Air Force Strikes Out Against San Diego State, 28-23

Although Billy Blanton threw two touchdown passes, he wasn’t about to take too many bows after leading San Diego State to victory.

“Our defense deserves a lot of credit for this one,” he said after engineering a 28-23 victory Thursday night over Western Athletic Conference rival Air Force. “They only had a few days to prepare for the option and that’s not easy.

“If it wasn’t for them, we don’t win the game, period.”

The Aztec defense recovered a pair of fumbles to score one touchdown and stop an Air Force scoring drive late in the third quarter.

The Falcons also committed a costly blunder when a roughing-the-kicker penalty allowed San Diego State, 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the WAC, to keep alive a drive it converted into a five-yard touchdown pass from Blanton to Leandrew Childs. The play increased the Aztecs’ lead to 28-16 in the third quarter.

Air Force (6-5, 5-3), coming off a bye, made things interesting when quarterback Beau Morgan scored on a 16-yard run with 10:07 left in the game.

Morgan, who rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries, returned to start the second half after leaving the game midway through the second quarter because of a shoulder injury.

But the Falcons were unable to threaten again.

The game originally was scheduled to be played Oct. 5, but it was rescheduled because of a conflict with a National League playoff game between the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Air Force, which trailed, 21-9, at halftime, stopped San Diego State on its first two possessions of the second half.

The Falcons came up big when Morgan found Marcus Alexander wide open on a 74-yard touchdown pass with 9:43 left in the third quarter to pull Air Force within 21-16.

After Morgan’s 16-yard touchdown got Air Force within five points, the Falcons forced a quick punt but couldn’t convert the defensive stand into points.

Blanton completed 18 of 27 passes for 199 yards, and George Jones gained 148 yards in 32 carries.

Morgan moved into first-place on the NCAA single-season rushing list for quarterbacks with 1,494 yards, better than Northern Illinois’ Stacey Robinson’s 1,443 in 1989.