Air Force Doesn’t Stay Grounded

Air Force usually takes care of its football business on the ground. To win its only outright Western Athletic Conference championship, however, the Falcons had to do what WAC teams usually do--go to the air.

With its option offense shut down by Brigham Young, No. 17-ranked Air Force used a 59-yard pass play from Blane Morgan to Matt Farmer late in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead touchdown in a 20-13 victory in the WAC championship game Saturday.

Air Force, 11-1 overall, trailed 13-7 and appeared beaten when a limping Morgan, who didn’t play until the second quarter because of an ankle injury, threw a short pass to Farmer, who raced untouched down the left sideline to put Air Force ahead, 14-13, with 3:49 left.

“I knew if I got the ball out to him he was off to the races,” Morgan said of the double-screen pass to Farmer that put the Falcons ahead for the first time.

In a league renowned over the years for wide-open passing offenses, it seemed fitting that the game would be decided by a long pass play.

But instead of pass-happy BYU throwing its way to a 20th conference championship, it was an Air Force pass that gave the 17th-ranked Falcons their first title in their last WAC game. Both schools are leaving the WAC for the Mountain West Conference next year.

“It was ironic that we had to win the game on a pass play,” Air Force Coach Fisher DeBerry said. “They stopped our running game, so we had to pass.”

Air Force, which had been averaging 280.9 yards a game rushing, ran for only 111 against BYU (9-4).

“We felt we dominated them defensively and were picking up enough yards on offense,” BYU linebacker Derik Stevenson said. “Then we looked up at the scoreboard and we were all of a sudden losing and that kind of shocked us.”

Air Force plays next on Christmas Day in the Oahu Bowl at Honolulu against an opponent to be determined, while BYU will take on Tulane (11-0) in the Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve.