Army shares same strengths as Falcons

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun sounded like he was talking about his Falcons.

“You can tell,” he said after a practice this week, “they’re athletic on defense, they’ve made a commitment to that side of the ball. And then the other part, to run the football.”

Strong rushing attack and a stingy defense — yep, that’s a good description of Air Force. But Calhoun was talking about Army, his team’s opponent Saturday at Falcon Stadium.

While the Falcons rank eighth in the country in total defense (266.8 yards allowed per game) and fourth in rushing (275.6 yards), Army is close behind, 14th in defense (290.5) and 11th in rushing (219.4).

Army’s defense impresses Calhoun. Last year the Falcons managed 174 yards of offense but beat the Black Knights 16-7.

“It felt like an old-school game when they had leather helmets and everything,” sophomore quarterback Tim Jefferson said.

Calhoun said he expects Saturday’s contest to be similar — even though Air Force is a 17-point favorite.

“Just because of the approach, I don’t think there’s going to be anything that surprises either team, because you tend to know each other really, really well,” Calhoun said. “You don’t have to be conservative in the way you play, but you need to know that yards are a little harder to come by.”