Falcons Soar to 38-10 Victory Over New Mexico

During last night’s TV broadcast, the FS1 announcers were pointing out that the Falcon offensive line was the least experienced line in college football coming into the season. Not only that, but two sophomores, Luke Hallstrom and Kaleb Holcomb, were making the first starts of their college careers. Also, tight end Dalton King was making the first start of his career.

And the, the Falcons ran out onto the field and rushed for more than 400 yards for the third straight game, dominating an opponent who was allowing only 77 yards rushing per game.

It wasn’t only the offensive line that provided the blocking. The running backs and receivers contributed some great blocks to spring some big runs. Watch SB Dane Kinnamon and TE Dalton King take out two tacklers on the edge as DeAndre Hughes scoots into the end zone:

Earlier in the game, TB Jorden Gidrey flipped first team All-Mountain West safety Jerrick Reed with a block that sprung Kinnamon on a 15 yard run for a first and goal at the five. This is a continuation of the kind of blocking that has made the Falcons very dangerous on the edge for the last three games. It also helps when you have the speed that Hughes shows in the video. Opponents are trying everything they can to stop the inside game, but the fullbacks came up with 247 yards. Brad Roberts was again the lead rusher with 143 yards on 29 carries.

The defense came up with another good game, and Troy Calhoun specifically praised the pass rush for it’s improvement. Vince Sanford was the star, garnering 8 tackles, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a QB hurry. Jordan Jackson, although his stats weren’t much, was disruptive by drawing some holding penalties, forcing double teams, and picking up .5 sacks and 3 tackles.

Omitting the Utah State game, the Falcons have now allowed 8.5 points per game. That game against the Aggies is such an outlier, it’s hard to figure out exactly how to evaluate the defense going forward. Are the Aggies really 40 points better than FAU, Navy, and New Mexico? I think we can call that game an outlier for our defense and their offense, and be pretty confident going forward. We’ll find out more next week when the Wyoming Cowboys come to Falcon Stadium. Come back Thursday for my preview of the game.