No surprise: Air Force leads the nation in rushing ahead of Utah State game


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LOGAN — After two non-conference games, the Air Force Falcons lead the nation in rushing with 432.5 yards per game. They also lead the nation in time of possession with an average of 39:51. That is over half of a football game.

But it should come as no surprise. The Falcons have been doing this very thing year in and year out. They don't have quite the athletes that their competitors in the Mountain West Conference have and they aren't as big in the trenches. Yet, Air Force wins consistently and sticks to its strengths, and one of those strengths is to run the wishbone offense.

In its most recent game against Georgia State, the Falcons racked up a season-high 464 yards on the ground, which included 124 yards from senior quarterback Nate Romine.

“Defensively, we have to have a solid plan," USU head coach Matt Wells said. "We have to have a sound plan. You have to understand who has the fullback, who has the quarterback and who has the pitch every play. You just have to be very sound in your assignments. When you’re pressuring, you have to be sound. Guys have to be on point and you have to tackle well. You have to have your eyes in the right spot and you have to tackle well against a team like this.”

Air Force features various formations that give many players a chance to carry the ball. Jacobi Owens is the feature back and averages about 89 yards per game on the ground. But one player that the Aggies need to be aware of is junior running back Timothy McVey. The junior has three touchdowns on the season on just seven carries. One of the touchdowns came via a 99-yard kickoff return against Georgia State.

Saturday night's matchup in Logan will be the first true test for the Falcons. They beat Abilene Christian 37-21 in the season opener and then defeated Georgia State 48-14 the following week.

However, it is the conference opener for both schools and considering that Air Force got to the Mountain West Conference Championship game a year ago, this game has some big implications for the Mountain Division. It's also a huge game for USU because of the fact that they travel to Boise State next weekend. Knock off the two teams that were picked to finish ahead of you in back-to-back weeks and you never know what could happen. Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs and the Utah Valley University Wolverines. He is a communication major at UVU and will graduate in the spring of 2017. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsUtah State Aggies

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast