AIR FORCE DEFEATS CU IN OVERTIME THRILLER
After watching Air Force kick the CU Buffaloes’ tail, not to mention their undefeated record, into the wild, blue yonder, here’s a legitimate question:
How in the world is the Pac-12 recognized as a Power Five football conference?
“We viewed this as a state championship game, because they beat CSU and we just beat them. All we have to do is beat CSU and we win the state,” Air Force quarterback D.J. Hammond said Saturday, after the Falcons walked away from Folsom Field with a 30-23 victory.
Yes, it required overtime, as well as a blocked extra point from Colorado kicker James Stefanou in the fourth quarter, for Air Force to win.
But make no mistake. The Zoomies were the better team. Their vaunted rushing attack average 5.6 yards per snap, kicking sand in the teeth of the big, bad Buffs, from the opening snap
to Kadin Remsberg’s 25-yard dash for the game-winning score.
And here’s the real headscratcher: The phrase Air Force football has long been considered somewhat of an oxymoron, because these Falcons don’t fly. Nevertheless … despite the fact Hammond didn’t throw often, his dozen attempts did as much as 43 passes by CU counterpart Steven Montez, who sleepwalked through much of the game.
“Got to do a better job,” Montez said, “can’t come out lethargic like that.”
With kickoff at 11 a.m., were the Buffs guilty of rolling out of bed with an emotional hangover from beating Nebraska only seven days earlier?
“What a difference a week makes, right?” shrugged Colorado coach Mel Tucker.
Seven days ago, Tucker could have been elected senator in his newly adopted home state. Now, it’s back to the drawing board, in an effort to figure out why his Buffs have fallen into a nasty habit of slow starts they managed to overcome against Colorado State and Nebraska.
“Eliminating bad football is what we have to do,” Tucker said.
Well, here’s the bigger truth: The Buffs are not good enough to beat the odds and win three high-intensity games in a row. What cost Colorado against Air Force was not so much an emotional letdown as a lack of talent.
A CU offensive line that failed to open holes consistently for running backs Alex Fontenot and Jaren Mangham also was guilty of spotty protection for Montez. The poor eye discipline of this defensive backfield, especially against play-action passes that repeatedly burned the Buffs, looks as if it might cause Tucker to lose sleep at least until the return of safety Aaron Maddox, expected to miss a month after suffering a lower-leg laceration against the Falcons.
Now, we would be remiss not to salute an inspired performance by the Falcons, who never blinked, even when CU’S 13-3 rally in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime. This victory was so cool for the Mountain West and all the little guys routinely ignored by the playoff committee that it almost evoked a smile from Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, who pulls on his grumpy pants before heading off to work every morning.
“It’s a good one, but it’s just one win,” said Calhoun, who does dour better than any football coach this side of New England sourpuss Bill Belichick.
So let us do the gloating, coach. The Zoomies once again exposed Pac-12 football for the joke it has become.
Since a four-team playoff for the national championship was adopted prior to the 2014 season, the Pac-12 has only qualified a team for the semifinals twice and the lone victory on that big stage was by Oregon nearly five years ago.
And guess what? The conference appears guaranteed to get shut out of the playoffs again this season.
“Just to beat a Power Five team is really big for the program,” Hammond said.
As Hammond and his teammates bounced for joy on the Folsom turf after the Air Force defense stopped CU on downs in overtime, the Falcons stomped on the stereotype players from the Mountain West are significantly inferior to the Buffs or most of the over-hyped athletes in the Pac-12.
Read this and weep, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott: When the Falcons beat the Buffs, it was already the fourth time during this young football season the lowly Mountain West has knocked the self-proclaimed “conference of champions” on its arrogant rump.
During an eight-year stint with its current conference affiliation, you know how many times Colorado has beaten four Pac-12 foes in a single football season? Once.
If I were Mountain West commish Craig Thompson, I would pick up the telephone first thing Monday morning, call Pac-12 offices and ask Scott when he would like to begin merger talks between the two leagues.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla