Air Force Academy

Oct. 2, 2012

Coach Calhoun video press conference

GAME FACTS: Air Force and Navy are playing on CBS network television for the second straight year ... This week's game is the first in the 2012 Commander-in-Chief's Trophy race ... The Falcons have a 53-27 all-time record in CIC games and have won the trophy outright a record 18 times ... Air Force leads the overall series, 27-17, including a 24-16 mark in CIC games since 1972 ... This week's game is the second in a stretch where Air Force plays four of five games at home ... The Falcons defeated Colorado State, 42-21, last week in Falcon Stadium to secure the Ram-Falcon Trophy for a series-best 20th time ... Air Force is 25-8 at home under head coach Troy Calhoun, including a 2-0 mark this season ... Air Force is 11-1 at home under Calhoun in non-conference games with the only loss coming vs. Navy, 33-27, in 2008 ... This week's kickoff time of 9:30 a.m. is the earliest in the history of Falcon Stadium, breaking the mark of 10 a.m. set several times ... Air Force is back in the top spot in the nation in rushing offense with an average of 396.3 yards per game ... This week marks the fourth time in five weeks the team has led the nation in rushing.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S TROPHY: The 2012 season marks the 41st year of trophy competition. The trophy goes annually to the winning academy with the best record in round-robin competition. The President of the United States presents the trophy to the seniors from the winning team each year at a ceremony at the White House.
Air Force won its second straight and record 18th Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in 2011. The Falcons defeated Navy, 35-34, in overtime in Annapolis Oct. 1 and Army, 24-14, in Falcon Stadium Nov. 5. Air Force's back-to-back CIC Trophy titles are its first since 2001-02. Air Force has a 53-27-0 all-time CIC record.
Air Force and Navy have combined to win the last 15 trophy titles with Air Force winning eight (1997, 98, 00, 01, 02, 10, 11) and Navy seven (2003-09).

THE SERIES
• Air Force leads the overall series, 27-17.
• The Falcons have won two straight following a seven-game Navy winning streak from 2003-09.
• Air Force is 15-6 at home, 8-8 at Navy and 4-3 in neutral site games.
• The Falcons hold a 24-16 mark since Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition started in 1972.
• Prior to Navy's seven-game winning streak, Air Force had won six straight and 19 of 21 from 1982-2002.
• The last nine games in the series have been decided by an average of 5.0 points per game.
• The team's first played in 1960 in Baltimore, Md., resulting in a 35-3 Navy win.

LAST SEASON VS. NAVY: Air Force defeated Navy, 35-34, in overtime in Annapolis to record its second straight win in the series. The Falcons jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead behind a touchdown pass and run from quarterback Tim Jefferson. Following a Navy field goal late in the quarter, the Falcons added a touchdown run from Asher Clark to take a 21-3 halftime lead. Following a touchdown run from Navy's Kriss Proctor, Clark added another TD run to extend the lead to 28-10 early in the fourth quarter. The Midshipmen stormed back behind a TD run from Proctor and a field goal from Jon Teague. After recovering an onside kick, Gee Gee Green caught a five-yard TD pass from Proctor and Alexander Teich scored on a two-point conversion to tie the score at 28-all with 19 seconds left to force overtime. Proctor scored his third touchdown of the game on Navy's overtime possession, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on him after the play forced a 35-yard PAT. Alex Means blocked the attempt to keep it 34-28. Jefferson hit Zack Kauth on a 16-yard strike on Air Force's first play in overtime and later scored on a one-yard run. Parker Herrington's PAT gave the Falcons the victory. Jefferson finished the game hitting nine-of-10 passes for 136 yards and a score while rushing for 60 yards and two scores. Clark added 91 yards and two scores as Air Force rushed for 223 yards and had 359 total yards. Navy had 466 total yards and ran 105 plays in the game using 40:46 in time of possession. Brady Amack led four players in double figure tackles with a career-best 23. Harry Kehs added a career-high 15 while Jordan Waiwaiole and Means chipped in with 12 each.   

THE LAST TIME IN FALCON STADIUM: Air Force defeated Navy, 14-6, to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Midshipmen. Tim Jefferson rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns while hitting five-of-seven passes for 83 yards. Jared Tew added a game-high 111 yards on 17 carries. The defense was led by Jordan Waiwaiole, who had a career-high 15 tackles, his first-career interception and a quarterback sack. Air Force opened the scoring with a 50-yard run by Jefferson in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. Navy added a field goal in the second quarter and another in the third to make it 7-6. Air Force blocked a punt to set up a one-yard TD run by Jefferson early in the fourth quarter. The defense ended Navy's last drive with Waiwaiole's interception. Air Force had 375 total yards, including 292 rushing. Navy had 312 total yards.

HOME SWEET HOME: Air Force is 25-8 at home under head coach Troy Calhoun since 2007. The Falcons posted just the third undefeated home mark (6-0) in 2007. Air Force combined for 10 wins at home in 2009 and 2010 which is the third most in two seasons in school history.

Home records under head coach Troy Calhoun
Year   Record  Notes
2007  6-0         Just the third undefeated home record in school history
2008  3-3         Two of three losses to top 25-ranked teams
2009  5-1         Ties as the fourth-best mark in school history
2010  5-1         Combined with 2009, 10 wins in two seasons is third-best in school history
2011  4-3         One loss at the hands of a nationally-ranked team
2012  2-0         Defeated Idaho State, 49-21, and Colorado State, 42-21            
Total   25-8

AIR FORCE VS. NON-CONFERENCE FOES UNDER CALHOUN
• Air Force is 1-1 this season vs. non-conference opponents.
• Air Force is 18-10 against non-conference foes under head coach Troy Calhoun.
• The Falcons are 11-1 at home, 4-6 on the road and 3-3 in neutral site games.

LAST WEEK: Air Force jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead on its way to a 42-21 victory over Colorado State in Falcon Stadium. Three different Falcons scored in the quarter as the Falcons out-gained CSU 220-35. The Falcons took a 35-14 halftime lead behind a Connor Dietz to Marcus Hendricks touchdown pass in the final minute. The score was set up by an Austin Niklas forced fumble and recovery by Steffon Batts near midfield with under two minutes remaining. The Air Force defense allowed just one score in the second half and Ty MacArthur scored on a 34-yard run to make up the final margin. Air Force had 516 total yards, including 459 rushing. Cody Getz led the way with a career-high 222 yards rushing. MacArthur added 75 yards rushing on seven carries. Dietz hit two-of-five passes for 57 yards and a career-high two touchdowns. Niklas led the Falcons with eight tackles and two forced fumbles while Christian Spears chipped in with a career-high eight tackles. Colorado State finished with 441 total yards. Quarterback M.J. McPeek led the Rams, hitting 22-of-34 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

LAST WEEK'S GAME NOTES
Team Notes
•             Air Force has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in back-to-back games after not scoring on the first drive in the first two games.
•             Air Force leads the overall series with CSU, 31-19-1, including a 20-13 mark in conference games.
•             AFA has now won seven straight in the CSU series and eight of the last nine
•             AFA has won five straight at home dating back to 2002.

Individual Notes
•             FB Broam Hart made his first career start.
•             Air Force's game captains were Connor Dietz, Alex Means and Cody Getz
•             Drew Coleman's 53-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter is the longest of his career.
•             Alex Hansen earned his first career sack in the first quarter.
•             Cody Getz rushed for a career-high 222 yards. His previous best was 218 yards vs. Idaho State in the season opener.
•             With his 222 yards, Getz becomes the first Falcon to rush for more than 100 yards in four straight games since Beau Morgan in 1996 vs. Navy, Notre Dame, Hawaii and CSU. Getz is the only player in school history to open the season with four straight 100-yard games.
•             Getz becomes the first player since 2007 and the fourth in school history to have two games with 200 or more rushing yards in the same season. Getz had 218 rushing yards vs. Idaho State in the season opener.
•             Getz's 683 yards in the last four games are the most since Chad Hall went for 795 yards in a four-game stretch in 2007. Getz had 218 yards vs. Idaho State, 133 vs. Michigan, 113 vs. UNLV and 222 vs. CSU. In 2007, Hall had 256 vs. CSU, 167 vs. Wyoming, 97 vs. New Mexico and a school-record 275 vs. Army.
•             Connor Dietz is the career leader in pass interception avoidance at the Academy. He has thrown just one interception in 104 career attempts for a pass interception avoidance percentage of .009.
•             Dietz's two touchdown passes are the most of his career.
•             Marcus Hendricks' touchdown catch in the second quarter is the first of his career.
•             Dontae Strickland's 27-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the first rushing touchdown (second overall touchdown) of his career. It was also the longest score of his career.
•             Anthony LaCoste's interception in the third quarter was the first of his career.
•             LB Austin Niklas had a career-high two forced fumbles.
•             Ty MacArthur scored the first two touchdowns of his career.
•             MacArthur rushed for a career high 75 yards.
•             RB Scott Day had the first carries of his career.
•             Steffon Batts' interception in the fourth quarter was his team-leading second of the season.