JOHNSON HAS HIS STRENGTH BACK

Falcons fullback D.J. Johnson says he is ready to play at 100 percent this year after playing with a lingering injury last season: “Now I feel like I can make one cut. I feel like I can break a tackle.”

air force academy» Because D.J. Johnson’s strength as a football player is his strength, he was never himself last season.

That’s no longer the case for the fullback, who on the football field looks like a 5foot-9 bowling ball with arms, legs and an Air Force helmet.

“Now I feel like I can make one cut. I feel like I can break a tackle,” the junior said. “Last season I was happy I could play, but I wasn’t absolutely ready to play. Now I’m 100 percent ready to go.”

Johnson suffered a delayed start to his sophomore season when non-invasive attempts to mend the muscles connecting his lower quads to his knees didn’t take and a minor operation was required. The lingering injury kept Johnson limited to light conditioning and only upperbody work in the weight room.

This year he feels his conditioning is well beyond where he was last season and he has again been able to lift with his lower body. He did three squat reps at 500 pounds recently and was unhappy that the training staff cut him off at that point. His power clean is around 320 pounds. “Nothing too impressive,” he said. Defenses might disagree. Even at less than full strength, Johnson appeared in 11 games, rushing for 330 yards on 81 carries. His eight touchdowns tied classmate Shayne Davern for the team lead.

Johnson’s 6-yard touchdown run against New Mexico — the second of his three scores that day in a 3531 victory — was one of the highlights of Air Force’s season. Johnson ran over Lobos defensive backs Markel Byrd and Ryan Santos on his romp into the end zone.

Stronger and leaner, having dropped from about 240 pounds to 235, Johnson has even Air Force’s generally reserved coach Troy Calhoun excited.

“He’s quick, he’s sturdy, he’s explosive,” Calhoun said. “What’s really been enjoyable to see with him has just been his emergence as a leader on the football team as a junior. Sometimes juniors even are still wondering a little bit, ‘Is it supposed to be only the seniors who are up-front guys?’ But he’s one of those guys, he loves being hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder with everybody else. It’s in the weight room. It’s on the field. He loves the blocking part. He’s a solid ball carrier.”

Johnson has taken all the first-team work through fall camp as Davern remains out with a shoulder injury, but the two figure to split time when the season begins. They combined for 843 yards on 192 carries last year with 16 touchdowns. Both have the skill set to handle the position primarily on their own, but having the two is similar to taking a starting pitcher and allowing him to let loose as a reliever.

“As much as I’d love to, you can’t block power every single play,” Johnson said. “So, I would like to, but it’s fun playing with him. When I come out, it’s like someone same or better at something else when he goes in, too.

“It’s a little more fun having someone at the same level as you. You’ve not trying to outdo each other. You’re friends. But when he hits somebody, you try to hit somebody harder.”