Air Force Football: Comeback Falls Short In Florida

The Florida Atlantic Owls used 471 yards passing and a late interception to defeat the visiting Air Force Falcons Saturday afternoon by a score of 33-27.

Going into the game, the focus of the Falcons was to limit All-American running back Devin Singletary and they accomplished that mission. The run defense, which was a big problem for Air Force in 2017, held Singletary to 57 yards rushing with 1 touchdown. However, the Falcons were torched by quarterback Chris Robinson. Robinson, in his first year as a starter, lit up the Falcons defense going 33 of 40 for 471 yards and three touchdowns to be the biggest difference in the game Saturday. Willie Wright (6 catches for 75 yards) caught two of those passes and Jovon Durante, who had a huge game himself with 12 catches for 174 yards, caught the other point producer.

The Falcons found some success in the passing game as well, with backup quarterback Isaiah Sanders getting the spot start in place of injured Arion Worthman. Sanders was 8 of 13 passing for 164 yards and a touchdown to tight end Kade Waguespack. But, the Owls limited the Falcons on the ground, holding Air Force to 209 yards rushing. The Falcons were only able to average 3.7 yards per carry. Nolan Eriksen and Taven Birdow were able to find the endzone for the Falcons on the day.

Air Force was able to put this game in doubt late when they blocked a punt for a touchdown with 50 seconds left in the game. Blocking kicks has been a Falcon specialty under Troy Calhoun. This is the 12th straight season, all under Calhoun, were the Falcons have blocked some kind of kick in a game. When Lakota Wills scoped up the ball and ran it the final five yards into the end zone, the Falcons were able to give themselves a chance, but after recovering an onside kick, Sanders would throw an interception which would end the game for the Falcons, dropping them to 0-3 in Florida and allowing Florida Atlantic to win the first ever match-up in the two schools history.

Air Force, now with a record of 1-1, will have a bye this upcoming weekend before making the trip to Logan, Utah to face the Utah State Aggies on September 22nd. Game time will be determined sometime later this week.