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Final: Notre Dame 59, Air Force 33; injuries piling up for Falcons
October 8th, 2011, 8:19 pm · 1 Comment · posted by Frank Schwab
During a 59-33 loss at Notre Dame, Air Force looked like a team that may have reached a breaking point with injuries.
Not that the Falcons would have beat a hot Irish team at full health, but being down many starters didn’t help. Five opening day starters didn’t start Saturday because of injuries. Outside linebacker Patrick Hennessey played off the bench, but is still limited because of a broken thumb. The three defensive linemen that won starting jobs out of training camp – ends Ben Kopacka and Zach Payne and nose guard Ryan Gardner – were out. So was center Michael Hester. And during the game, tight end Josh Freeman injured his shoulder. He could be out for a while, coach Troy Calhoun said.
The Falcons played with outside linebacker Alex Means at end and safety Brian Lindsay at outside linebacker. The results weren’t pretty, but the Falcons didn’t want to make excuses.
“Injuries happen,” linebacker Jordan Waiwaiole said. “That’s football. It’s a tough sport. We need those guys who are coming in to step up and make plays.”
Air Force only has a few days to heal up before playing San Diego State on Thursday night.
“We just have to find out what the pieces are we can go with,” Calhoun said.
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About this blog …
I'm Frank Schwab, Air Force beat reporter for The Gazette. I've been at the paper since 2003, and covered the Broncos for seven seasons. I covered the University of Wisconsin in the late 1990s, so I'm well versed in running football teams (Ron Dayne) and defensive basketball teams (Dick Bennett). I love to chat on www.twitter.com/GazetteAirForce, and will respond to comments and emails at frank.schwab@gazette.com.
For more coverage, visit The Gazette's Air Force Academy Sports page
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OK, I admit I’m biased…but I had a few problems with the refs in the ND game. 1st when Asher Clark went down the defensive player gave him an extra shove once they were out of bounds and he ended up ramming the bench. The broadcasters thought so also. The TD that the guy caught on the left sideline with his foot on the pylon was thought to have been bobbled while he was 1st stepping on the pylon, again by the broadcasters who thought the TD ruling would be overturned. I also thought they would review the tipped interception that the ND player caught while on the ground. Again the announcers thought it should be reviewed and said so as ND quickly lined up to snap the ball and prevent a review. I could go on but I’m sure I’m the only one who caresat this point.