Log in
My Account
Subscribe 99¢ for 3 months
Newsletter

Today's Digital Newspaper

The Gazette

Weather Block Here

Login
My Account
Subscribe
Newsletter

Archive Information

Carrier Portal

Search

Buy Our Photos

Air Force football rides wave of confidence from CU victory as it begins preparations for Boise State

By Brent Briggeman September 15, 2019 | updated 6 years ago

1 of 3
091519-s-FBAirForceCU 22.jpg

Air Force receiver Benjamin Waters gestures Sept. 14 before defeating Colorado 30-23 in Boulder.

Chancey Bush, The Gazette

College football’s latest Top 25 polls came out on Sunday, and Air Force received nary a mention.

Next week it could be a different story.

Fresh off a thrilling 30-23 overtime victory at Colorado, the Falcons travel No. 20 Boise State. A win on the blue turf would provide a massive early lift in the Mountain West Mountain Division race and give the team a strong case for its first national ranking since a two-week stretch in 2010.

Air Force Falcons vs. CU Buffs | Full Coverage

A jump from completely outside of teams receiving votes to a ranking might be unlikely, but Air Force will play the Broncos on Friday night – giving voters an opportunity to watch the game and plenty of time to think about a résumé for an unbeaten team that would include road wins at a Pac-12 stadium and over a ranked team that has perennially been excellent at home.

“We’ve definitely thought about it,” junior tailback Kade Remsberg said when asked about the potential of earning a spot in the Top 25. “That’s the next thing we’re onto. That’s the next goal.”

The seniors approached the topic with a bit more caution.

“It’s crossed some of our minds, but our thought process is always the game ahead of us,” senior safety Jeremy Fejedelem said. “That’s Boise this week. We’ve just got to go 1-0 this week. We’ll see what happens, but we’re just thinking about winning.”

Starting 3-0? A spot in the Top 25?

“I’m thinking about 1-0,” senior linebacker Kyle Johnson said from Folsom Field on Saturday. “How about that? … The second we walk out of this locker room we’re prepping for Boise.”

The Jeff Sagarin computer rankings currently place Air Force at No. 55 – a rating hurt by opening opponent Colgate’s 0-3 start. Only Tulane (46), Toledo (44), Memphis (38), Utah State (35), FCS North Dakota State (29), Boise State (24) and Central Florida (18) rank higher than the Falcons among teams from outside Power Five conferences.

But after just two games, there’s little point in worrying much about rankings. Rankings ultimately play a major role in determining which Group of Five team is selected for a New Year’s Six Bowl appearance, but there’s plenty of time to sort through that.

Sign Up For Free: Mile High 5

Your daily report on everything sports in Colorado – covering the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and columns from Woody Paige and Paul Klee.

View all of our newsletters.

Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

View all of our newsletters.

function subscribeSuccess() {
var nsltrform = document.querySelector(“#nsltr”);
var nsltrSuccess = document.querySelector(“#successnsltr”);

nsltrform.classList.add(“hideblock”);
nsltrSuccess.classList.remove(“hideblock”);
}

function validateEmail(email) {
return String(email)
.toLowerCase()
.match(
/^(([^()[]\.,;:s@”]+(.[^()[]\.,;:s@”]+)*)|(“.+”))@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))$/
);
}

function validateEmailAddress() {
const result = document.querySelector(“#result”);
const email = document.querySelector(“#email”).value;

result.innerText = “”;

if(validateEmail(email)) {
newsletterSubscribe(email);
} else {
result.innerText = ‘The email entered: ‘ + email + ‘ is not valid :(‘;
result.style.color = “red”;
}
return false;
}

function newsletterSubscribe(email) {
fetch(“https://services.gazette.com/mg2-newsletters.php?action=subscribe&site=denvergazette.com&emailPreferenceId=59&email=” + email, {
method: “POST”
}).then(res => {
console.log(“SUCCESSFUL POST”);
subscribeSuccess();
});

}

#nsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: #2076b3;

background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/pp5%20signup%203.png);
background-size: cover;

}

#nsltr-header {
color: #fff4f4;
}
#nsltr-body {
text-align: center;
color: #ffffff;
}
#nsltr-button {
margin-top: 5px;
}
#successnsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: green;
text-align: center;
color: white;
}

#successnsltr a {
color: white;
}

.hideblock {
display:none;
}

h6 a {
color: black;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 5px;
background-color: #bbccdd;
font-weight: 600;
}

@media only screen and (min-width: 768px) {
#nsltr {
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/pp5%20signup%203.png);
background-size: cover;
}
}

Featured Local Savings

The more impactful variable right now is Air Force’s confidence, which couldn’t be higher.

With the rather large exception of three turnovers, the Falcons executed their offense to near perfection. The tailbacks/wingbacks carried 27 times for 170 yards. The fullbacks carried 18 times for 94 yards. Quarterback Donald Hammond III threw or ran a combined 18 times for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

The offense averaged 6.9 yards per play.

“We believe no one in this nation can stop us except for ourselves,” Hammond said.

Defensively, the Falcons limited Colorado to 4.3 yards per play – including 3.3 yards per attempt on running plays. Against Colorado State and Nebraska, the Buffs had averaged 6.8 yards per play and 4.3 per rush.

It’s not just the performance against the Buffaloes that has instilled this confidence. The Falcons came away from last season with a feeling that experience gained over two seasons filled with close losses was going to pay dividends.

But beyond that, they just felt they were good.

“I’ve told you, I’m excited about this year,” Hammond said. “I think we’re going to be really good this year.”

Added Remsberg, who flashed his sub-4.4 speed with a 25-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime at Colorado, “We have so much talent. People, I think, discredit us because we’re an academy, but we have guys that can ball. We’re going to show the Mountain West this year.”

A Friday night game at the Broncos, once again the Mountain Division favorite, will be the first opportunity to prove that.

“I think we can win ‘em all, man,” slot receiver Ben Waters said. “I don’t think we’d be a good team if we didn’t think that.”

4ddc3718-1383-503a-9884-a7dccb487331

View Original Article | Split View
Tags
Brent Briggeman

Reporter

PREV

PREVIOUS

From politics to football, Air Force beats CU Buffs in a win for the ages | Paul Klee

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save BOULDER • This one’s for Chad Hall. It’s for Chad Hennings, Bryce Fisher, Chris Gizzi, the late Dee Dowis, the Morgan brothers. Air Force 30, CU-Boulder 23 (OT). This one’s for all the proud Air Force football players, coaches and families who never got their […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. says coronavirus being used for population control

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Michael Porter Jr. spent some of his time in the Orlando bubble Tuesday night doing a question-and-answer session with fans on his Snapchat account. The seemingly innocent act turned questionable when Porter was asked about […]