“Nobody in this nation can stop us”

Falcons take Buffs by surprise with passing game

One game into the 2019 season, Air Force quarterback Donald Hammond III hadn’t thrown a pass.

One play into Saturday’s showdown at Folsom Field, and the junior had already thrown one against Colorado.

If Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun was holding on to a secret weapon in advance of his team’s showdown with Colorado at Folsom Field, he didn’t waste much time revealing it.

Starting with the first play and extending throughout the first half, his option quarterback’s arm was just as important as his legs.

“It was just how we game planned,” Hammond said after Air Force’s shocking 30-23 win in overtime. “We saw on film that they weren’t good with the play-action pass and we thought it was going to be open.”

The Falcons, who threw just one pass in a 48-7 seasonopening win over Colgate, weren’t wrong.

Hammond finished with 155 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 passing attempts, with all but one of those completions resulting in a first down or touchdown.

“We knew we were going to need to hit some, and we were fortunate we hit a couple big ones,” said Calhoun, whose team also piled up 293 yards on 52 carries.

Third-and-long, normally a problem for Air Force’s tripleoption, instead offered an opportunity for Hammond and his pass catchers — they converted time and again in building a 20-10 halftime lead against the Buffs.

A perfectly lofted pass down the seam to Geraud Sanders resulted in a 32-yard touchdown on the Falcons’ second possession. Hammond extended the Falcons’ third drive with a third-and-10 out route to receiver Benjamin Waters for 11 yards, then later waltzed into the end zone from 2 yards out for a 13-10 lead.

One drive later, Hammond went deep again, hitting Waters in stride on second down for an 81-yard touchdown.

“We just take one-on-ones to heart,” said Sanders, who had four receptions for 56 yards. “Coach says win your one-onones. Once we do that, we’re winning those one-on-ones, it’s hard to stop us once we get going.”

Indeed, the only thing that seemed to stop Air Force were turnovers and penalties.

The Falcons gave the ball away three times — twice with fumbles between the 30s and once on an interception that bounced off Taven Birdown’s hands and into Mikial Onu’s in CU’S end zone at the end of the second quarter.

Air Force didn’t punt until midway through the third quarter, and punted once more the rest of the way.

“We were the only ones that were stopping ourselves, they weren’t stopping us,” Hammond said. “All we had to do was play our game and keep it going and we’d win the game.”

That’s exactly what they did in overtime, too.

It was essential option football on the very first play from scrimmage — a fake inside and a pitch to tailback Kadin Remsberg who streaked down the sideline for a 25-yard score.

Seven plays later CU quarterback Steven Montez’s fourth-down pass to Laviska Shenault fell incomplete in the corner of the end zone, and the Falcons stormed the field in celebration.

“Nobody in this nation can stop us except for ourselves,” Hammond said.

On Saturday, at least, that was true in the state of Colorado.