The Air Force Falcons have redeemed last years loss to Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl in a big way with a dominating 20-47 victory. It was Air Force's highest scoring bowl game ever. The Falcons defense forced Case Keenum into a career high 6 interceptions and held the potent Cougar offense to only 331 yards on the day, by far a season low for Houston. Air Force lead in every facet of the game as they finish their season 8-5 and Houston at 10-4. With the Falcons winning it puts the Mountain West Conference at 4-0 on the bowl season with TCU left in the Fiesta Bowl.
Air Force ran for 400 yards on the day behind Jared Tew and Asher Clark who had 175 yards and 126 yards rushing respectively. Tim Jefferson played his most complete game of the year with 162 yards passing and 37 on the ground. Jefferson made the right reads in the triple option offense which lead to the success of the running game. The Falcons followed my key to victory for them as they controlled the clock and finished their drives with touchdowns only attempting three field goals on the day.
Houston did not follow my keys to victory for them and turned the ball over six times and only forced one three and out against the triple option. Houston only had the ball for 18:56 compared to Air Force's 41:04. The interceptions were really the problem as Houston couldn't keep and drives going and couldn't connect long due to windy conditions. Keenum had nine interceptions in 13 regular season games compared to his 6 today. The Falcon defense should get a lot of credit for slowing down an explosive offense. Anthony Wright Jr. had three interceptions to lead the team and Chris Thomas had 2 interceptions along with 12 tackles in a great performance.
Troy Calhoun did a great job getting his team ready for this game and it showed. With the scheme to keep Kennum in check along with some gutsy special team fake calls it was Air Force's best all around game this year. Air Force fans should be excited to have Calhoun at the helm as they head into next year along with their growing talent base.