In the context of the 2008 season, it was not a very good game for the Mids. It was a win, so it wasn't a disaster; but that doesn't mean that everyone played well. The Navy defense, so stout a week ago at Wake Forest, took a step backwards. Air Force was able to pile up 411 yards of offense, the most they've had against I-A competition this year. Navy was never able to contain the pitch man on the option, and the Falcons made more big plays in the passing game than they had in their other four games combined. It didn't get any better on the offensive side of the ball. Navy's 244 yards of total offense was the team's lowest output since the 2006 Rutgers game, when Brian Hampton's shin was involuntarily separated from his thigh. As expected, the offense sputtered under Jarod Bryant. Shun White was a non-factor in the running game other than his fumble, Tyree Barnes didn't have a catch, and the Mids were outrushed 227-206. You could say that Navy was lucky to win this game.

Those of us who have been Navy fans all our lives might see things a little bit differently. There was a time when the idea of beating Air Force with half our offense tied behind our back was completely unfathomable. Air Force used to be so talented relative to Navy that only a flawless effort in every phase of the game would give the Mids a chance. Now, the tables have turned. Not only did Navy win with a watered-down offense, but they scored 33 points! For me, Navy's victory on Saturday was nothing short of brilliant.

Before the game I said that as long as Jarod Bryant took care of the ball, Navy's playmakers should carry the day. Early on, taking care of the ball appeared to be a lot easier said than done, as both Jarod and Shun White coughed up fumbles that were recovered by Air Force. But for the most part, the offense settled down and the plays started to come. Bryant himself turned in a 29-yard run to set up a field goal. Shun White pulled in a pass for 38 yards that set up another field goal. Matt Harmon kicked the field goals to finish those drives, plus two more. Greg Shinego and Blake Carter each blocked punts. Nate Frazier was an absolute nightmare. Nate completely owned the center all afternoon; there were at least three plays where he was in the backfield so fast that he nearly tackled the quarterback before he could hand the ball off. You don't think those fumbled snaps were a fluke, do you? Nate was in the center's head. That wasn't an accident. The bottom line is that when all was said and done, Navy made more plays because they had the players that could.

I know that probably isn't enough for some of you, especially when the offense looked so ineffective. Why didn't Ivin Jasper open up the playbook a little more? Well, because he didn't have to. Navy was the better team. The only way that Air Force would win this game is if the Mids turned the ball over. So why take the chance at opening up the playbook with a quarterback that we all know isn't as comfortable with running the offense? Air Force never led by more than 3 points, and never led after halftime. Navy had a two-score lead in the 4th quarter. So why tempt fate? What would be the point? If it appeared that things might get out of hand, you probably would have seen things open up a bit more. But Coach Jasper never had to.

Calling plays in this offense, like most offenses, isn't just a matter of picking out a bunch of awesome plays and sending them in. There's a natural progression, where each play sets up other plays later in the series. The problem is that for the Navy offense, the play that almost everything else is based off of is the triple option. Without that, it's hard to open up the playbook effectively. Sure, there were still things that could be done to mix things up a bit more, but Jarod fumbled three times even playing conservatively. He isn't a particularly good passer, and he was having trouble pitching the ball. That's the sort of stuff you'd have to do to open up the offense, and the more you put those things to the test, the more you flirt with disaster.

It wasn't the prettiest game, but "pretty" is overrated. The bottom line is that despite last year's expert analysis from their athletic director, Team Jesus Christ lost to Navy for the sixth straight year. Nobody has won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy yet, but at least we know where it isn't going.

Some other thoughts:

-- Air Force backup quarterback Tim Jefferson led the Falcons' last scoring drive. He looked impressive... The same way Jarod Bryant looked impressive in the 4th quarter against Duke last year. It's amazing what fresh legs can do against a tired defense. Those of you inclined to worry about everything Air Force may want to hold off on the whole "Oh noes he's going to be awesome!!!" talk for a little while. I don't want to be hearing about his impending Heisman Trophy the way I had to hear about Shaun Carney for four years.

-- Hats off to the coaching staff for going after Air Force's first punt. When you know that your offense isn't going to have a good day, trying to make a play on special teams is a smart move. As for the second punt, that looked like more of an individual effort on Blake Carter's part.

-- Speaking of the second punt block... I'm not usually a fan of going for two points unless it's truly necessary, but after Bobby Doyle recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown in the 4th quarter, Niumat really should have gone for the two-point conversion. With only ten minutes left in the game, a 13-point lead is no better than a 12-point lead; either way, the other team needs two touchdowns to win. But with a 14-point lead, two touchdowns most likely sends you to overtime. Maybe Niumat thought 10 minutes was enough time for Air Force to score a TD and two field goals?

-- The stat sheet won't reflect it, but Eric Kettani played a monster game. Almost every one of his 75 yards came after first contact. Take next Saturday off, Eric. You've earned it.

-- Matt Harmon was 4 for 4 on field goals, including a 48-yarder as time expired in the first half and a 44-yarder into the wind. He is second in the country with 2.33 FGs per game, and his 93.3% accuracy leads all kickers with at least 10 attempts. He should get serious consideration for All-America honors.

In the poll question for the week, I asked what you thought was Navy's biggest win since 2003. It was a stupid way to phrase the question, since the tear-jerking, now-I-can-die-in-peace awesomeness that was the '07 Notre Dame game was sure to be the clear winner. I mean, really... How many other games over the last five years left you sobbing with joy? (Don't act like you didn't). That said, even if I rephrased the question to "what was the most important Navy win since 2003," most of you would probably still say Notre Dame. I disagree; I think there's an important distinction between "big" and important." In my opinion, the most important win for the Navy program since Paul Johnson was hired was the 28-25 win over #25 Air Force in 2003.

I'm sure that seems like a stretch to some of you. After all, it's a year later and you probably still feel a bit of disbelief over Navy finally being free from the yoke of that abominable losing streak. I sure do. But try to take emotion out of the equation for a minute. The pool of potential recruits for service academies is very small. As a result, all three schools compete with each other for the same kids. Being top dog amongst the three is a huge advantage. Now think back to 2003. Air Force was ranked 25th in the coaches' poll coming into that game after a 24-10 win over BYU the previous week had moved them to 5-0. The Falcons hadn't had a losing record in 10 years, and hadn't lost to Navy since Paul Johnson's first stint in Annapolis. They were clearly the dominant service academy football program, and for the most part won any head-to-head recruiting battle they had with Navy and Army. Shaun Carney might have been the only recruit classless enough to actually tell his Naval Academy hosts that they'd never beat Air Force, but there's no way that he was the only one who was thinking that way. Why wouldn't they? The track record spoke for itself. Fisher DeBerry was a legend, and when he "sent a message" by trying to run up the score in Air Force's 48-7 win over Navy a year earlier, he was sending it to recruits as much as he was to Paul Johnson and the Navy team. The message? That nothing had changed. Air Force was still Air Force, and Navy was still Navy. Recruits had to rely on faith when Navy coaches told them better times were ahead. Air Force coaches had something a little more tangible-- the Commander in Chief's Trophy.

All that changed in 2003. Craig Candeto punched in a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Navy never trailed for the rest of the game. The 28-25 Navy win was a watershed moment for both programs. From that point on, recruits didn't have to take Paul Johnson's word for it; they knew he could beat Air Force. Navy would go on to win six of its last eight games that season and earn a berth in the Houston Bowl, the first of five straight bowl games for the Mids. Air Force would move in the opposite direction, losing four of its next six to finish 7-5 and out of the bowl picture after that 5-0 start. It would be Fisher DeBerry's last winning season at Air Force, as the veteran coach retired in 2006 after limping to a 4-8 record. For those four years from 2003-2006, Navy enjoyed the "seeing is believing" recruiting boost that Air Force once owned, resulting in the talented roster that you see today.

In a strange way, history is repeating itself. Given that Navy has won five straight games in the series, it's a bit odd that it's Ken Niumatalolo who seemingly has something to prove. Troy Calhoun lost to Navy in his first shot against the Mids, but he did lead Air Force to a 9-4 record in 2007. It was enough for various media members to proclaim the resurgence of Air Force football and hail Troy Calhoun as the real deal. Niumatalolo, however, hasn't received the benefit of the doubt. The media consensus is that Navy just isn't as good without Paul Johnson, even though most of those making that claim either A) almost certainly haven't even seen Navy this year, or B) never gave Navy any credit even with Paul Johnson. Air Force was just held to 53 yards rushing against Utah while Navy is coming off of back-to-back wins over BCS opponents, including what was the highest-ranked team in the ACC; but Navy still opened the week as a 6-point underdog. For some reason, the media seems eager to hand the service academy crown back to Air Force, which makes this game as crucial to the Navy program as the 2003 game was. Recruits read the newspaper, too. Winning this game would make Coach Niumat's job a lot easier by helping to maintain momentum on the recruiting trail.

That makes it a particularly bad time for him to lose his starting quarterback. While not an absolute certainty, Kaipo's hamstring is probably going to keep him on the sideline once again, and Jarod Bryant will get the call to start his third game of the season. It's been a rough season for Jarod so far. In the second quarter at Wake Forest, Jarod relieved Kaipo for the second time in three weeks. And just like in the Duke game, the offense screeched to a halt... at first. Unlike in the loss to the Blue Devils, the offense recovered a bit in the fourth quarter. First there was a toss sweep to Bobby Doyle that went for 39 yards and finally moved Navy away from their own endzone. The next drive produced a 57-yard run by Eric Kettani that set up the game-clinching touchdown. Neither were option plays, but the Doyle run was a result of an audible called by Bryant at the line of scrimmage. The Mids were lined up in the same unbalanced line that we saw against Rutgers. Jarod saw a numbers advantage on the short side of the field and changed the direction of the play. It was a good check by the highly-scrutinized signal-caller, and something that Coach Niumatalolo says should give him some confidence heading into this week.

Maybe it will. But what difference does "confidence" really make? The knock on Jarod was never his ability to read a defense at the line of scrimmage. It was his option reads after the snap. Confidence in what you're doing is important, but does it help a quarterback identify and react to a mesh charge or a squat any better? It's debatable. On one hand, you certainly don't want to hesitate or second-guess what you're doing. There's no time to think; everything has to be a quick reaction to what you see. On the other hand, it's just as easy to be confidently wrong. A fast reaction that gets yourself drilled in the backfield doesn't do any good either. That seems to be what happens to Jarod. The most frustrating thing about all this is that we've seen Jarod make the right reads before. When Kaipo injured his knee in last year's Ball State game, Jarod played the entire second half. At first, Paul Johnson called a lot of plays that were predetermined carries, especially the toss sweep. But as the half progressed, Coach Johnson starting mixing more of the triple option in. And Jarod did fine. Hell, by leading Navy on a comeback and putting the team in position to win the game at the end, you could even say it was better than just "fine." So what happened? Why was Jarod able to run the triple against Ball State last year, but not since? Part of it is that Ball State didn't exactly do anything to make things hard for Jarod; they gave him the same read almost every time. But perhaps another part of the problem comes from confidence that was lost somewhere along the way. Or maybe I'm just reaching. As I type this, I keep telling myself that talking so much about something as generic as "confidence" sounds trite. Then again, a little confidence has worked wonders for the defense the last couple of weeks. Do I let myself feel as optimistic about the offense?

Maybe. With Jarod Bryant at quarterback, the triple option hasn't been available. That's the one play that everything else in the offense feeds off of. The coaches say that they call plays differently because Jarod's a better inside runner, but that's because they don't want to throw the poor guy under the bus. Think about it-- they didn't move him to slotback because of his ability to run between the tackles. I'm sure the coaches would love to see Jarod get to the edge, but he just hasn't been able to read his way there. So the question is how effective Jarod will be, and whether the coaches will be forced to put him back into a protective playcalling bubble. If he can put it together, he will have a lot going for him. First and foremost is the re-emergence of Eric Kettani the last two weeks. Wake Forest paid a lot of attention to Shun White; so much so that Eric had some gaping holes to run through. With 300 yards in his last two games, Eric has shown that he is healthy enough that defenses need to respect the middle of the field. That helps to open things back up for Shun. Bobby Doyle's big run last week is good news, too. Coach Jasper should be a bit more confident that his other slots should be able to make a play. At the very least, it's one more thing to make a defense hesitate from keying too much on Shun.

Something else to to watch during the game is the matchup of the Navy offensive line with the front seven of Air Force. When Ken Niumatalolo was asked before the season why he moved Ricky Moore to center, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Air Force." Air Force runs a base 3-4 defense. Against Navy, they like to move the two outside linebackers to the line of scrimmage to present a 5-man front. The odd front means that the nose guard is usually lined up directly on top of the center. Ricky Moore is bigger than other recent Navy centers, and the idea is that a bigger center will help open up more room for the fullback by moving that nose guard. If it works, that's even better news for Kettani.

For Air Force, it's the second straight year where they've started out 3-1 when logic would have convinced you before the season that they'd be a lot worse. But just like the beginning of last year, their defense is carrying the team, and they do it by being extremely aggressive. Through four games, the Air Force defense has compiled 16 sacks while forcing 12 turnovers. Jake Paulson leads the charge with seven of those sacks, while linebacker Ken Lamendola averages nine tackles per game. But the dirty little secret about the Air Force team is that this year, their defense is so aggressive because they have to be. If they didn't force so many turnovers, Air Force might never score. It's true that Air Force is sixth in the nation in rushing with nearly 282 yards per game. But that includes the 433 yards racked up against the notorious Southern Utah juggernaut. Since then, they've only averaged 231 yards per game. Sure, you could say the same thing about Navy and Towson, but trust me-- this is different. Even with the backup quarterback taking the majority of their snaps, Navy is 33rd in the country in total offense. Air Force is 85th. So far, the Air Force offense has twice been held to only 12 first downs and less than 300 total yards. Against Utah, they had only 53 yards rushing. 53! Quarterback Shea Smith averages one interception in every ten passes, and was 0-for-7 passing against Houston-- a game where Air Force was outgained by 154 yards. Air Force likes to feature a runner in each game; there was at least one 100-yard runner in each of their nine wins last year. But in 2008, they don't have anyone they can rely on. Before the season there was a lot of hoopla about cornerback Reggie Rembert playing both ways this year. Air Force fans will tell you that it's because he's just that damn good, but the reality is that such things wouldn't even be considered if there was enough speed and talent on the offensive side of the ball to begin with. The Falcons could get a boost this week with the return of Ty Paffett, who was out after offseason back surgery. Paffett plays the hybrid WR/RB "Z-receiver" that Chad Hall played last year, but it's unclear just how effective he can be in his first game back.

If Kaipo was healthy, this game wouldn't even be close, especially now that Navy's defense has been reborn. Navy should still win, but it's a much different game with Jarod Bryant at the helm. The Air Force defense is going to come after him hard. The game will be won or lost on Jarod's ability to handle it. Hopefully, Jarod understands that he shouldn't feel any pressure to make a big play. There is nothing wrong with punting and letting your defense win a field-position battle. If he can do that-- and hold onto the ball-- then Navy should get enough big plays from their more talented skill-position players to come out on top.

Chet gets a new contract. Navy's athletic director and 2005 Bobby Dodd AD of the Year was inked through 2015. The Birddog Expert Analysis: Woot! I assume that there's no explanation necessary for why this is a good thing.

The latest in the Caleb Campbell mess includes a Boston Globe piece that doesn't include anything you haven't already heard, except for the latest in ridiculous Caleb Campbell quotes:

"We all fight for freedom in different ways. Each in our own way."

Someone please put a muzzle on this guy.

We also have an Examiner piece that calls Campbell "the anti-Tillman." I said at the beginning of all this that comparisons to Pat Tillman were inevitable, and Bob Frantz's column was only the latest in a long line articles that did so. Despite the headline, the column is fairly middle-of-the-road. At least until you get to a subtle dig at the end:

The merits of those arguments can be debated in perpetuity, and I will not attempt to bolster nor condemn any of them here. Rather, I prefer to let this story serve as a reminder to us all, on this solemn Memorial Day, of the extraordinary sacrifices made by so many men who either delayed or interrupted their professional careers in service to the greatest nation on earth.

Apparently Frantz doesn't buy the idea that "we all fight for freedom in different ways."

In contrast, ESPN's Ivan Maisel writes about how former Navy football players are applying the lessons they learned on the gridiron to situations they face in the fleet. It's a great illustration of the value of intercollegiate athletics at service* academies. And while one Ivan Maisel column won't bring the sheer exposure that a season in the NFL would, in this instance it certainly provides a hell of a lot more substance.

Millen, who answers to the nickname "Moon," said he relishes working with other former Midshipmen players.

"Most of the players I've seen tend to get along with each other, not just football players, but with other folks," Millen said. "They interact well with others and play well as a team. I know that when I work with those guys, they've been through the same training I have. They're competent in what they do. It's sort of a litmus test, I guess, certainly for those of us that played. I know if I pull Ensign Diggs out to help me with something, I know what comes with that. … As a fellow ballplayer, there's certainly more to him, and he walks in with a certain resume."

That, dear readers, is what they call the Brotherhood.

UNC fired John Haus, their head men's lacrosse coach. Naturally, initial speculation as to who will replace him has centered around those with North Carolina ties... And one of the most successful lacrosse coaches who fits the bill is UNC alum Richie Meade. Fortunately, he doesn't appear to be interested in leaving Annapolis:

Meade said yesterday he has not been contacted by North Carolina about the vacancy and was content at Navy.

"I'm very happy to be the head coach at the Naval Academy and hope to remain so," Meade said. "I have no idea what direction North Carolina is going to go. I'm sure they will get a quality head coach because it's a great school and a great program."

Good news, because I don't think my stomach can take another coaching change this year.

The MAC might expand to 14 teams by adding Western Kentucky and Temple in all sports. OK.

Army and Notre Dame might start playing again, according to the Times Herald-Record. OK.

And finally, in the realm of the absurd, we have the news that the Toronto Argonauts have signed Ross Weaver. As in the 2006 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Ross Weaver. Weaver has spent the last two years playing arena ball with the Colorado Ice. Now with the Argos, Weaver is serving the Air Force by tapping into previously untouched recruiting territory: Canada! It's amazing nobody's thought of this before!

Two years of arena football, and now Canada. We all fight for freedom in different ways!

Sometimes I think I'm the only sane person left.

We'll start with the news that the Army is reviewing its policy, with findings due by the end of the month. At least, that's the way it's being spun:

An Army spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, said she couldn’t explain why the Army interprets the Defense Department’s policy differently from the Air Force and Navy. Army officials are reviewing this policy with a ruling due by the end of May, she said.

“We are currently conducting an internal review to ensure we are operating within the intent of DoD’s policy and will determine if any adjustments are appropriate,” Edgecomb wrote in an e-mail to Air Force Times.

But let's be serious here. You don't need to conduct an internal review "to ensure we are operating within the intent of DoD’s policy." When the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness sends a memo to service secretaries three days after the NFL draft, reminding them what the DoD policy is and stating that “constructs for ‘active duty’ service should not include arrangements typically unavailable to others in uniform,” any literate person without an agenda already knows that the Army isn't even coming close to complying with the intent of the DoD policy. So why the review? To figure out another way to circumvent the DoD directive, of course. It's the only explanation. You don't need any kind of review to simply say "Yes, sir!" and carry out your orders. So I'm not optimistic that the end of the Alternative Service (lol) Option is imminent, although after Chu's memo it'd take some serious spinning and loophole-crafting to be able to weasel out of it. We'll see if the Army can come up with anything.

Meanwhile, the Air Force has used the DoD policy to send a player to the Arena League:

First Lt. Brett Huyser, an Air Force Academy ‘04 grad who started two years on the football team and now plays guard for the Colorado Crush in the Arena Football League might have had a shot in the NFL if the Army’s policy applied to him back then.

“NFL teams called my agent, but once they found out that I would have to sit out for two years they lost interest,” he said.

Huyser transferred out of active duty two years ago and now splits his time in the Reserves working at the Air Force Academy and playing arena football for the Crush, from whom he earned $36,000 a year in his second season.

Wow... Arena football? Really? Good thing nobody's abusing the DoD policy! I can only assume that Huyser just wasn't cut out for the elite Combat Coach program. But spending reserve time at the Air Force Academy probably still gives him a chance to provide valuable mentorship, so clearly his education was money well spent by the American taxpayer.

Finally, we have this:

Last June, Air Force Academy baseball star Karl Bolt was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft after he graduated with his class in May.

Bolt is on active duty at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., but he saves his leave all year so he can break off and play in the Phillies’ minor league farm system over the summer. He is lining up at first base this summer for their Single-A minor league team, the Lakewood BlueClaws in New Jersey.

Man, I had a hard time squeezing in 5 days of leave on active duty. I'm not sure what Bolt's job is, but I imagine it isn't exactly a vital one if the command can get by without him for 30 straight days... Assuming that's all he's getting. 

Air Force continues to be one of the leaders in academic excellence among the Mountain West Conference. The football team's score of 975 ranked highest among the nine-team MWC. Air Force is one of only five football playing Division I institutions to post a four-year APR in the top 10 percent nationally while playing in a major conference with the football bowl subdivision. Duke, Rice, Rutgers and Stanford are the other four.

OK, two things. One, if the Mountain West (and Conference USA, based on the inclusion of Rice on the list) is considered a "major conference with the football bowl subdivision," then what do they consider a minor conference with the FBS? Two, why do you suppose the press release only compared Air Force to other schools in conferences as opposed to everyone, including independents? No reason, I'm sure.

Roffles.

Sincerely,N.Broadfoot 

I heard that the Air Farce will go off the air on New Years Eve 2008. I remember hearing the Royal Canadian Air Farce on Radio Canada International [my shortwave radio] in the late 1990's. Please send any souvenirs to ROBERTO C. ALVAREZ-GALLOSO,CPUR Thank You

• Spring football practice is beginning around the country, and ESPN.com has three sentences on Navy. You may not have heard, but we have a new head coach!
• Sadly, Tom Marryott will not be returning next year as the women's basketball coach. Given the decline of the program since its mid-'90s heyday, this news isn't much of a surprise. But the inevitablility doesn't make it any less depressing. The son of a former superintendent, Marryott has been a part of the Navy family his entire life. Marryott was an assistant with the men's program when he took over the women's team on an interim basis following the sudden resignation of Joe Sanchez five years ago. After showing some promise in that interim season, Chet awarded Marryott the permanent gig. But the team never seemed to gather much momentum, even in a conference that, frankly, isn't very good. The rise of the Army program probably didn't help matters. It's a shame that things didn't work out. I think Navy fans everywhere wish Coach Marryott all the best in the future. His staff remains in place for now. We anxiously await word on a new coach!
• This has been making the rounds in the national news, but since schools selling their souls for athletic success has been a hot topic on this blog, I thought I'd mention it here. Harvard is now under the microscope.
• In the "no-brainer" category, David Robinson has been nominated for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
• Bad news keeps pouring in for the Air Force basketball program as freshman Mark Summerfield has left the Academy. Nothing sinister about this one, though. The kid just decided the military wasn't for him. It happens.
• Remember the Patriot Bowl? The game that was supposed to be between a service academy and a MAC school, held in Cleveland each year as part of a festival of military demonstrations and whatnot? Well, it's still happening. Just without a service academy.
• Remember the AAFL? The new professional football league centered around major college football hubs? There were reports of that league's demise yesterday, although those appear to have been a little premature. But the league is facing some problems right now, and may have to postpone their inaugural season until 2009.
• Army's home opener against Temple has been moved to Friday night. I don't care any more than you do, but there was a line in the press release that I found interesting:

  It will mark the only non-Saturday football game of the year for the Black Knights, home or away. Each of the Army’s remaining 11 contests, including all five home games, will remain on Saturday. Kickoff times for all of those games will be announced later in the year.

  I thought that part of Army's ESPN contract was that they would play 1-2 games per year on either ESPN or ESPN2. That means Thursday or Friday night, since ESPN usually leaves their Saturdays free for BCS-conference games. Does this mean that Army could be geting a game on the Mothership on an actual Saturday? OK, so maybe that wasn't really interesting either.

• The women's lacrosse team won again. This time they pitched a shutout, beating St. Francis (PA) 24-0 in a game that was originally supposed to be the season opener. Maybe the right baseball analogy would be a perfect game, since the Mids prevented the hapless Red Flash from even taking a shot. OK, now this is getting ridiculous. Navy's newest varsity team has a slightly more interesting matchup tomorrow with fellow Division I newcomer Cincinnati, followed by what will probably be another snoozer on Sunday against St. Mary's. Fortunately, Patriot League play starts next weekend, with Holy Cross coming to town.
• Not sports related, but now mids can do part of their summer cruise at a U.S. Embassy? Really? How cool is that?
• Hold your nose before you read this love-fest for Air Force coaches. It's nothing that you'd otherwise care about, but it includes a Paul Johnson quote.
• ESPN.com says, "Bucknell senior John Griffin tapped into all his experience to hit a 40-footer to beat Navy." Experience? Do they practice that shot at Bucknell or something? I guess "John Griffin gets lucky" isn't as good of a read. Anyway, our friend Gary Lambrecht weighs in on Navy basketball, too.
• And finally... The first one was so massive, it changed my life forever. And now it's happening again! I'm talking, of course, about the Sale of the Century, the greatest idea in the history of human thought. Last time, there were all kinds of jerseys, sweatshirts, t-shirts, duffel bags, ballcaps, and enough equipment to outfit a small lacrosse league. This time, if the retired Under Armour lax jerseys are on sale, there may have to be contests of strength and skill just to determine who gets the chance to buy them. The SOTC will be held before the Hopkins game. The weekend's fun actually begins the night before with the annual Blue & Gold spring football game. GoMids.com is sponsoring a tailgater before the game, sponsored by Red Hot & Blue. David Ausiello is coordinating the event, and has announced that any proceeds will go to the Fallyn Zembiec Educational Fund:

  GOMIDS.COM TO HOST SPRING GAME TAILGATER

  All Proceeds to Benefit Education Fund for Daughter of Former Navy Wrestler

  (Annapolis, MD) – GOMIDS.COM will be hosting its first-ever tailgate party on Friday, April 18th prior to Navy football's annual Blue & Gold spring game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.  The party will begin at 5 p.m. and food will be available until 8 p.m. - one hour after the game begins.

  All proceeds from the tailgate will be donated to the Fallyn Zembiec Educational Fund established to honor the memory of her father, Doug, who was killed on May 11, 2007 in combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

  Zembiec, 34, a career Marine who held the rank of Major, graduated in 1995 from the United States Naval Academy where he was a two-time All-American wrestler.

  The Annapolis eatery, Red, Hot & Blue is catering the event, and the cost (which includes drinks) is $25 for adults and $10 for children, 12 and under.   Tickets must be purchased by April 4th.  Click here to buy your tickets today.

  Most of you probably already know the story of former Navy All-American and "Lion of Fallujah" Doug Zembiec. If not, you should. You can start here.

2. How will the Falcons replace Chad Hall?

The simple answer, according to Calhoun: “I don’t think you can, completely.” Ty Paffett, who will be a senior next year, will begin spring as the starter at the Falcons’ Z receiver spot. Paffett played there last season when Hall lined up at tailback, and he got better as the season went on. In the Falcons’ regular-season finale against San Diego State, he went for 105 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yarder. Also, look for cornerback Reggie Rembert to get some snaps on offense.

3. Did you say Rembert on offense?

Yup. Rembert, a backup cornerback and returner last season, will begin spring as a starting corner. But Calhoun said he plans to use Rembert on offense as well. And he might not be the only player to pull some double duty.

“I’m going to give a guy a chance to play both ways here at the academy,” Calhoun said. “I won’t do it during the fall of his freshman year. I want to give him a chance to clearly learn one side of the ball and then bring him over to the other side of the ball.”

Two-way players, huh? And Rembert might not be the only guy to do it? Okey dokey. Now, career Naval officer and noted Navy fan "BBGame" might say that this shows just how good some of Air Force's athletes are, and that the coaches have to find a way to get them on the field as much as possible. The rest of us realize that there is probably no Charles Woodson in Colorado Springs, let alone more than one. I doubt that Troy Calhoun would be talking about players going ironman if it wasn't necessary. Schaller's assessment that the backfield is thin appears to be right on the money. Things might be worse than we thought for the Falcons, especially if:

The 2008 Falcons “probably will be the youngest football team the Air Force Academy has had maybe since 1957 when there weren’t any seniors,” Calhoun said.

Wow.

Elsewhere in the service academy world, we have this bit regarding the mythical Army coaches' retreat:

The Retreat is on

My colleague Kevin Gleason tells me there was no sign of Army head coach Stan Brock at Pro Day at West Point Monday.Brock and his coaches have gone on their "retreat" to brainstorm on what offense Army will run in 2008. The whereabouts of the meetings are unknown.

Spring practice is slated for March 25. Let's see 21 days and counting to implement an offense.

I've heard everything from spread option to triple option to last year's pro-style offense with a few wrinkles for the 2008 offense.

Also heard Brock and offensive coordinator Tim Walsh paid a visit to former Army coach Jim Young before the retreat.

If Brock and his boys decide the triple option, could junior running back Carlo Sandiego be an option at quarterback. Sandiego did run the option at prep school.

If not, freshman Chip Bowden might be called upon.

Apparently the retreat has moved from myth into reality. Information regarding this meeting of the minds is more tightly guarded than the whereabouts of English royalty in Afghanistan, but the note about Tim Walsh's meeting with Jim Young is an interesting one. As Army's head coach, Young tried to run a more conventional offense in his first year with very little success. He then switched to the wishbone, and used it to lead Army to the best years they've had since World War II. Does this meeting indicate a move to the wishbone? Or was Walsh seeking more general advice about how to approach any offensive change?

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.

• There's some speculation about Kyle Eckel's future in Foxboro. Here's one guy's take on the state of the Patriots' backfield, guessing that they may add a running back in the draft.
• Navy basketball's rise to the top of the Patriot League has meant added coverage from local papers, including this great writeup in the Times on Greg Sprink.
• To the dismay of Maryland and Georgetown fans, one local hoops blogger thinks that David Robinson is the area's all-time greatest basketball player.
• Things are so bad at the Air Force Academy prep school that they've cancelled the rest of their basketball season.
• The University of South Alabama is starting up a football team, with the goal of eventually moving into I-A in a few years. Once they do, they're looking into lining up "quality opponents like Tennessee and Navy."
• The University of North Alabama already has a football team. A very good team, actually-- one of the annual poll-toppers in Division II. They're coached by former Navy offensive coordinator Mark Hudspeth, and one of the local papers published a story on him here.
• A couple of lacrosse tidbits: first, the Tewaaraton watch list is out, and it includes Navy's Jordan DiNola. In other news, a Big East lacrosse conference is in the works.
• Former Navy baseball coach Bob MacDonald had a stint with the Mariners as a volunteer batting practice pitcher, among other things.
• Former Navy football player turned cagefighter Brian Stann will be fighting for the WEC light heavyweight title on March 26th. I've seen a couple of his earlier fights, and they didn't exactly last long. One guy took one punch from Stann, got an "oh God what did I get myself into" look on his face, then went down with the second punch. Still, there's more to this stuff than just punching. We'll see if Stann's skills have developed beyond striking.
• And finally, read this.

ALTERNATIVE PROFESSIONAL OPTIONS: Army cadet-athletes now have options to pursue professional athletic opportunities thanks to the U.S. Army’s Alternative Service Option program. If cadet-athletes are accepted into the program, they will owe two years of active service in the Army, during which time they will be allowed to play their sport in the player development systems of their respective organizations and assigned to recruiting stations. If they remain in professional sports following those two years, they will be provided the option of “buying out” the remaining three years of their active-duty commitment in exchange for six years of reserve time.

This reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons in which Bart has a vision of the future. In this vision, Lisa has been elected President and needs to raise taxes due to a budget emergency. Fearing the unpopularity of a tax increase, she decides to call it a "refund adjustment." "Alternative service" is the same kind of euphemism. Let's be real, here; playing ball full-time for two years while shaking hands at a couple of recruiting events isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind when people think "service." It's apparently good enough for West Point, though, which strangely has the most lax policy of the three Division I service academies despite the Army's much-publicized manning challenges. How they are making this work after the new Department of Defense policy for all three schools took effect, I have no idea. But it's clear that Owen Tolson believes that he'll be playing pro ball if he gets drafted:

When Caleb and I make an NFL roster it will be the result of  the work the West Point administration has gone through to ensure that Army Football, West Point, and the United States Army are represented in professional football...

...I hope that Caleb and I can pave the way for future Army football players and other service academy football players seeking to accomplish their goals; the same goals we all have growing up as kids: playing professional sports. 

Army has already had a couple of baseball players take advantage of this opportunity. Like it or not, it appears that Army is now firing up their pro football pipeline. And with that, the old debate begins anew. I'm sure you can already tell by my tone where I stand on the issue.  

The argument in favor of allowing service academy athletes to turn pro is simple: good publicity. Professional sports, people say, offer tremendous exposure. Even the DoD policy talks about the "potential recruiting or public affairs benefits for the Department." But how much exposure are we really talking about? Everyone points to the David Robinson example, but Robinson was one of the greatest players in the history of his sport. Before Robinson ever set foot on an NBA court he was already a world champion, Olympic medalist, Wooden Award winner, and winner of the US Basketball Writers' Association and Naismith College Player of the Year awards. Robinson would go on to be a 10-time NBA All-Star, league MVP, 1990 Rookie of the Year, 1992 Defensive Player of the Year, 2-time NBA champion, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Olympic Dream Team member and 2-time gold medalist, and 2001 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner. In 1996 he was named by the NBA as one of the 50 greatest players in league history. He even had a video game named after him. Now that's exposure, and a far cry from being some anonymous punter or a pitcher for the Everett Aqua Sox. No comparison to David Robinson is even close to being valid until we see copies of Owen Tolson's Hang Time Punting for Playstation showing up at your local Circuit City. Service academies have actually had quite a few players in the pros over the years, but you never hear of them unless they get arrested (Bryce Fisher) or have a classmate smear them in the newspaper (Kyle Eckel). And even then some of you who aren't die-hard service academy fans probably don't know what I'm talking about with those two. The only player in recent memory who remotely approximates Robinson's level of exposure is Air Force's Chad Hennings.

Hennings won the Outland Trophy as college football's most outstanding interior lineman in 1987, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He would go on to earn three Super Bowl rings as a member of the Dallas Cowboys after spending four years on active duty flying A-10s. He was a definite favorite of television broadcast teams, who loved to talk about Hennings' experience flying Warthogs over Iraq. There is no doubt that Hennings' time in the NFL was a tremendous boost for Air Force recruiting and public relations.

But there's the rub. Hennings wasn't praised for simply attending the Air Force Academy. He gained attention for what he spent four years doing on active duty. That's why he had credibility as a recruiting tool-- his experience reflected what Air Force officers actually do. How can someone who has done nothing but play baseball have any value as a recruiter? What good is it to be seen when you aren't doing anything that resembles the work that recruiters are trying to sell to potential candidates? Without the exceptional athletic achievement of Robinson or the military achievement of Hennings, "exposure" benefits from pro athletes are just a myth.

Not recruiting duty.

Not only that, but the Department of Defense policy linked above requires two years of active duty service prior to joining the reserves for a reason. Service academy graduates aren't exactly polished fighting machines the moment they throw their caps in the air at graduation. They usually attend a follow-on school to train for their chosen specialty, then move on to their first duty station to carry out what they've learned. Except for flight school (which takes longer), this process usually takes about two years. If you put someone into the reserves before then, or if they've done nothing but play football for their two years of active duty time, then they won't be qualified to actually do anything if they get called up. That's what the reserves are supposed to be ready to do, right? Provide trained citizens ready to fight when called upon? It's that whole "trained" part that suffers when a player turns pro.

I'm not so sure that all of the exposure would be positive, either. If you think about it, what the Army is doing is really the opposite of the Pat Tillman story. Tillman left the life of an NFL athlete to join the Army because he wanted to make a difference after 9/11. When compared to this example, the idea that there's good exposure to be had from service academy graduates trading their active duty obligation for NFL fame is extremely questionable. Someone is going to contrast the two situations, and it isn't going to look good.

The coaches want to allow players to pursue pro careers because it would make their recruiting jobs easier. Very few college recruits will move on to the NFL, but most of them think they have a chance. Coaches would love to be able to tell them that they can have their shot even if they come to a service academy. But there could be some unforseen consequences in that sales pitch. Do we really want to convince kids to come to a service academy based on the ways they have to avoid active duty? Yeah, no problems there. Talk about a recipe for bad attitudes.

Make no mistake-- winning is important. It increases coverage of the school, brings in money to the athletic department through increased attandance and television, and projects an overall image of excellence. But as important as it is to win, some costs are just too high.

Each of these pursuits can be arduous at times, with dangerous tasks to be completed on long deployments away from home. But the work can also be as rewarding as it is difficult. There is a special satisfaction that comes from knowing the importance of what you're doing. The American people know how important it is, too. These aviators, soldiers, and sailors are among the most celebrated figures in American society. There are organizations like the USO that support them. Hollywood tells tales of their exploits. We have national holidays to honor them. America appreciates what it takes to defend itself, which is why it pays for service academies; a top-notch education is worth paying for if it results in men and women willing to commit to one of these challenging careers.

Sadly, some of those in uniform aren't shown the same appreciation as the rest. They toil in virtual anonymity, their contributions unknown to the general public. The work they do is vital to the defense of this nation, yet they have nobody to tell their story... until now. I am proud to use my little corner of the internet to bring attention to these distinguished service academy graduates who make the most of their four years of military training. So read on as I pay homage to the best of the best: Air Force football coaches.

If you thought Fallujah was hard, try two-a-days!

Their records speak for themselves:

• Head coach Troy Calhoun graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989. Of his six years of active duty in the Air Force, four were spent as an academy football coach. From 1989-1990 he was a graduate assistant for Fisher DeBerry. From 1993-1994 he was DeBerry's recruiting coordinator.
• Blane Morgan is the quarterbacks coach for the Falcons. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1999 and spent the next year as a graduate assistant. After spending 2 1/2 years doing less important work at Laughlin AFB, he returned to the academy in 2003 to complete his active duty obligation as the wide receivers coach and an assistant coach for the junior varsity team.
• Running backs coach Jemal Singleton is a classmate of Morgan's. He spent two years of his active duty obligation at Little Rock AFB. The rest was spent in Colorado Springs working in the athletic department, and as an assistant coach with the USAFA Prep School, junior varsity, and varsity football teams.
• Mike Thiessen graduated from USAFA in 2001 and remains on active duty while coaching the team's wide receivers. Thiessen not only carries out this daring mission as a coach, but he had the unique opportunity to defend the Constitution by playing minor league baseball. Through the Air Force's vital World Class Athlete Program, Thiessen more than repaid the taxpayer's cost of his education by hitting .278 for the Lancaster JetHawks. If that wasn't already of incalculable benefit to the American people, the former Falcon quarterback also spent the three seasons prior to 2007 as the offensive coordinator at the prep school.
• Joining Thiessen on active duty is Charlton Warren, another 1999 academy graduate. Capt. Warren is the least accomplished of this elite military unit, having spent the majority of his military career doing things other than football, and in places other than Colorado Springs. Fortunately for you & me, though, he's back serving where America needs him most: as the Air Force secondary coach.
• Tight ends coach Ben Miller is a real hero. I'm not sure if he wasted any time on active duty at all. Following his 2002 graduation, Miller signed with the Cleveland Browns. He spent 2005 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad, and in 2006 was a graduate assistant at Illinois.
• Brian Knorr, a 1986 grad who coached linebackers at Air Force, was hired away this week by Jim Grobe at Wake Forest. Knorr should feel right at home in Winston-Salem, though, as he will be joined by another group of Air Force Academy patriots. Steed Lobotzke, the Demon Deacons' offensive coordinator, is a 1992 graduate of the Air Force Academy that jumpstarted his military career with a two-year graduate assistant job immediately following graduation. Another new Wake Forest assistant, Steve Russ, is a 1995 Air Force graduate who, like Ben Miller, didn't bother with the hassles of active duty military service. Instead, Russ went straight into the NFL. After spending 5 years with the Denver Broncos, Russ began his college coaching career at Ohio, where Knorr was head coach in 2001.

One would think that such an awe-inspiring collection of military might would be sure to make headlines, yet the American taxpayer never seems to hear about the fruits of their valuable investment. I know... Crazy, right? Especially when you consider how many Air Force football coaches spend their active duty time in public affairs when they aren't coaching. But the Air Force Academy, unlike Annapolis and West Point, doesn't release the service assignments of their graduating seniors. Why they would keep this information to themselves, I have no idea. But America should know when one of their service academies is producing this kind of excellence.

Any Air Force fan can tell you the obvious benefit to our nation's security that comes from active duty football coaches. You see, the Air Force Academy is the most difficult of the service academies by a mile. It really isn't even close. In order for cadets to have a chance to make it through the grueling 4-year pressure cooker that is the Air Force Academy experience, they need mentors. These mentors work best when they aren't tainted with too much exposure to the, you know, Air Force. Their minds need to be sharpened, fresh with the memories of what it took to survive such an ordeal as found in Colorado Springs. That's where these football coaches come in. Unencumbered with the fetters of actual operational experience, only they can deliver the kind of leadership that cadets need to make it through. Unconvinced? Navy's APR score in the last NCAA report was 982. Even with their elite cadre of mentors, Air Force's score was lower-- 975. Imagine how low it would be without football coaches on active duty! The higher attrition clearly shows how much harder it is at Air Force! And just having a graduate assistant or two stick around for a few months while he waits for a spot at flight training (or another service school) doesn't cut it. Unlike the Army and Navy, the Air Force needs officers whose military careers are dedicated to mentorship. They also need graduates who don't serve a day on active duty, and instead go straight into the NFL. Because the NFL and minor league baseball, as we all know, prepares someone to lead cadets far better than operational Air Force experience.

Now that you know how crucial it is for Air Force grads to embark on a coaching career immediately upon graduating, you can understand my befuddlement when it comes to the lack of recognition that these warriors of the clipboard receive. But as any good Air Force football-trained leader will tell you, it isn't enough to just complain. If you see a problem, point it out and offer a solution. So that's what I'm going to do. The first step in getting our heroes recognized would be for the Air Force Academy to release the service selection information of its graduating football class. Shout it from the top of Pikes Peak! "We need mentors for our football team so we can produce more mentors for future football teams!" It's hard to imagine a better use of service academy graduates than a self-sustaining pipeline of mentorship without any significant operational service.

The second step we can take is to create a piece of uniform insignia so that fellow airmen know when they are in the presence of the elite. Something should set these leaders apart. Why should pilots get wings while these highly trained officers go unrecognized? If I may be so bold, I have a suggestion for this badge of honor:

Nothing says "airpower through the intricacies of zone blocking" quite like a winged football. One look at this, and Hollywood will know that there's a story to be told here. Imagine the possibilities... "You want me on that sideline. You need me on that sideline!" Finally, we'll have an Air Force movie to compete with the cinematic masterpiece that is Iron Eagle.

It's hard to believe, but there are actually people who don't think that it's appropriate for service academy graduates to spend their active duty careers as football coaches. How dare any of you think that way. For shame. Air Force fans have taught us a great lesson; the job that you do isn't important. What matters is the clothes that you wear while you do it! Anything done in a uniform must be mission essential. If it wasn't, then nobody would do it! Duh. And if it's mission essential, who better than an academy grad to do the job? I mean come on, if you can't trust the U.S. Air Force, an agency of the federal government, to make good use of your money-- then who can you trust?

If only she was in an Air Force uniform. Then it'd be as valuable as storming the beach at Normandy!

Now, I know that I rub some people the wrong way by placing these coaches on a pedestal. All service is valuable, you might be thinking. It isn't appropriate to "rank" the service of various Air Force Academy graduates. Well, you're wrong. The fact is that service gets ranked every single time someone's record appears before a promotion board. And you and I both know that assignments as a football coach are a bullet train to General. All you have to do is compare the bios of the two active duty Captains on the Air Force staff right now. Here's Charlton Warren's:

Warren began his military career at the Academy in the admissions office as the Southeast U.S. admissions coordinator for the minority enrollment office from 1999-2000. He then went to Warner Robins AFB, Ga., from 2000-03 where he was the C-130 avionics program manager for the Air Logistics Center. While stationed there, Warren earned an MBA from Georgia College and State University. He was also recognized as the company grade officer of the quarter in 2002.

Before returning to the Academy in 2005, Warren was stationed at Eglin AFB, Fla., from 2003-05 as the MK-82 joint direct munitions program manger for the Air Armament Center. He also worked as the anti-spoof/anti-jam program manager while at Eglin. Warren was honored as part of the weapons program team of the quarter in 2003 and the direct attack group company grade officer of the quarter in 2004.

How on earth is a record as lackluster as this supposed to compete with fellow Captain Mike Thiessen, who worked in a personnel office, played minor league baseball, and taught algebra? I mean, if you were going to promote someone to Major, who would you pick? Face it, guys--service is "ranked" all the time. California League Player of the Week is a far bigger eye-opener than something like Officer of the Quarter no matter how many times you receive that award. Air Armament Center? Avionics program manager? Please. Give me some of that career-enhancing quadratic equation action instead.

But don't feel sorry for Capt. Warren. Chances are that he will get that promotion. The sad reality is that the grueling life of a combat football coach takes its toll. Despite being on the fast track to promotion, career Air Force coaches shockingly don't seem to stick around beyond their active duty obligation-- well, those that actually have an obligation, anyway. The reason for this is that the Air Force does a terrible job taking care of these warriors. There is no career track established for Air Force football coaches. Think about it-- there's only one Air Force Academy. Once they've coached there, where are they supposed to go? And who has oversight responsibility for these coaches? Who mentors the mentors? The Air Force needs to establish an Office of Football Affairs. That way, football coaches who want to continue their life of valuable service have the means to do so.

As in-tune as I am with the plight of these champions of football warfare, even I have some questions. What manner of classroom training do cadets receive about this branch of service? Are they even aware that this is an option available to them? I mean, surely this path is open to more than just members of the football team. The Air Force wouldn't limit career choices based on extracurricular activities, would they? That would be silly. Actually, since attending the Air Force Academy is such a backbreaking endeavor, why is it that only the football team receives this elite mentoring? Wouldn't all cadets benefit from the guidance of a specialized mentor? In fact, the Air Force Academy should probably grow by another 1,000 or so cadets just to ensure that it graduates enough career mentors to meet its needs. For that matter, why is it that only select Air Force Academy graduates get to serve as football coaches? Why can't ROTC graduates fulfill that role? Imagine the quality of coaching the American people would receive if we expanded the talent pool from which to draw football coaches! And are coaches on active duty eligible for individual augmentation assignments? I imagine not, since coaches are far more mission critical than other Air Force officers.

Hopefully these questions will be answered. And hopefully the Air Force Academy will highlight their football coaches so the American people can give them the accolades that they deserve. Because the longer that the practice of using a service academy to produce football coaches is swept under the rug, the more some people will think that it's just a taxpayer-funded boondoggle designed to help recruit players like Brad Padayao who want nothing to do with actual military service. And we can't have that, now can we?

• Read Lisa Horne's tribute to J.P. Blecksmith and service academy football. Yeah, I know she screwed up Army's nickname. But if that's all you get out of this then you really miss the point.
• Some of you may remember Matt McCutchan, the former Mid who transferred to Kentucky and became their starting center. He's playing in the Arena League now.
• Remember the Duke game? Where Navy just had more left in the tank in the 4th quarter? David Cutcliffe doesn't want that to happen again.
• Kyle Eckel is in the mix with the media hype that suppounds the Super Bowl. He gets a little hometown coverage here, while the Baltimore Sun says more or less the same thing but with their usual sprinkling of gloom here. Bill Simmons ponders asking about a battle royale. And I don't know what the hell to make out of this.
• Navy basketball recruit John Corrigan had a good game.
• Remember the latest panel put together to figure out how to fix Army football? Well, here's what they came up with.
• The broadcast schedule for the lacrosse team was released with all the usual games on the air. Don't be surprised of the Cornell game gets on TV somewhere, too.
• Navy lacrosse was voted as the preseason favorite to win the Patriot League, with Jordan DiNola picked as the preseason Defensive Player Of The Year. Colgate's Brandon Corp was voted for the offensive honors. No surprises here.
• Colgate assistant lax coach Jeff Cohen scouts Navy, among other things.
• Patriot League All-Access is carrying Richie Meade's halftime interview from the Army basketball game as free content. There are also some clips from the league's preseason lacrosse teleconference here.
• Some quotes from Buddy Green about one of his former players at NC State who he helped get started in coaching.
• A volleyball recruit.

But even legends have their limits. The Air Force Academy as a whole has faced several allegations of religious intolerance in recent years, and DeBerry was caught up in the middle of it. In 2004, he was ordered to remove a banner that he had hung in the football team's locker room which read in part, “I am a Christian first and last... I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.” DeBerry received "sensitivity training" as a result. A year later he was officially reprimanded for remarks he made following a loss to TCU in which he essentially blamed it on his team's lack of black players:

It's very obvious to me the other day that the other team had a lot more Afro-American players than we did, and they ran a lot faster than we did. It just seems to be that way, that Afro-American kids can run very, very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me they run extremely well.

Their defense had 11 Afro-American kids on their team, and they were a very, very good defensive football team.

Proselytizing and reinforcement of stereotypes aside, DeBerry probably would have survived all of this if he was still winning. Air Force was 5-0 and ranked 25th in the Coaches' Poll coming into their game at Navy in 2003. The Mids won that game, 28-25. It was a program-altering event for Air Force, who went on to lose 4 of their last 6 games to finish at 7-5-- Fisher's last winning season. After that loss to Navy, Air Force was 15-25 until DeBerry either retired or was forced out following the 2006 season.

I say "retired or forced out" because the story differs depending on who's doing the talking. Officially, DeBerry retired. But according to rumor, he chose to quit rather than be forced to fire any of his assistants. One way or another, though, he was gone. Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh was then left with the unenviable task of replacing an institution. Fortunately for him, Air Force had essentially been grooming several potential successors over the years, as some Air Force graduates were allowed to begin coaching careers while on active duty. One of those graduates was Houston Texans offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun.

Calhoun played quarterback for Air Force and graduated in 1989. He spent his first two seasons after graduation as a GA on Fisher DeBerry's staff. Calhoun returned to the Air Force Academy in 1993 and took over the role of recruiting coordinator as well as coaching the JV team's offense. When fellow Air Force assistant Jim Grobe was named head coach at the University of Ohio in 1995, he brought Calhoun with him to be the quarterbacks coach. Calhoun added the title of offensive coordinator two years later, and had the same role after following Grobe to Wake Forest in 2001. In 2003, Calhoun started his NFL career with the Denver Broncos. Then, in December 2006, he accepted Mueh's offer to replace Fisher DeBerry as head coach at Air Force.

The first question that everyone asked of Calhoun is what he planned to do with the Falcons' offense. Ken Hatfield had installed the wishbone in Colorado Springs when he took over the Air Force job in 1979, and some form of the wishbone/ flexbone/ broken bone/ fishbone (whatever you want to call it) option offense had been in place ever since. Calhoun played in that same offense, but had moved away from it under Grobe and in his NFL career. Many (if not most) service academy fans believe that to win at a service academy you need to run an option-based offense, so it raised a few eyebrows when Calhoun's comments after being hired appeared to indicate a shift away from that. Instead, Calhoun wanted more of a run-pass balance, and a running game that would have a feature back averaging about 20 carries a game:

I think you still have to run some option. It’s tough to defend, but we have to find ways to get more predetermined carries. You can find the guy who is a pretty darn good player and start to feed that guy the ball 20 to 22 times a game. And a good one only gets better. He starts to get into a little bit of a rhythm, feeling a knack for a cut or where a hole might start to open.

Then, ultimately on offense, you have to be balanced. Defenses are bigger, they move much better and because of that, they are going to clog up some spaces if you don’t make them work all 53-plus yards widthwise and go ahead and push the ceiling a little bit down the field. We’re going to be a balanced offense.

Armed with this new philosophy, Air Force quickly jumped to a 3-0 start at the beginning of the season. That 3-0 record, however, was more in spite of this new offense than because of it. The Falcons got a little lucky in their first few games. They played Utah the week after the Utes lost both quarterback Brian Johnson and running back Matt Asiata in their season opener at Oregon State, and still needed a goal-line stand at the end of the game to win. TCU made some baffling coaching blunders in the 4th quarter at Air Force after dominating through most of the game. And South Carolina State just stinks. Not surprisingly, the luck didn't last. Air Force followed up their 3-0 start with double-digit losses to BYU and Navy.

To Troy Calhoun's credit, he adjusted. While Air Force's defense had been playing well all season, the offense wasn't getting it done. Sometimes they just weren't productive, while other times they gained a few yards but made critical mistakes in execution with turnovers and penalties. Basically, Calhoun had bitten off more than his offense could chew. Shaun Carney wasn't quite the passer he was hyped up to be, he didn't have anyone to really throw to, and the offensive line just wasn't built for pass protection. Rather than insisting on the whole square peg in a round hole strategy, however, Troy Calhoun went back to doing what Air Force did best-- running the football.

Calhoun's rededication to the running game paid off. Air Force won 6 of their last 7 regular-season games by an average of nearly 20 points. They probably should have won the won game they lost, too, committing 5 turnovers to fall 34-31 at New Mexico. Going into the Navy game, Air Force was averaging 223 rushing yards per game, 11th in the country. By the end of the year, they were 2nd in the country with 299 yards per game. Calhoun's revamped offense earned him Mountain West Coach of the Year honors, put Chad Hall in position to be named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, and gained the team a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth (a 42-36 loss to Cal). They might have been lucky at the beginning of the year, but by the end of the year luck had nothing to do with it. With a new approach on offense and the best of the three service academy defenses, Air Force was playing good football.

At 9-4, Air Force had a better season than just about anyone could have predicted. The challenge now will be to maintain that success, and it doesn't look promising in the short term. Of their 474 yards of offense they racked up against Navy, 430 were gained by seniors. The heart of the Air Force defense was their linebackers and secondary, and 6 of 8 starters are graduating from those units as well. High turnover is nothing new at service academies, as players usually have to be developed over 4 years and rarely make an impact as a freshman or a sophomore. But losing this particular class is more critical than usual. When Paul Johnson used to talk to the Foundation, he was very frank about how he was doing in recruiting against Air Force. In his first year, he didn't win a single head-to-head recruiting battle with them. This group of graduating Air Force seniors are the last remnants of that recruiting class. Johnson won more and more recruits from Air Force as the years went on, eventually dominating them the way they used to dominate Navy. That means that Navy looks to be more talented relative to Air Force with each passing year until Calhoun has a chance for his own recruiting to take hold. Once that happens, it's doubtful that either team could expect to rule head-to-head recruiting like they used to; but things will get worse for the Falcons before they get better.

Calhoun and Hans Mueh have more or less admitted that the immediate future for Air Force isn't terribly bright. Before hiring Calhoun, Mueh warned him that he would have "thin senior classes for the 2008 and 2009 seasons." Calhoun himself said that he expects it to be three years before he has the juniors and seniors that he wants, and that the next two Air Force teams might be two of the youngest in school history. Calhoun also said that he expects to use two quarterbacks next year, with Shea Smith splitting time with a yet-to-be-named player who is likely to become the quarterback of the future. It's tough for young teams to win. For young service academy teams, with their already undersized and less-hearalded players taking on talented teams with redshirted, 22-year old men... Well, nothing's impossible I suppose, but some things come pretty damn close.

Without having the kind of talent that Troy Calhoun needs to run the offense he originally envisioned, don't expect Air Force to change much schematically next year. If there is a ray of hope for the Falcons, it's in the trenches. Three of the five offensive linemen who started against California will return next season. Air Force won't have the big-play scoring threat of Chad Hall next year, but they might be able to control the line of scrimmage well enough to put together a few long, clock-eating drives that will help the defense. I doubt it will be enough to get to 9-4, though.

Troy Calhoun's first year replacing his old coach was a success. A repeat performance might take a little more time.

“We realized Navy didn’t really beat us, and that was huge for us to realize,” senior cornerback Carson Bird said. “They really didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves.”

Same old Air Force. Fisher would be proud.

Look, I know that when coaches show players film of the last game, those players come out of there knowing that their mistakes are correctable. I get that. I would expect players and coaches to come out after a loss and focus on the mistakes they made and how they're going to fix them. Nobody needs to be kissing their opponent's collective butt after a loss.

But that is a far cry from what Bird said. How hard is it to say that the team made mistakes, and just leave it at that? He didn't just say that Navy didn't beat them, he repeated it for emphasis! Maybe Jake Schaller will remember things like this the next time he wants to write about how tired he thinks Navy's "respect" routine is. Paul Johnson doesn't make this stuff up. It happens every year. Apparently Navy hasn't been good enough to beat Air Force for 5 straight years. They've just been the beneficiaries of Air Force repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot. This is the sort of thing that Johnson is talking about when he says that Navy must be the "luckiest team in America."

So I guess Air Force is 4-2. No word yet on whether their victory over themselves will count as a conference win.

More hilarity on a Friday... and the airline skits are just for you TurnipHed!

Enjoy!

It's hard to blame a kid for wanting to go to a winning program. But if he had kept his motives to himself instead of insulting his hosts, perhaps he wouldn't have become karma's diaper. Of course, karma had a little help. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, Reggie Campbell, and Zerbin Singleton each had huge runs, and the Navy defense stiffened when it had to.

The game was a back-and forth affair for the first three quarters. Air Force had a pretty good game plan. When a defense is having trouble playing with discipline, the option is a good way to attack it. Air Force was able to get big gains running the option, particularly on the pitch. As expected, Air Force also incorporated a lot of misdirection into their offense, with WR Chad Hall scoring twice on end-arounds. Hall had 108 receiving yards to go along with those two rushing touchdowns. Air Force didn't have much trouble moving the ball, rolling up 474 yards of total offense.

But as was also expected, the Falcons had trouble executing when it counted. In the first quarter, Air Force had second and goal from the Navy 10 yard line. An errant pitch from Carney to Hall led to an 11-yard loss, leading to 3rd and goal from the 21. Air Force would have to kick a field goal. In the second quarter, Air Force was stopped on 4th down at the Navy 5 yard line thanks to an excellent play from Navy LB Tony Haberer. Navy couldn't move the ball on the ensuing drive and went 3 and out. Air Force got the ball at midfield following Greg Veteto's punt. They were able to drive to the Navy 23, but missed a 41-yard field goal attempt. Air Force's defense forced another 3 and out on Navy's opening drive of the third quarter. After the punt, the Falcons were able to drive to the Navy 3. On 3rd and goal, fullback Ryan Williams was open for a sure touchdown but bobbled Carney's pass. Air Force had to kick another field goal.

Despite these miscues, Air Force had a 20-17 lead in the 3rd quarter after Chad Hall's second touchdown. That is where Navy took over.

After Air Force took the lead, Kaipo opened the next drive with a 53-yard pass to a streaking OJ Washington. The play put Navy at the Air Force 20, and the Mids chipped away from there, converting on two 4th downs and scoring the go-ahead touchdown. Air Force was able to take their next drive all the way to the Navy 9 yard line, but then the meltdown began. Mistake #1 was a personal foul call against the Zoomies on a ridiculously late hit after a pass to Chad Hall. Mistake #2 was a false start. Mistake #3 was a holding penalty on the next play, which gave Air Force 3rd and a nautical mile from all the way back at the Navy 39.

It's here that Air Force coach Troy Calhoun put the frosting on the gaffe cake. Since it would take a pretty desperate heave to try to convert on 3rd down from the 39, the smart play would have been to throw for 10-15 yards and put yourself in position for a field goal. Navy had been allowing completions underneath all afternoon, and Air Force was only down 24-20. A field goal would have meant that even if Navy scored a touchdown on their next drive, it would still have been a one posession game. But Calhoun didn't play for the field goal. Instead, he had Shaun Carney try to throw to a triple-covered Chad Hall in the end zone. The pass was short, and Air Force was forced to punt. Navy took over on the Air Force 20, and Kaipo made the Falcons pay.

The Hawaiian word for "to run fast" is holo'ino. I went into the Navy media guide to see if that's one of Kaipo's middle names, but it isn't. It might not be his name, but it's the best way to describe what happened next. One play after Eric Kettani ran up the middle for two yards, Kaipo ran the triple option to the left. The Air Force linebacker that was responsible for covering him bit the cheese, and Kaipo ran for the fastest 78 yards ever run on fieldturf. Kaipo might not be the shiftiest guy on the field, but once there's an opening where he can start his long strides, nobody will catch him. It happened against Temple, against Ball State, and again on Saturday versus Air Force.

That TD run put Navy up 11. Air Force got the ball back with 9:18 left to play, but a Jim Ollis fumble was recovered by Blake Carter. Navy was able to run some time off the clock, and by the time Air Force had the ball again there was only 5:31 left for them to get two scores. They were able to move into field goal range to get one of the two scores they needed, but Ryan Harrison couldn't get the ball above a leaping Jesse Iwuji, putting the finishing touches on a mistake-filled afternoon for the Falcons.

Extra Points

-- The win overshadowed the problem, but Navy's placekicking woes continued. Joey Bullen's 51-yard attempt might have been a bit of a stretch to begin with, but he had a 42-yard attempt blocked that could have put Navy up by 14. It's one thing to miss kicks, but it's another to not even be able to get them past the line of scrimmage. With a stretch of tough games coming up, it's crucial to be able to take whatever points we can get. This problem has already burned us once this season.

-- Navy had a very clear speed advantage against Air Force. Reggie Campbell and Zerbin Singleton were able to make big gains on the outside, and Kaipo would've traveled back in time if he had a flux capacitor strapped to him. Defensively, we still made a lot of the same mistakes we've been making all year (@#$% missed tackles). However, our speed was so good relative to Air Force that they couldn't convert our mistakes into the big plays that Duke or Ball State were able to make. Our recruiting has been paying off.

-- I wish I could say that I was shocked to see Air Force LB John Rabold take a swing at Zerb, but I wasn't. At least Calhoun took him out of the game. I'm not so sure that DeBerry would have. It's hard to believe that he could be so frustrated, since this was "just another game on the schedule."

-- Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh wasted no time in doing what Air Force does best: run his mouth. Regarding Air Force's 5-game losing streak to Navy, Mueh said, “We’ll end it next year. Guaranteed.” What a dope. I'm sure that Troy Calhoun appreciates being put on the spot like that. After all, it isn't like Mueh himself has anything to do with whether or not his prediction comes to pass. Anyone who pays attention to Air Force athletics will tell you that this isn't the first time Mueh has said something stupid.

-- Things aren't going to get any easier for Air Force. 430 of their 474 yards of offense was generated by seniors. In contrast, Navy started only 3 seniors on defense.

-- Air Force needs to pick a uniform and stick with it. They get uglier and uglier every time they're resdesigned.

Birddog Game Balls

-- Reggie Campbell and Zerb Singleton: Navy's leading rusher in each of the previous 4 years against Air Force had been the fullback. Determined not to let that happen again, they frequently brought linebackers to the line of scrimmage to plug holes up the middle. That made it important for the A-backs to produce, and they did. Reggie and Zerb combined for 106 yards and two touchdowns while averaging nearly 9 yards per carry. I'm not sure whose touchdown was cooler: Zerb geting airborne or Reggie's slalom run through the Air Force defense. A's make plays.

-- Ram Vela: Ram Vela made the unusual move from cornerback to linebacker for this game, and it was a little bit of genius from Buddy Green. Ram had six tackles, including one for a loss. One of the ways that coaches measure a defensive player's effort is by looking to see how far away they are from the ball at the end of a play. Ram was always around the ball. With his DB speed and experience, Ram also is a bit of a force multiplier, giving Coach Green more options in pass coverage. Vela found himself in one on one coverage with Chad Hall a couple of times. Hall is Air Force's fastest player. Vela also gave Navy a little bit of speed in rushing the passer.

Actually, I'm a little surprised that Buddy didn't play more man to man defense in this game. Hall is the only really fast guy that Air Force had, and Carney never had much of a reputation for delivering the long ball. Not that it really mattered in the end.

-- Tony Haberer: Tony saved his biggest plays for when they were needed the most: stopping Jim Ollis on 4th down, and sacking Shaun Carney in the 4th quarter to force Air Force into a field goal attempt that was blocked.

-- Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada: Have you heard? He's fast. He should do one of those "Man Vs. Beast" TV shows where he can race a zebra or something.

I don't like Air Force. I think that Fisher DeBerry was a hall-of-fame coach, but also a hall-of-fame jerk. I think that Shaun Carney was unbelievably arrogant and disrespectful after telling a reporter before last year's Air Force-Army game how the Falcons were going to run up the score on the Black Knights. It warms my heart to think that Air Force is 0-for-Carney against Navy after he had the nerve to tell Navy coaches and players on his Annapolis recruiting trip that he was choosing Air Force because he didn't think that Navy could beat them. When I was at USNA, the team that my football player friends said had talked the most trash was Air Force by far. Shoot, even their friggin' Drum and Bugle Corps threw such a tantrum one year after losing to Navy that they actually tossed their 2nd place trophy into the Chesapeake (the best part of that story is that members of the Coast Guard D&B, in true Coast Guard fashion, dove in and recovered the trophy). While Army and Navy seem to embrace their common bond (even if it's strained occasionally), Air Force from day one chose to eschew that in favor of the typical "hate" rivalries in college football. Oh, Air Force fans will act offended at that idea and say things like "we wear a uniform too," but that's just a show. When push comes to shove and their coach tries to run up the score against Navy to "send a message," the uniform doesn't seem to matter much to them anymore. When that same coach publicly ridicules both Army and Navy on media day by talking about their "new way to count to ten: 0-1, 0-2, 0-3...", well that's just fine with them. Some Air Force fans think that anything that comes out of the school is "classy" no matter what, simply because they're Air Force. It doesn't work that way. This all sounds more like Steve Spurrier vs. Phil Fulmer than Army vs. Navy. If that's the type of rivalry they wanted, they certainly succeded in getting it.

I tell you these things not because I want to turn this post into an Air Force hate-fest, but rather in the interest of full disclosure. I'm an opinionated guy and I obviously talk about things from a Navy point of view, but I still try to maintain some level of objectivity when looking at each game from week to week. Air Force fans won't believe it, but it is in fact possible to take an objective look at something and reach the conclusion that Air Force might not be perfect. Of course, I'm not a zoomiphile. Therefore, if I write something that isn't in line with Air Force being the greatest team ever, you can feel free to dismiss it as the biased clack of a zoomie hater. My feelings won't be hurt if you think so. 

Anyway, on to the game. 

First, the unavoidable, glaring reality: Air Force is 3-1.

Their supposedly revamped offense is 114th in the nation in passing, 98th in scoring, and 80th overall. Shaun Carney, who fans and media hailed for his passing efficiency the last two years, is 87th in that category so far this year with three INTs and only two TDs. The Falcon offensive line gives up one sack for every 10 passing attempts.

But Air Force is 3-1.

Air Force has defeated a MEAC team, a Utah squad without its two best offensive players, and a TCU team that not only gave the Air Force game away, but could only manage 7 offensive points the following week against an SMU team ranked 108th in total defense.

Yeah, but Air Force is 3-1.

Troy Calhoun is a rookie head coach. Their offensive coordinator left for Arkansas just a few weeks before the season began. The coaching staff is one of the youngest in the country and includes the defensive coordinator of Navy's 1-win 2000 team.

Nevertheless, Air Force is 3-1.

It boggles the mind, given all the reasons why they should be worse. I'll be the first to admit that I thought Air Force would be 1-3 at this point. Maybe they got lucky. Maybe (ok, definitely) Utah and TCU were very overrated. Or maybe their players just find a way to win. At the end of the day, does it matter? Not as long as they get the W, and Air Force is now halfway to bowl eligibility. Navy's job on Saturday is to ensure that Air Force's status in that regard doesn't change for at least another week.

Obviously, it's a big game. The first goal of the Navy football program each year is to win the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. It's the closest thing to a conference championship that we have (and hopefully ever will have). The three service academies are the most unique schools in Division I. While every game is important, the games against Army and Air Force are the only real apples to apples comparisons on the schedule. These are the schools we measure ourselves against.

Paul Johnson knows what this game means. "It's a big game. There is no sense in ducking that. It's a big game."

Adam Ballard knows what this game means. "I'd rather get hit with a baseball bat repeatedly than lose that trophy to Air Force."

Yet the enthusiasm doesn't seem to be shared on the other side. Air Force coaches and players are going out of their way to talk about how the Navy game isn't as important to them as it used to be. According to Chad Hall, “Navy’s just another team on our schedule.” That appears to be the approved talking point for Air Force players this week, as Shaun Carney sounds pretty much the same. “When it comes down to it, it means a lot to the seniors to try to get an opportunity to go to Washington,” he told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “And other than that, it’s just a game on the schedule.” Even if someone says that it is in fact a big game, the comment is quickly followed with another about how important winning the Mountain West and getting to a bowl game are, too. The CIC Trophy has to be put into perspective, after all.

What a letdown. Fisher DeBerry was much more entertaining, with his fake Heisman campaigns, backhanded compliments, ring fetish, and rambling about his "lost dog." It's almost sad to see Air Force players de-emphasize the CIC Trophy so much, even if it's probably only an act. It's ironic too, considering that the trophy itself was an Air Force creation meant to integrate USAFA into the spirit of the Army-Navy rivalry. So much for that idea. If you've ever wondered why the Air Force game will never be anything like Army-Navy, their players are telling you all you need to know.

Regardless of Team Jesus Christ's priorities, there's an interesting game shaping up. Not only strength vs. strength, but weakness vs. weakness. We shall begin with the latter, that being the Air Force offense vs. the Navy defense.

There was a lot of speculation about what the Air Force offense would look like under Troy Calhoun. When he first took the reins of the Air Force program from Fisher DeBerry, Calhoun had a very different vision for how the offense should look. The offense would rely less on the option and instead feature a tailback who would get 20 or so carries per game. Calhoun also wanted to have more of a run-pass balance, presumably to take advantage of Shaun Carney's accuracy. As time went on and Calhoun became more familiar with his players, he seemed to back away from that vision and favor the option a bit more. According to Paul Johnson, what he's seeing on film is not much of a departure from what Air Force did last year. "It's still the same kids. They are doing a lot of the same stuff," he told Bill Wagner on Monday. "It isn't a radical change; they are just doing it from different formations."

Maybe not a radical change, but whatever changes they did make haven't really worked. Air Force is still ranked in the bottom 5 in I-A in passing. That's nothing new. What is new is that unlike years past, they aren't ranked in the top 10 in rushing. The Air Force offense of old was always good for 250-280 rushing yards per game. So far this year, they're averaging 223. I suppose that you can achieve "balance" by just driving rushing production down to be as low as your passing numbers, but I don't think that's what Troy Calhoun had in mind. Ironically, Air Force's best offensive showing this year came against Utah, where the offense lined up the same way they did for the last 20 years and ran for 330+ yards.

The problem isn't necessarily one of scheme. The Air Force offense just hasn't executed very well. On the somewhat rare occasion when they did execute, their coaches had them in position to make a play. Air Force's offense was absolutely horrible against TCU, but two huge plays in the 4th quarter resurrected them. They obviously have some big-play ability. What they've been lacking is the ability to make those plays with any kind of consistency, especially through the air.

Air Force's passing problems have caught a few people by surprise. Many people regarded Shaun Carney very highly as a passer and thought that the new offense would take better advantage of his throwing ability. But why did so many think that Carney was so good? His rise through the Air Force record book is one reason, although it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that a quarterback who started for four years would have accumulated higher career numbers than most. The other reason was because of his pass efficiency rating. In 2006, Shaun Carney had a pass efficiency rating of 157.5, which would have been good for 11th in the country if he was eligible (Carney didn't have the minimum of 15 attempts per game). In the new offense, that rating has plunged to 111.8. And that's where statistics can lead you astray; sometimes they tell you more about what you're doing than how well you're doing it. This is the case with Carney. Pass effieciency is all about bang for the buck. In an option offense, a good portion of the passing is done with play-action to catch defenses sleeping, leading to wide-open receivers running for daylight. These passes are completed for big gains, and often touchdowns. That's what drives the pass efficiency numbers. It's no different with Navy's offense. In 2005, Lamar Owens' 144.2 rating would have been good enough to rank him in the top 20 in that category. I don't think anybody would have considered him a top passer that year, though. Lamar was simply good enough to do what his particular offense asked him to do. The same can be said of Carney, only now he's being asked to do something different. Passing is a lot harder when defenses are expecting it.

Air Force might be struggling on offense, but they aren't exactly taking on the Monsters of the Midway this week. As you are well aware by now, Navy's defense has had problems of its own. Some people take comfort in knowing that the Air Force offense isn't nearly as big as the offenses that Navy has faced this year. I am not one of those people. While it's true that Navy has faced some big teams this year, physical differences aren't the source of Navy's problems. Navy's problems come from a lack of discipline and experience. You don't have to be 320 pounds to move a defensive lineman out of the way if that DL is running the wrong way to begin with. Schematically, Air Force naturally employs a lot of fakes, misdirection, and play-action. Those things, plus the occasional trick play, will mean big trouble for a defense that plays as sloppily as Navy has this year. Air Force will have open plays. The question is whether or not they can execute them.

For all of the talk about Air Force's offense, the biggest surprise has actually been their defense-- but for the opposite reason. Air Force is giving up a respectable 333 yards per game, including less than 100 per game on the ground. They are ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense. Now it's true that they've faced a few struggling offenses, but it isn't like Duke was lighting up anyone's scoreboard before they played Navy. Air Force's defense is playing good football, and they're doing it using an attacking style that many people (including myself) thought would leave them exposed to the big play. It hasn't really happened yet, thanks in large part to a veteran linebacking corps led by Drew Fowler and John Rabold. Air Force already has 9 sacks this year and gives up less than three yards per carry.

With the pressure that Air Force is sure to bring to the line of scrimmage to stop the option, Kaipo could have to replicate his passing performance from last week. It's kind of funny that Kaipo's 217 yards passing last week in Paul Johnson's "one-dimensional" offense is more than any game that Shaun Carney has had this year in his new "balanced" offense. Chances are that Air Force defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter is going to make him have to prove that it wasn't a fluke. Or maybe it's more accurate that DeRuyter is going to make the offensive line prove that it wasn't a fluke. Either way, the pressure is coming. Navy's offensive fate rests on the team's ability to handle it and Paul Johnson's ability to adjust to it. The latter is a no-brainer. I feel a little bit better about the former after watching the offense last week.

Shaun Carney went to the Air Force Academy because he said that Navy would never beat them. Since then, Navy has never lost to them. Carney has one more chance to do what he went to Air Force to do. For Navy, it's time to finish karma's job.

• In the "ignorance is bliss" category, we have PJ's Monday presser. Talk about a list of things you wish you didn't know... Kaipo's in a neck brace, none of the punters are consistent, the secondary's all hurt, and Greg Thrasher is in PJ's doghouse. Yeesh. I guess there's a silver lining in that Rashawn King is recovering well from his shoul