My wife and I were in attendance at the AFA-UNLV game on Saturday night. After Air Force played Michigan two weeks ago the team had an open week in its schedule the following Saturday. During that open week I watched the telecast of the UNLV-Washington State.
In a post I made regarding that game I wrote the following: ===>UNLV was effective on third down converting 9 of 17 attempts. As AFA fans know this is an area in which the team’s defense struggled last year: stopping teams on 3rd down and forcing them into punting mode on 4th down. This might be an area to watch on Saturday evening.<====
UNLV converted 10 of 13 third down attempts versus Air Force, including nine consecutive third downs, continuing a trend that was much in evidence during the 2011 season, that being AFA's inability to stop the opposition on third down. In the game against the Rebels a stop or two more in third down situations might have derailed UNLV's momentum and given the Falcons additional opportunities to display what had been a relentlessly productive first-half ground game.
No team is going to hold an opponent to a zero percentage rate of third down conversions, but a timely defensive stand on third down which forces an opponent to punt on fourth down too often eluded AFA last year and continues to do so in 2012. Idaho State converted 5 of 12 third down situations; Michigan 5 of 11 and UNLV 10 of 13. Opponents have converted 20 of 36 third down situations this season. My own contention is that unless and until AFA's defense holds opponents to fewer third down conversions thereby forcing fourth down punts there will be a heavy burden placed on the Falcons' offense to score a cascade of points.
Air Force scored thirty-five points, on the road, in a conference game and lost to UNLV. In scoring thirty-five points the offense did its job to put Air Force in a position to win the game. The defense did not do its job well enough to secure a victory.
So it's on to a home game versus in-state rival CSU. The Air Force defense needs to improve its play to help the team avoid what would be a most disappointing 0-2 start in MWC play.
Depth is a huge problem on the defense. Wooding, Fullam, Wright, Cooks started the season out. Miller and Means have been hurt. On offense, Kons, Husar, and Hunter. This is a continuation of last years problems. Maybe Calhoun puts too much emphasis on playing hurt.
It’s going to be a long year. Our defense just cannot stop the opponents. Problem is that we cannot get any pressure on the opposing quarterback so therefore, cannot stop the passing game. Also, when your defensive line is outweighed 35 to 50 pounds a man, it is a telling factor in the second half, particularly in the 4th quarter. Offensively we can compete with anyone on our schedule. Question is how many opponents can we outscore? As was the case with UNLV, it’s going to be tough going against opponents like Fresno State, Nevada, San Diego State, Wyoming, and yes, New Mexico and Navy. I do believe we can compete defensively with CSU, Army, and Hawaii this year. All of this is not a criticism, just a fact this year. No one is a bigger Falcon fan; Go Falcons, beat the Rams!!!!
We were up 28-17 against UNLV. The 2nd half came down to adjustments, the UNLV coaches made the adjustments to slow down our rushing attack and we only made 7 points in the 2nd Half. On the flip side to get pressure on the UNLV QB our coaches kept bringing the same LBs which left the middle wide open, never once did I a zone blitz or any creativity from a blitz or stunt perspective to confuse the UNLV QB. QB 101 if you know who is blitzing that’s the area of the field you attack. The coaches could have done a better job. Also, 1st drive if we kick a FG instead of going for it on 4th down, the outcome might have been different. The offense can’t turn the ball over in the red zone either. I still think we have a good team that will make it to a bowl game, the coaches and players just need to work harder!
Luckily the Mountain West is really weak this season and we don’t play Boise State. But UNLV is bad, so not sure how to take that. We’ll be fine, Navy and Army are weak, I see a CIC trophy and bowl game in our future. UNLV game was pretty sad, but I see a lot of wins coming up in our future.
To me it’s like our hockey team playing weak competition, luckily we’re not in the Big 12 or Pac 12 or WCHA, the Mountain West gives us a chance to be successful and win.
Nice observation East Coast Falcon. I just took the time to look at an NCAA football stats site. There are 120 teams listed as playing division one football. When it comes to allowing opponents to convert on third down the team ranked last is Army. The Black Knights are 0-3 this season.
The team ranked next to last in allowing third down conversions by opponents is Air Force and the Falcons are 1-2. You’re right in saying AF doesn’t need to stop every team on every third down. Some timely stops by the AF defense on third downs would be a big step in the right direction and make the entire team’s job much easier.
That’s why AF runs the ball with the option attack, to burn clock and keep opposing teams offenses off the field. Service academy defenses rarely can stop bigger and more athletic offenses in D-I. Luckily most Mtn West teams are barely D-I, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado State are darn right bad….but so was UNLV : )
[...] coach Troy Calhoun confirmed following the loss that offensive lineman Jason Kons will miss a month of play after coming down with mono. That health issue was what kept the tackle out of the UNLV [...]
[...] Force is leading the academies in illness. Offensive tackle Jason Kons may miss a month thanks to a case of mononucleosis, according to The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette. The senior missed Saturday’s 38-35 loss to [...]
My wife and I were in attendance at the AFA-UNLV game on Saturday night. After Air Force played Michigan two weeks ago the team had an open week in its schedule the following Saturday. During that open week I watched the telecast of the UNLV-Washington State.
In a post I made regarding that game I wrote the following: ===>UNLV was effective on third down converting 9 of 17 attempts. As AFA fans know this is an area in which the team’s defense struggled last year: stopping teams on 3rd down and forcing them into punting mode on 4th down. This might be an area to watch on Saturday evening.<====
UNLV converted 10 of 13 third down attempts versus Air Force, including nine consecutive third downs, continuing a trend that was much in evidence during the 2011 season, that being AFA's inability to stop the opposition on third down. In the game against the Rebels a stop or two more in third down situations might have derailed UNLV's momentum and given the Falcons additional opportunities to display what had been a relentlessly productive first-half ground game.
No team is going to hold an opponent to a zero percentage rate of third down conversions, but a timely defensive stand on third down which forces an opponent to punt on fourth down too often eluded AFA last year and continues to do so in 2012. Idaho State converted 5 of 12 third down situations; Michigan 5 of 11 and UNLV 10 of 13. Opponents have converted 20 of 36 third down situations this season. My own contention is that unless and until AFA's defense holds opponents to fewer third down conversions thereby forcing fourth down punts there will be a heavy burden placed on the Falcons' offense to score a cascade of points.
Air Force scored thirty-five points, on the road, in a conference game and lost to UNLV. In scoring thirty-five points the offense did its job to put Air Force in a position to win the game. The defense did not do its job well enough to secure a victory.
So it's on to a home game versus in-state rival CSU. The Air Force defense needs to improve its play to help the team avoid what would be a most disappointing 0-2 start in MWC play.
GO AIR FORCE! BEAT THE RAMS!
Depth is a huge problem on the defense. Wooding, Fullam, Wright, Cooks started the season out. Miller and Means have been hurt. On offense, Kons, Husar, and Hunter. This is a continuation of last years problems. Maybe Calhoun puts too much emphasis on playing hurt.
It’s going to be a long year. Our defense just cannot stop the opponents. Problem is that we cannot get any pressure on the opposing quarterback so therefore, cannot stop the passing game. Also, when your defensive line is outweighed 35 to 50 pounds a man, it is a telling factor in the second half, particularly in the 4th quarter. Offensively we can compete with anyone on our schedule. Question is how many opponents can we outscore? As was the case with UNLV, it’s going to be tough going against opponents like Fresno State, Nevada, San Diego State, Wyoming, and yes, New Mexico and Navy. I do believe we can compete defensively with CSU, Army, and Hawaii this year. All of this is not a criticism, just a fact this year. No one is a bigger Falcon fan; Go Falcons, beat the Rams!!!!
We were up 28-17 against UNLV. The 2nd half came down to adjustments, the UNLV coaches made the adjustments to slow down our rushing attack and we only made 7 points in the 2nd Half. On the flip side to get pressure on the UNLV QB our coaches kept bringing the same LBs which left the middle wide open, never once did I a zone blitz or any creativity from a blitz or stunt perspective to confuse the UNLV QB. QB 101 if you know who is blitzing that’s the area of the field you attack. The coaches could have done a better job. Also, 1st drive if we kick a FG instead of going for it on 4th down, the outcome might have been different. The offense can’t turn the ball over in the red zone either. I still think we have a good team that will make it to a bowl game, the coaches and players just need to work harder!
Luckily the Mountain West is really weak this season and we don’t play Boise State. But UNLV is bad, so not sure how to take that. We’ll be fine, Navy and Army are weak, I see a CIC trophy and bowl game in our future. UNLV game was pretty sad, but I see a lot of wins coming up in our future.
To me it’s like our hockey team playing weak competition, luckily we’re not in the Big 12 or Pac 12 or WCHA, the Mountain West gives us a chance to be successful and win.
Nice observation East Coast Falcon. I just took the time to look at an NCAA football stats site. There are 120 teams listed as playing division one football. When it comes to allowing opponents to convert on third down the team ranked last is Army. The Black Knights are 0-3 this season.
The team ranked next to last in allowing third down conversions by opponents is Air Force and the Falcons are 1-2. You’re right in saying AF doesn’t need to stop every team on every third down. Some timely stops by the AF defense on third downs would be a big step in the right direction and make the entire team’s job much easier.
That’s why AF runs the ball with the option attack, to burn clock and keep opposing teams offenses off the field. Service academy defenses rarely can stop bigger and more athletic offenses in D-I. Luckily most Mtn West teams are barely D-I, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado State are darn right bad….but so was UNLV : )
[...] coach Troy Calhoun confirmed following the loss that offensive lineman Jason Kons will miss a month of play after coming down with mono. That health issue was what kept the tackle out of the UNLV [...]
[...] Force is leading the academies in illness. Offensive tackle Jason Kons may miss a month thanks to a case of mononucleosis, according to The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette. The senior missed Saturday’s 38-35 loss to [...]