU CAN BRING: Hand-held cameras, but only ones with lenses that are four inches or smaller. Food, drinks and bags of any kind are NOT permitted. Signs will be permitted, but they must meet approval by ESPN and the academy.
The Terrazzo will be cleared immediately following the show.
I wrote for today’s edition of The Gazette about Army, and how its team this year shares some strengths with Air Force.
Also, on-line only is my Around the Mounain West Conference notebook, which talks about a game that’s more intriguing than it first appears, how the conference will fill its bowls and more.
Finally, I always enjoy Pat Forde’s Forde-Yard Dash column.
I wrote for today’s edition of The Gazette about sophomore tailback Asher Clark, who seems to be rounding into form and might be ready for a breakout performance.
Also, check out Times Herald-Record writer Sal Interdonato’s Army blog.
-A couple of minor tweaks to the two-deep chart released today:
Tim Jefferson is listed as the Falcons’ starting quarterback, and Ben Cochran is listed as his backup with Connor Dietz out with a broken bone in his right hand.
Asher Clark is listed as the Falcons’ starting tailback. He’d been listed as a co-starter with Savier Stephens the previous few weeks.
-I’ll be on The Mtn.’s Around the Mountain program tomorrow talking football. The show airs at 7 p.m. and then is replayed at 10:30 p.m.
I wrote for today’s edition of The Gazette about arguably the most important stat to come out of Saturday’s victory at Colorado State.
Also, here’s SI.com writer Stewart Mandel’s College Football Overtime column. In previewing this week’s games, including Boise State’s Friday night contest with Louisiana Tech (which will be shown on ESPN), Mandel writes, “The biggest mistake the Mountain West ever made was ditching ESPN. The reason at the time was the desire for better time slots, but more fans around the country will see this seemingly mundane Boise game than any game TCU plays all season.”
It’s an interesting argument. I think fans that can get The Mtn. and can watch their teams on an (almost) weekly basis, typically on Saturdays, generally have been happy. But there’s no question the MWC’s fight to become an automatic-qualifying BCS conference would be helped by playing on ESPN. Especially when the biggest game of the year in the conference, played on Versus, was not available on DirecTV because of a contract dispute.
Speaking of ESPN, here are ESPN.com’s bowl projections. Both writers still have Air Force heading to the Armed Forces Bowl.
The new Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls can be found here. My ballot for the AP poll, and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun’s ballot for the coaches poll are below.
Calhoun’s Ballot
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. TCU
5. Cincinnati
6. Iowa
7. Boise State
8. Oregon
9. LSU
10. Penn State
11. Georgia Tech
12. USC
13. Pittsburgh
14. Ohio State
15. Houston
16. Utah
17. Oklahoma State
18. Miami
19. Oklahoma
20. Notre Dame
21. California
22. Virginia Tech
23. Arizona
24. Clemson
25. BYU
Jake’s Ballot
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Iowa
5. TCU
6. Cincinnati
7. Boise State
8. LSU
9. Oregon
10. Georgia Tech
11. Penn State
12. Miami
13. Houston
14. USC
15. Ohio State
16. Pittsburgh
17. Utah
18. Oklahoma State
19. Oklahoma
20. Notre Dame
21. Arizona
22. California
23. Wisconsin
24. Virginia Tech
25. Clemson
The stories from Fort Collins:
-My game story deals with the offfense’s breakout performance.
-Columnist David Ramsey wrote about quarterback Tim Jefferson.
-I wrote a sidebar on the play of the game, Jefferson’s 34-yard completion to Kevin Fogler.
-Ramsey wrote a sidebar on CSU’s collapse after a 3-0 start.
-My notebook deals with the slot receivers, Reggie Rembert, a milestone for Asher Clark and more.
Also, here’s a story on Air Force hockey’s loss at Canisius.
