Falcons stun No. 21-ranked CSU Rams, 27-24

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  A 39-yard field goal by the Falcons' Will Conant delivered a 27-24 Air Force upset in the last second of the game against Colorado State University here Nov. 28.

The Rams, ranked No. 21, by both the Associated Press and USA Today, were heavily favored to win after soundly beating Air Force 58-13 last season. 

The Rams scored a touchdown on their first possession, picking up where they left off in 2013, and led 7-0. But the Falcons avoided a repeat of last year, controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Air Forces' offensive line carved a 242 yard rushing path yards on the day, matching the Rams' first touchdown and grabbing the lead in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Falcons' 3-4 defense limited CSU to 29 rushing yards in the half, keeping Air Force in the lead for the bulk of the game.

The Rams tied the game 24-all in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons defense stuffed CSU's final drive. The Rams took the ball on their 16-yard line with 4:52 left in the game and drove to midfield, but the Falcons' defensive line ultimately left the CSU facing a fourth-and-2 situation with 44 seconds left in regulation.

Rams quarterback Garrett Grayson handed off to running back Dee Hart, who dashed between the right tackle and guard only to find things way too blue for comfort. Falcons nose guard Troy Timmerman and strong safety Weston Steelhammer stood Hart up and stuffed him for no gain.

"They were doing some movement up front, and we didn't handle it very well," said CSU head coach Jim McElwain. "We were never able to get the running game going and (we) give the credit to (the Falcons) - they took it away from us."

The Timmerman-Steelhammer stop forced a turnover on downs, giving the Falcons 38 seconds to push downfield for a score.

Falcons quarterback Nate Romine led his offense downfield, with wide receiver Garrett Brown pulling in a critical third-down catch to move the ball deep into Ram territory. The Falcons grinded the ball down to CSU's 22-yard line before Calhoun called timeout with three seconds left to pull the trigger with one of the Falcons' surest weapons this season: kicker/punter Will Conant. The senior came in to nail the 39-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Falcons the upset win over CSU as the players on the sidelines erupted in celebration.

"Some of the plays they made tonight were pretty rare and I thought our guys did a heck of a job hanging in there after being down 7-0," said Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun. "We had some good forward runs and we came up with two big ones, not only the interception, but the big fourth down stop there inside a minute left."

McElwain said the Air Force win started in the trenches.

"They beat us on both sides of the ball up front," he said. "There were some busted routes but the lines are the ones that beat us - they took it to us."

The win keeps Air Force undefeated at home, and closes out the team's regular season at 9-3. 

Air Force set a school record with this season's seven-game turnaround, improving from 2-10 last season to 9-3 this year, breaking the Academy's 1958 record of 9-0-2 after a 3-6-1 mark in 1957. This turnaround ties with Western Michigan for the best in the nation.

Bowl breakdown

The Falcons now wait for a bowl invite, but the possibilities have widened a bit thanks to Fresno State Bulldogs' head coach Tim DeRuyter, a 1985 Air Force Academy graduate.

Fresno State became bowl eligible with its 28-21 win over Hawaii Nov. 29. That win gives the Mountain West seven bowl-eligible teams for the conference's six primary bowls. The Mountain West has six primary bowl agreements located in Las Vegas; San Diego; Boise, Idaho; Albuquerque, M.N.; New Orleans and Honolulu. 

Bowl eligibility doesn't guarantee bowl selection, but the numbers make the Mountain West a strong contender to place a record seven teams in seven bowls.

Bowl selections are affected by contractual agreements and a host of moving parts.
Selection order for the bowls doesn't always correspond to how the teams rack and stack at the end of the season, and selections are based on by location, avoidance of rematches and travel ability of a team's fan base, which affects ticket sales.

The Academy sold nearly 10,000 tickets for each of its last six bowl games and a record 12,098 tickets for the 2010 Independence Bowl.

Bowl selection is complicated by secondary bowl agreements, which the Mountain West has with the Armed Forces and Cactus bowls if either bowl's primary teams or conferences cannot provide a team.

Fresno State's win allows the Armed Forces Bowl to enter the MW bowl picture. Army won't appear in a bowl this year due to a 4-8 record, but the Armed Forces Bowl has backup agreements with the Mountain West and Big-12 conferences to fill the vacancy.

The Cactus Bowl is scheduled to host teams from the Big-12 and Pac-12 Jan. 2 in Tempe, Ariz., but the Pac-12 has one more bowl-eligible team than bowls.

The Big-12 has six teams eligible for its six bowls, including the Armed Forces Bowl, but the Big-12 has a pair of 10-1 teams, No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Baylor, both gunning to crack a top-four ranking or at least snag an at-large bowl invite from the Cotton, Peach or Fiesta bowls.  The Big-12 also has one team on the bubble of bowl eligibility.  Oklahoma State is 5-6 and battles 8-3 Oklahoma on Dec. 6.  An OSU win would add another school to the Big-12 bowl mix.

How the Big-12 shakes out - and to a larger degree how the college football playoff selection plays out - can have a ripple effect, opening either the Armed Forces or Cactus bowls to a Mountain West team.

Money can also be a factor. The Cactus Bowl has a far larger payout, at $3.325 million, than the Armed Forces Bowl, which sits at a respectable $675,000 total payout. This gives the Cactus Bowl an edge if the Mountain West conference is in a position to fill one of its secondary bowl commitments.  The Mountain West Bowls average almost $650,000 each in total payout, so landing a team at the Cactus Bowl would provide a significant amount of extra revenue for the conference and its members' schools. 

All moving parts will impact the Academy's eventual bowl destination.

College football playoff pairings, New Year's bowl pairings and the final top 25 rankings will be announced Sunday. Shortly after that announcement, the Mountain West bowl destinations will be disclosed.