Air Force is
feeling the G-forces

Pressure of consecutive losses
is wearing on UH opponent

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

The Air Force Academy football team that arrived in Honolulu last night has been circling the airport the past two weekends.

After starting the season 7-0, being ranked 18th in the nation and defeating Pacific and Mountain Division leaders Colorado State and Rice, the Falcons haven't been doing too many flybys lately.

First, Air Force lost to a rebuilding Fresno State team at home two weeks ago. Then last weekend, the Falcons did the unthinkable -- they dropped a league game at lowly San Jose State.

Now they must find a way to get airborne Saturday night against the University of Hawaii at Aloha Stadium, or face elimination from the Western Athletic Conference race.

"It's hard to believe after winning seven games to open the season that we would be in a must-win situation, but that's how it is," Air Force head coach Fisher DeBerry said last night. "We've got to find a way to stop the bleeding after what we feel were two very disappointing and frustrating losses by our football team.

"Anytime you lose two games by less than a touchdown (six points), you feel like you had a chance to win those if you had made one or two more plays along the way. And that's what we have to do this weekend -- make some plays on offense, defense and special teams, and try to cut down on our own mistakes."

Miscues played a part in the losses. Through the first seven games, the Falcons committed only seven turnovers. They had 10 in the two defeats.

The loss of quarterback Blane Morgan to a shoulder injury in the 20-17 loss to Fresno State -- a team Hawaii beat 28-16 the previous weekend -- also created some uncertainty. He returned to the lineup against San Jose State, but wasn't at full speed.

"He's OK, he's better," DeBerry said of the younger brother of former Heisman Trophy candidate Beau Morgan, who graduated from Air Force last year. "He came back and played for us last weekend and was about 80 percent.

"He showed a lot of courage in playing, I thought. He played pretty well . . . actually read the option well. He threw a couple of interceptions, but I thought he played well under the circumstances."

Morgan not only has a good feel for the option -- he is second on the team in rushing with 422 yards and four touchdowns -- but he has a nice passing touch as well. He has completed 56 of 106 passes for 859 yards and four touchdowns. Morgan also has thrown five interceptions.

His favorite target is wide receiver Matt Farmer, who has 23 receptions for 380 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, Marcus Alexander led the team with three touchdown catches.

By comparison, this Air Force team is a bit pass-happy, but that doesn't mean the Falcons have abandoned their patented option offense. Spanky Gilliam is the first fullback to lead the team in rushing since 1990. He has 528 yards and six touchdowns.

"Anybody will tell you that establishing the fullback is paramount in this offense," DeBerry said. "If you can make a defense respect that first handoff or fake, then you've already taken a big step in the right direction.

"I believe Blane has come in and established himself as a good young quarterback. It's tough when your older brother had so much success, but Blane has handled it just fine."

Having a solid defense has also helped. Led by linebacker Chris Gizzi -- the league's defensive player of the year in 1996 and an All-America candidate this season -- the Falcons are first in the WAC and 15th in the nation in total defense.

Air Force is also No. 8 nationally in scoring defense, yielding a stingy 13.2 points a game. Gizzi leads the defense with 118 tackles, including 14 for losses, and four sacks.

"I can't say enough about that young man," DeBerry said. "He's always around the football. Teams try to run at him and away from him. He's effective both ways."

The Falcons are also effective on special teams with eight blocked kicks this season, tying a school record set in 1992.

"I think we need to come out and establish ourselves against a much-improved Hawaii football team," DeBerry said. "We've got to put the last two games behind us and focus on getting back on a winning track. It's always tough over here to do that, but if we want to stay in the race, we don't have any choice."

---

Sports Notebook

UH Football Schedule

http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu