Air Force, the team that almost annually goes to a bowl game yet annually gets a whipping from BYU, fell victim again Saturday at Cougar Stadium, 30-3.
Falcon coach Fisher DeBerry fell back on the old "BYU is just too big" excuse in explaining this year's throttling, but hey, you'd have a hard time being original too, after 11 straight losses to the same opponent."It was a case all day long that a very good, big football team and a strong football team beat a good, small football team," DeBerry drawled.
Whatever the reason, Air Force just can't handle the Cougars. Over the last four years, BYU has outscored the Falcons, 133-24. After having trouble coping with other option attacks, the Cougs gobbled up the Air Force wishbone. The Falcons averaged a respectable 3.8 yards per carry, but they were just 4 of 14 on third-down conversions. And the Cougars stuffed the Falcons both times they tried to run on fourth down - a situation Air Force had converted 4 of 4 times this season.
Cougar noseguard Lenny Gomes said the BYU defenders got some extra motivation from fans and media who have pointed out that they hadn't played well yet.
"Doubt us," he challenged. "We showed everybody wrong today. We proved ourselves. This defense is going to get better and better every game."
The BYU offense wasn't too bad either, outgaining Air Force 641 yards to 244. The big gainer was wide receiver Eric Drage, who totaled 213 yards on 12 catches, a career high. Along the way, Drage broke Phil Odle's 26-year-old record for career touchdown catches, moved past Matt Bellini into first place on the career receiving yardage list, received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and scored two TDs. All in a day's work.
Quarterback John Walsh deserves credit for getting Drage the ball. The sophomore completed 28 of 37 passes for 370 yards, with three TDs and one interception.
"He's getting better all the time," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said of Walsh. "He's doing remarkable."
DeBerry was similarly impressed, calling Walsh "a quarterback who can really get it done. We gave him a lot of different looks, different points of pressure. He hit some key passes on some key plays on long yardage situations."
The BYU offense also got a big lift from the presence - at the same time, for a change - of running backs Jamal Willis and Kalin Hall. Willis gained 98 yards on 11 carries (8.9 avg.), Hall gained 87 on 8 (10.8).
"With us two healthy and with our receivers, we're coming together," Willis said. "You're going to see a different offense now."
Hall left the game again, late in the second quarter, after re-spraining his ankle for the umpteenth time. He could have returned, but there was no need. He'd already done enough damage, providing sufficient points to win the game on BYU's first series when he scampered 46 yards for a touchdown.
After that initial scoring drive, the teams traded blocked field goals on their next possessions. Air Force then drove for its only score - a 52-yard field goal by Chris MacInnis to make it 7-3.
That's as close as it got. BYU opened the second qarter with a drive that ended with Drage's first TD catch, a six-yarder, to make it 14-3. Five minutes later, after an Air Force fumble, Walsh took a short drop and fired a rocket to Drage, who caught it on the dead run and sprinted 69 yards for his second TD. The extra point was missed after a bad snap, but BYU led 20-3.
Joe Herrick added a 28-yard field goal later in the quarter to make it 23-3 at halftime.
Air Force threatened to get back into it at the opening of the third quarter, driving to a first-and-10 at the BYU 18-yard line. But after gaining three yards on three plays, MacInnis attempted a 32-yard field goal that was tipped by Chad Lewis and hit the crossbar, bouncing back onto the field. (The NCAA doesn't keep track of this, but BYU has to have the season record for goalpost-related incidents, after just four games.)
BYU then responded with its final score, a one-yard pass to tight end Terence Saluone to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
From that point the officials took over. In the final quarter, the Cougs were called for eight penalties, giving them a total for the game of 15 yellow flags for 160 lost yards, compared to Air Force's five flags, 26 yards. In their previous three games, BYU had received 14 flags for 158 yards.
Asked why the shower of flags occurred, Edwards said, "Who knows? We haven't hardly been penalized all year long, and today we get a hundred of them."
"We were playing against 15 guys out there today," said BYU linebacker Todd Herget.
Gomes had a more philosophical outlook on the fact that the officials almost outgained Air Force.
"So what?" he said. "If we make penalties, so be it. It means we're playing aggressively out there."
Gomes got one dead-ball penalty for jumping across the line and hitting Air Force quarterback Demond Cash with a shoulder, sending Cash sprawling. Gomes said he didn't hit him that hard.
"It was an act," he said. "I think the guy is a drama major."
Cash, who earned the starting job with a 172-yard rushing performance against San Diego State last week, was less effective against BYU. He gained 65 yards on 24 carries, and completed 5 of 15 passes for 51 yards, with one interception.
"We don't have anyone like Walsh to throw the ball," DeBerry said.
And until you do, coach, BYU will continue to be just too big.
The defeat drops Air Force to 1-3, 0-3 in conference play. The No. 21 Cougars rise to 4-0 overall and in conference play. BYU gets a bye this week, then travels to UCLA in two weeks.