Sept. 6, 2004

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The Game Facts... The Records -- Air Force is 0-1. Eastern Washington is 0-1. Television -- None. Radio -- Locally on KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs and KLZ 560 AM/ESPN radio in Denver and parts of Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. KVOR's Jim Arthur (play-by-play) and Lee Douglas of News First 5/30 (color) will call the action. They are joined on the pre- and post-game shows by KVOR's Jay Ritchie and Greg Lazor of Magic FM. National Polls -- Air Force is not ranked. Series -- This is the first meeting between the two schools. Coaches -- Air Force is coached by Fisher DeBerry (Wofford, 1960), who is in his 21st season. DeBerry, the winningest coach in service academy history, has led the Falcons to a 156-89-1 mark in his only head coaching position. Eastern Washington is coached by Paul Wulff (Washington State, 1990), who is in his fifth season. Wulff has led the Eagles to a 25-20 record in his first head coaching position. Streaks -- Air Force has lost three straight dating back to last season. Eastern Washington has lost two straight dating back to last season. Last meeting -- This is the first meeting between the two. Last week -- Air Force was beaten, 56-14, by 13th-ranked California in Falcon Stadium in the season opener for both schools. Eastern Washington lost its season opener, 37-14, at Nicholls State. Did you know -- Air Force is 10-0 under Fisher DeBerry against Division I-AA opponents. The team defeated Wofford, 49-0, last year in its last game against a I-AA foe. Stat of the week -- Air Force is 6-1 all-time against teams from the Big Sky Conference. Air Force defeated Cal State Northridge in 2000 in its last game against a Big Sky team. What to watch for -- Air Force has not opened a season 0-2 since 1994. That year, the Falcons opened 0-3 before winning eight of the next games and finish 8-4 overall. The series... Air Force and Eastern Washington are playing for the first time. Falcons from Washington... Air Force has just one player from the state of Washington on its roster, wide receiver Greg Kirkwood of Othella. The large and small of it... Despite Eastern Washington being a Division I-AA opponent, Air Force still finds itself at a size disadvantage. The Eastern Washington offensive line averages 6-foot-4 and 284 pounds. Air Force defensive linemen average 6-foot-2.5 and 270 pounds, which is 1.5 inches shorter and 14 pounds lighter. That is, however, better than last week when Air Force averaged 2.0 inches shorter and 42 pounds lighter. Air Force vs. I-AA Opponents... Eastern Washington is the 11th NCAA Division I-AA team that Air Force has played under head coach Fisher DeBerry. The Falcons are 10-0 in the previous meetings vs. I-AA foes. Air Force vs. the Big Sky... Air Force is 7-1 all-time against teams from the Big Sky Conference. This week's game is the first against a Big Sky team since 2000 when the Falcons opened the season against Cal State Northridge. Last week... Air Force was defeated, 56-14, by 13th-ranked California in Falcon Stadium in the season opener for both schools. Cal running back J.J. Arrington rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bears, who out-rushed Air Force 342-182. Arrington opened the scoring with an 11-yard scoring run to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. The Falcons answered when freshman QB Shaun Carney hit Robert McMenomy with a 10-yard scoring strike to tie the game. The touchdown capped a 17-play, 77-yard drive that took 6:19 off the clock. The Falcons converted all five third-down conversions on the drive. Arrington added his second TD of the first quarter to give Cal a 14-7 lead. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers then added a one-yard run early in the second quarter to give the Bears a 21-7 lead. The Falcons then posted another impressive drive, going 80 yards in eight plays to make it 21-14 at halftime. Dan Shaffer capped the drive with a two-yard TD run. The biggest play of the game came on Cal's opening drive of the second half. Arrington dived over the pile from the one-yard line and fumbled into the endzone after being hit by John Rudzinski. Air Force recovered, but officials ruled that Arrington had crossed the goal line before the fumble, giving him his third score of the game and California a 28-14 lead. The Bears rolled from that point, holding Air Force to just 56 total yards in the second half. Cal finished the game with 573 total yards while holding the Falcons to just 271. Marshawn Lynch added 92 yards rushing and Rodgers hit 11 of 16 passes for 208 yards for the Bears, who improved to 1-0. Air Force was led by Carney, making his first-career start, who rushed for 75 yards on 18 carries. He also hit nine of 15 passes for 89 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Quoting DeBerry... Quotes from Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry following the Cal game follow: "We're certainly very disappointed, as you would expect in the outcome of this game. The score is not very typical of Air Force football, and to be honest with you, we're a little embarrassed. We were hoping for a miracle, that was sort of our approach today. I thought when we came out in the second half, we were right where we wanted to be. We were in good shape, we were going to have the football to start the second half, and obviously we didn't do anything with it." "To me this is when it's most critical in a football game, the attitude and performance and the way you come out to start the second half, and that's probably the thing that disappointed me most. We didn't come out with the intensity level that I thought we should show coming out, being in the position that we were and we hadn't played bad football. We just didn't take advantage of our opportunities." "The other thing that probably disappointed me most was that we gave up the big play. You can't beat a solid football team giving up the big play. Obviously we've got to look at that very closely and do something about that. The other thing was that we had some penalties that stopped some drives for us. And we didn't tackle very well. It was very uncharacteristic of Falcon football." "You've got to give Cal a lot of credit, they're a much improved football team than when we played them two years ago. They're a much stronger football team, and obviously, they've got great balance." The most to the second-fewest... Air Force is back to normal this season. The Falcons usually rank among the teams with the fewest returning starters in the conference. This year, AFA returns just six starters which is the second-fewest in the Fisher DeBerry era. The only time the team returned fewer was in 2002 when just five returned. Last year, AFA was in unfamiliar territory when 16 starters returned. The Falcons had seven returning starters on offense and defense, as well as two kickers back. This year, the team has three on offense and defense and no kickers. Falcons vs. non-conference foes... Air Force is 23-7 in its last 30 non-conference games dating back to 1997. Three of the losses have come at the hands of nationally ranked teams. Air Force fell to eighth-ranked Notre Dame, 34-31, in overtime in 2000 and in 2001 to third-ranked Oklahoma, 44-3, in Falcon Stadium. In 2002, the team fell at home, 21-14, to seventh-ranked Notre Dame. AFA head coach Fisher DeBerry is 61-29 during his career in non-conference games. Fast starts the norm... Air Force has a history of getting off to a fast start with Fisher DeBerry at the helm. In addition to a 17-4 mark in season openers, the Falcons are 61-25 (.709) in August and September under DeBerry. Air Force has 27 of its last 33 games (.818) during the last nine seasons in August and September. The team's last two losses have come against ranked opponents. The Falcons lost to defending national champion Oklahoma in 2001 and last week vs. 13th-ranked California. Air Force among the best... Air Force ranks second in the Mountain West Conference and 18th nationally since 1997 in total wins. The Falcons have a 58-29 record (.667). During the last eight years, Air Force has posted seasons with nine (2000), 10 (1997) and 12 (1998) wins. Air Force posted the first back-to-back 10-win seasons in program history in 1997-98 with 10 and 12 wins, respectively. Notes about 0-1... Some interesting notes about Air Force's 0-1 start this season follows: Air Force is 0-1 for the first time since 2001 and just the fifth time under Fisher DeBerry ... The last time AFA opened 0-1 was in 2001. That year the loss was to third-ranked Oklahoma. AFA rebounded the next week for a win over a Division I-AA team. The Falcons play I-AA Eastern Washington this week. AFA has opened 0-2 only once under head coach Fisher DeBerry. The team opened 0-3 in 1994 before winning eight of the next nine games to finish 8-4 overall ... AFA has lost three straight games dating back to last season. The last time the Falcons lost four straight games was in 1993-94. AFA last the final two games of 1993 and the first three of 1994. The team went on to win 10 of its next 11 and 14 of its next 17 games. AFA national power in rushing... Air Force has been one of the most dominant rushing teams in college football since Fisher DeBerry took over in 1984. The team has ranked among the nation's top 10 a remarkable 19 times and the top five 15 times. In 2002, the Falcons won the school's first national rushing title. As dominant as the team has been nationally, it has no equal in conference play. Air Force has won 20 conference rushing titles, including 18 under DeBerry. The Falcons got off to a rough start this season, rushing for just 182 yards against 13th-ranked California last week. That total ranks fith in the conference and 41st nationally this week. If history repeats itself, the Falcons should rebound. In 2001, the Falcons opened the season with a tough day against defending national champion and third-ranked Oklahoma. AFA rushed for just 137 yards and ranked fifth in the conference and 48th nationally after one week. The Falcons ended the season with a 273.2-yard average to lead the conference and rank third nationally. Blocked kicks... The Falcons have made blocking kicks an art form. Air Force has blocked 87 kicks since 1990 to rank second nationally behind Virginia Tech, who has 89. During the 1990s, Virginia Tech led the nation with 62 while Air Force was second with 60. AFA has blocked at least three kicks 14 consecutive years. Halfback rushing game... Air Force's halfback rushing game has been as good as ever in the option era over the last couple of years. Last year, the position posted some impressive numbers. The group had its best game of the season against Wyoming, rushing for 235 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Darnell Stephens led the way with 91 yards and a TD on 14 carries. Last season, halfbacks gained 44.2 percent (1,489 yards) of the team's 3,367 rushing yards. The halfbacks, like everyone else last week, got off the a slow start against California. The halfbacks combined for 32.9 percent of the team's 182 yards with a combined 60 yards. Stephens, Butler moving up... Senior halfbacks Darnell Stephens and Anthony Butler have established themselves as two of the top halfbacks in Air Force history. Last season, Butler became the 31st player in AFA history to reach the 1,000-yard mark for his career. He now stands 27th in career rushing at the Academy with 1,135 yards. Stephens became the 32nd player in school history to reach 1,000 yards in his career last season and has 1,113 for his career to rank 29th. Since the Academy went to the option offense in 1980, only seven halfbacks have reached the 1,000-yard mark. Butler and Stephens join Greg Johnson, Jake Campbell, Qualario Brown, Leotis Palmer and Scotty McKay. Now for the fullbacks... While the Air Force halfbacks have recorded some big efforts over the last two years, it's the fullbacks that carry the load. Air Force is 36-8 since 1990 when the position rushes for 100 or more yards. Commander-in-Chief's Trophy... This season marks the 33rd year of Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition between Air Force, Army and Navy. Each year, the President of the United States hosts the winning team at the White House to present them the CIC Trophy. Air Force has dominated the competition with 16 titles. Army and Navy have won it six times each. Air Force was 1-1 last season, losing to Navy and defeating Army. The Midshipmen ended a drought of over 20 years by going on to beat Army and win the trophy. Air Force has a 44-20-0 all-time CIC record. Fisher DeBerry has led the Falcons to 14 of the 16 titles and has a 33-7 CIC record. The Falcons have been in possession of the Trophy for all but two years (Army, 1996; Navy 2003) since 1989. A freshman will lead them... Air Force head football coach Fisher DeBerry announced that freshman Shaun Carney will start at quarterback for the Falcons this season. Carney is the first freshman in Academy history to be named the starter at the beginning of the season and first rookie QB since Dee Dowis in 1986 against Brigham Young to start any game. Carney beat out junior Andy Gray for the position. Fellow junior Adam Fitch was the favorite to win the job until a ruptured Achilles tendon during the spring put him out of action. He returned to practice on Aug. 23 and is expected back this week. Carney, a native of North Olmsted, Ohio, attended the Air Force Academy Prep School last year and started at quarterback. He was a three-year letterman in football and basketball at St. Edward High School. "I've been dreaming about this for a long time and am very confident in my ability," Carney said. "Without my year at the Prep School, I would not be here in this position. I played against incredible competition last year at the Prep School and really adapted to the speed of the college game. I'm a game player. When the lights go on, I'm the guy who's going to make plays." The leaders... Air Force players elected five team captains for the 2004 season. The captains, all seniors, are: fullbacks Adam Cole and Dan Shaffer, defensive end Ryan Carter, linebacker John Rudzinski and receiver Alec Messerall. Coach... The Falcons will wear a sticker on their helmets this season in memory of former head coach Ben Martin. Known widely as the Father of Air Force Football, Martin passed away in Colorado Springs in July. He was 83 years old. Martin put Air Force football on the map during his 20-year (1958-77) coaching tenure. His short, controlled passing game enabled the much-smaller Falcons to compete on a national scale. The coach led the Falcons to three bowl games, including the 1959 Cotton Bowl, 1963 Gator Bowl and 1971 Sugar Bowl. The Cotton and Sugar bowl games mark the only New Year's Day bowl games Air Force has participated in. Martin's 1958 team, his first at Air Force, is still considered one of the top teams in college football history. The Falcons went 9-0-1 in the regular season before battling to a 0-0 tie with Texas Christian in the Cotton Bowl to finish 9-0-2. The undefeated team is still the only one in Academy history. Martin's 20-year stint is the second-longest in service academy football history and his 96-103-9 record at Air Force is the second-best in school history. Only current Falcon mentor Fisher DeBerry's 21-year tenure and 156-88-1 career record are better in either category. Heaton looks good ... Junior punter Donny Heaton had a solid debut as the team's starting punter last week. Heaton punted seven times for a 47.0 average. He also recorded a career-long 62 yard punt and had one downed inside the 20 yardline. Heaton entered the game with just one punt in his career, a 54-yarder in 2003. He leads the conference in punting this week and ranks fourth nationally. Messerall third... Kickoff returner Alec Messerall ranks third in the Mountain West Conference this week with a 21.0 average. Messerall returned three kickoff for 63 yards against California. The senior, who also plays wide receiver, will likely not get a chance to improve his statistics this week. He is listed as questionable due to a strained elbow. He has been replaced as a kickoff returner by Justin Handley. He'll only see action at wide receiver this week against Eastern Washington. All in the family... Air Force has two sets of brothers on the team this season. Senior fullback Dan Shaffer is joined by younger brother David, a junior defensive lineman. Senior kicker Michael Greenaway is joined by his younger brother, sophomore Brendan, who is also a kicker. DeBerry, Bell, Petersen fourth... The Air Force coaching staff (head coach, coordinators) ranks fourth nationally in terms of coaching experience on the Division I-A level. The trio of Fisher DeBerry (head coach), Richard Bell (defensive coordinator) and Chuck Petersen (offensive coordinator) has a combined 94 years of coaching experience. DeBerry enters his 36th year at the Division I level, while Bell is in his 42nd and Petersen his 16th. Bring on overtime... Air Force has been very successful playing in overtime games since the format was added to college football in 1996. Air Force is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Falcon Stadium during the extra period. The team is 3-1 in conference overtime games. Falcons picked seventh... Utah was picked to win the Mountain West Conference in the preseason poll announced at the annual media day in July. The Utes got 15 of the 16 votes for first place. Colorado State was selected second and received the other first place vote. Air Force was picked seventh, tying the lowest the team has been picked in the Fisher DeBerry era.