Academies are grounded because throwing doesn't work

On Dec. 22, 2006, the day he was introduced as Air Force’s new coach, Troy Calhoun talked about offensive balance, being “very effective in the passing game” and forcing a defense “to defend the entire field.”

Current reality does not match the former NFL offensive coordinator’s initial vision.

Air Force ranks 119th among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in passing offense (71.4 passing yards per game), ahead of only service academy rival Army (59.9), today’s opponent at Falcon Stadium. In eight games against FBS opponents, the Falcons have hit just three throws of more than 30 yards. And last year they won a game without completing a pass.

Not exactly forcing the defense to defend the entire field.

Asked this week if he thought he’d call for more passes at Air Force, Calhoun didn’t hesitate.

“Darn right,” he said.

The Falcons attempted 28, 21 and 23 passes, respectively, in his third, fourth and fifth games, respectively. But it didn’t take long for Calhoun to realize that wasn’t the right approach.

“Just seeing especially the defensive linemen and the corners that we saw in this league,” said Calhoun, whose Falcons have not attempted more than 18 passes in a game this season and five times have attempted 10 or less. “I thought just the pass rush and how good they were in coverage, you just kind of realize that athletically you were playing against some guys that were exceptional. And you realized over the long haul that you were playing with death if you were going to be a throw team.”

Army took a bit longer to learn that lesson. Todd Berry, who coached Army from 2000 through midway through the 2003 season, wanted to spread the field and throw the ball. He went 5-35. Bobby Ross took over in 2004 and brought with him the fashionable West Coast offense. His teams went 9-22.

One of several recent football studies at West Point looked at Air Force and Navy and linked their successes to their triple-option offense. So this past offseason, Army athletic director Kevin Anderson conducted a search for a coach with a run-heavy offensive philosophy and a background in the triple-option attack.

He hired Rich Ellerson, who had run the triple option with great success for eight seasons at Cal-Poly and coached at Hawaii with former Navy coach Paul Johnson.

But why is the triple-option a good fit for a service academy?

For one, it’s unique, meaning opponents have to prepare for something with which they’re not familiar.

“That creates a strategic advantage,” Ellerson said.

(This could change, of course, with Johnson’s triple-option offense humming for No. 10 Georgia Tech. Ellerson said he worries that “the success he’s having and will have will bring that style of play more into vogue, and that does not help us.”)

Second, it gives a team a chance to hold the ball, keep its defense off the field and shorten the game.

“It’s probably a little like basketball,” Calhoun said. “If there are fewer possessions in the game, then it makes it more about quality on those possessions.”

Third, the offense can be run with the type of players academies typically can recruit.

“West Point’s not interested in 320-pound big, soft guys,” Ellerson said. “We’re looking for explosive athletes.”

And several Air Force assistants noted that a passing offense demands more than a standout quarterback who can sling the ball — it needs big players who can stand up and pass protect 25 to 30 times per game and receivers who can separate from defensive backs.

Finally, those who can make it at an academy seem well suited for an offense with reads, timing and pitches.

“Call it discipline, call it precision, that certainly is part of the larger culture,” Ellerson said.

“You look right now,” Calhoun said, “all three service academies realize the way you give your kids the best chance to win is to be able to be decent running the football.”