I’ll be posting a pregame report here from RFK Stadium, but in the meantime, here’s links to our top stories leading up to the Military Bowl, to get you ready for Air Force vs. Toledo:
- The ability to sell tickets is what every bowl executive looks for. In all my conversations with bowl executive committee members, rarely does record or head-to-head results come up, it’s always about how well a team travels. And, Air Force is now known for traveling pretty well.
- Ramsey believes Air Force will win.
- Really interested to see what new tricks the two coaches have cooked up for the game.
- Air Force’s seniors are very motivated to win.
- The long gap between games is really brutal.
- The breakdown of three things to watch, key matchup, by the numbers and more.
- Every year, I’m gonna feel for the seniors who are injured and will watch their final game from the sideline.
- Air Force was pleased with its practices leading up to the game.
- Air Force guard A.J. Wallerstein is a pretty good player, and he’s ridiculously smart.
- Cool story of linebackers Patrick Hennessey and Ken Lamendola, a pair of ninth-semester players, being such close friends.
- Air Force is going to rely on a lot of new faces next year.
- This is what can make college sports fun: the tale of Anthony Wright, who was on the verge of academic disaster at Air Force as a freshman and is now on track to graduate.
- Maybe the best young player the Falcons have right now is safety Anthony Wooding.
- Receiver Jonathan Warzeka didn’t put up great numbers this season, but he hasn’t let that affect him.
- Quarterback Tim Jefferson is ready to close out a record-breaking career.
- Teams have a tough time preparing for Air Force, but there are challenges for the Falcons in preparation too. Teams throw plenty of tricked up defenses at them to slow down their running game.
- Toledo is motivated after last season’s heartbreaking loss.
- Bowl preparation was a little odd because of the December schedule for Air Force.
- Air Force’s defense wants some redemption in the bowl game.
- Referenced in the first story on the list, the Military Bowl gave the Independence Bowl about $124,000 to make sure it got the Falcons.
While I support these AF Cadets, today they come home disappointed. The secondary and our Corners are outmatched all day long. We have played 10-12 yards off our opponent receivers all seasom..today Toledo will dwsteoy our Corners with that type weak coverage. AF has struggled with a secondary who often times cannot tackle or penetrate the line of scrimmage. As much as it pains me to say, the Seniors will be defeated today bevause of a Defensive 3 – 3 front that cannot adjust on the fly or after the films at halftime. Face it, awe need a aDefensive coordinator change and anyone who has witnessed this season games givaways..sees it too! I hope I am wrong today, Falcon fans, but I doubt I am wrong. AF loses 45 to 28.
Historically, AFA has struggled against teams which throw the ball well and often, both of which terms describe this season’s Toldeo Rockets. Suggestions have been made that because Toledo hasn’t faced an option based offense in many seasons such unfamiliarity will make it difficult for the Rockets to contain or stop the Falcons.
While I certainly hope Air Force wins today I have never agreed with the all-too-high expectations which surrounded this team all season. To me, losses against TCU, Notre Dame and Boise State were a foregone conclusion. With QB Ryan Lindley and RB Ronnie Hillman, SDSU presented much too firepower for AFA to match. A loss to the Aztecs was no surprise. The only outcome which surprised me this year was the loss to Wyoming and that was because I underestimated the Cowboys. The better team won. I think the Falcons are in for a long afternoon. A bright spot should be seeing Asher Clark the 33 [or more] yards he needs to become AFA’s all-time leading rusher. GO FALCONS! BEAT THE ROCKETS!