Air Force's secondary trying to iron out communication issues

The secondary is the strength of Air Force’s defense, but after a couple of games, it hasn’t been too strong.

Air Force was second in the nation in pass defense in 2010, behind only TCU. The Falcons have played just two games this year, but they admit they could have played the pass better.

The Falcons gave up 184 passing yards against South Dakota, which wasn’t that bad. Air Force struggled to stop TCU. The Horned Frogs had just 206 passing yards but the efficiency was impressive. TCU quarterback Casey Pachall, in just his second career start, completed 20-of-25 passes. The Horned Frogs had a big lead and didn’t need to throw much through the second half. Pachall was named Mountain West offensive player of the week after that performance.

“Not taking anything away from TCU, but we blew a lot of coverages,” safety Brian Lindsay said.

There were three returning starters in the secondary, but that was a bit misleading. Lindsay was a first-time starter last year, and didn’t play the whole season because of a broken collarbone. The Falcons have a new cornerback, Chris Miller, and an inexperienced player in their nickel package, whether they use sophomore safety Anthony Wooding or sophomore cornerback Steffon Batts.

“It’s a group of guys having to jell a little bit,” secondary coach Charlton Warren said. “Everybody can’t assume another guy knows what’s going on and knows the check. It’s a communication thing with a couple new guys playing.”

The secondary is adjusting to being without cornerback Reggie Rembert, who made some All-American teams as a senior last year. After a competition that lasted throughout training camp, the Falcons chose Miller to start the cornerback spot opposite Anthony Wright.

Miller is a talented sophomore but not surprisingly, the first two opponents have thrown his way instead of testing Wright. Miller was beat for a touchdown by South Dakota, and TCU completed some big passes against him in Week 2.

Miller hasn’t been a glaring problem though. Warren said he missed just one tackle against TCU, and didn’t blow any assignments.

“That shows promise, and that builds for him,” Warren said.

Miller played some of the TCU game out of position. He played his normal outside cornerback position in the base defense. When the Falcons used five defensive backs, Miller moved inside to cover the slot receiver – because Lindsay was limited a bit with an injury and came out on passing downs. That’s a tough assignment for someone with so little experience.

“I’m keeping my head up and learning as much as I can,” Miller said. “Getting as much experience as I can makes me feel comfortable at the position.”

The secondary should be fine this season, and it won’t face a huge test this week. Tennessee State has completed just 45-of-105 passes through three games, for 603 yards. Air Force believes the secondary will do just fine this season.

“We have more than enough talent,” Lindsay said. “We just have to get it done.”