Air Force Football: Falcons use their passing game in victory over Army

The Air Force Falcons won a hard fought defensive battle in Colorado Springs versus the Army Black Knights by a score of 20-3 on a windy cold Saturday. The Falcons used some big plays in the passing game to seal the victory, their sixth of the season making them bowl eligible as they head into a brutal three game stretch to wrap up the Mountain West conference race in the Mountain division.

For the first quarter and most of the second quarter, the Falcons and Black Knights played a field position game that Army would see themselves have the advantage. Twice, they pinned Air Force deep in their own territory going into a very stiff wind that was a factor in the coaching decisions for the day. When Air Force had the wind in their back in the second quarter, they were able to open up the offense a little bit and after getting a field goal earlier in the second quarter, they found themselves with the ball late in the first half.

Starting quarterback Karson Roberts, who was 7 of 10 for 156 yards and two touchdowns throwing,  was able to find Garrett Brown on a 59 yard pass to get the Falcons deep into Army territory. After having struggled in short yardage situation for much of the first half due to a stout Army defense, the Falcons scored on a play-action bootleg where Roberts hit tight end Garrett Griffin on a misdirection pass on the three yard line to increase their lead to 10-0 at halftime.

For Army, they found their only points when they had the wind to their back in the third quarter. The third quarter played out much like the first two, with field position and the wind dictating the play. Army however, was unable to get a passing game going with quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw only connection on two of his eight passes for 45 yards on the game. The Falcons defense really took away the running game by overloading the box and making Bradshaw beat them with his arm, which he was unable to do. The Falcons held Army to 124 yards rushing on the game.

The Falcons would score 10 points in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation on the game. The big play of the day was a play action deep pass to Griffin which resulted in a 23-yard touchdown that led to the final score of 20-3. The win improved the Falcons to 6-3 overall. The Falcons now prepare for the gauntlet of Utah State, Boise State and New Mexico in its final three games. Utah State will be next for the Falcons as they close out their home schedule hosting the Aggies for a noon showdown. The Falcons control their destiny for the Mountain Division championship and the chance to play in their first Mountain West title game.