Falcons take down Boise State, 28-14

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Seven turnovers spelled doom for the Boise State Broncos in a 28-14 loss to the Air Force Academy Falcons Saturday.

The Falcons defense went on an interception shopping spree, taking home five interceptions and adding two fumbles for the defense's strongest performance of the season, said Falcon's head coach Troy Calhoun.

"We created some pressure on the quarterback," Calhoun said. "We had good numbers on the ball to pop it loose. We had some guys who made some really fine plays, especially those interceptions."

Boise State was heavily favored coming into Saturday's game. The Broncos joined the Mountain West in 2011 and for the last three seasons, drove through the conference like a wrecking ball on its way to bowl games and national rankings. 

Boise showed its offensive prowess by racking up 370 passing yards and adding another 97 yards on the ground. Bur the Falcons' defensive line created enough pressure up front for the linebacker corps and an opportunistic secondary to create enough turnovers to kill several Boise State drives and keep the Broncos scoreless until the fourth quarter.

By then, the Falcons' triple-option rushing attack had put Boise State in a 28-0 hole.
The Broncos managed to put together one complete drive and keep the ball long enough to find the end zone, ending their scoring drought and cut their scoring deficit to 28-7 with 9:55 left in the game. An Air Force fumble on the next series gave Boise State a short field which the Broncos turned into another touchdown, moving the score to 28-14 and giving Falcon fans cause to pause with 6:21 left on the clock.

The Broncos and Falcons traded possessions as time dwindled, with Falcons strong safety Weston Steelhammer making a crucial interception with 1:32 left, allowing the Falcon offense to grind out the clock for the win.

"Clearly it was a game where both teams played really, really hard," Calhoun said. "They mounted quite the comeback in the fourth quarter. It says a lot about them ability wise. This is a football team that's gonna win a lot of football games. Defensively they played really, really well."

Leading the Falcons' defensive effort was Steelhammer, who had a career day. The sophomore racked up sacks on back-to-back plays and made the first three interceptions of his career. Inside linebacker Jordan Pierce had one interception and blocked one field goal attempt - firsts for his collegiate career.

"We didn't have an answer for seven turnovers," said Boise State coach Bryan Harsin. "Give credit to Air Force for doing their job. Turnovers really hurt in a football game and when you have that many it's hard to come back. In the end we started to dig ourselves out but it wasn't enough. Bottom line is to have that many turnovers in a game makes it very hard to beat anybody."

The win elevates Air Force's season record to 3-1, and 1-1 in the Mountain West.

Next up for the Falcons is the annual run for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy when the Falcons host Navy Saturday. The midshipmen will limp into Falcon Stadium Saturday with a two-game losing streak, and 2-3 overall. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m.

Fans who can't make the game can follow the action live on KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs, on The Fan, 104.3FM in Denver, online at goairforcefalcons.com and televised on the CBS Sports Network.