No contest: BYU blows out Air Force, again

PROVO – Each of Air Force’s first four losses this season came by seven points or less. And all were accompanied by plenty of “what ifs” – hair-pulling thoughts about what could have been if just one or two plays went differently.

Saturday at BYU, “what ifs” were replaced by “what happened?”

The Falcons, confident they could notch their first marquee victory of the season and prove they belong in conversations about the Mountain West Conference’s top teams, were pounded by the 19th-ranked Cougars, 38-21, in front of an announced crowd of 64,071 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

And it wasn’t even that close. Air Force fell behind 24-0 in the first half and scored a late, cosmetic touchdown.

“If you go ask anyone in that locker room, we’re pretty disappointed,” senior inside linebacker John Falgout said. “We didn’t play up to our potential today. … Just a disappointing loss because we felt like we had a good shot to knock off a Top 25 team today, and we didn’t really play as well as we should have.”

It could be argued the Falcons saved their worst for last. They yielded 498 yards (105 more than their previous season-high), including 377 through the air (nearly 250 more than they gave up on average in their first 11 games). They gave up more points in the first half (24) than they had in any game this season. And they committed four turnovers after turning it over just seven times in their first 11 games.

With the loss, the Falcons finished the regular season 7-5 and 5-3 in the MWC. They’ll finish in fourth place for the second consecutive season. BYU, meanwhile, improved to 9-2 and 6-1 in the MWC with its sixth straight victory over the Falcons.

Air Force seemed to match up with BYU far better than in the five previous years thanks to how well its defense was playing – especially against the pass. The Falcons gave up an average of 127.9 yards per game in their first 11 contests, fewest in the country.

But BYU senior quarterback Max Hall, carved up the Falcons, completing 33-of-45 passes (73.3 percent) for 377 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. And when the Cougars did run, they picked up 4.8 yards per carry.

“We let them do a lot of things to us that we have made a living on this year, which is stopping the pass and limiting yards per rush,” Falgout said.

Hall started hot, completing his first six passes as the Cougars drove from their own 25-yard line to the Air Force 15 on the game’s opening possession. Hall’s seventh attempt went to tight end Dennis Pitta for an apparent touchdown, but an offensive pass interference call negated the play. After Hall’s first incompletion, BYU attempted a 48-yard field goal that was blocked by Air Force’s Ben Garland.

The Cougars got a field goal on their next possession, but the Falcons seemed ready to make a game of it, driving into BYU territory. Quarterback Tim Jefferson was hit on a run and fumbled, however, and BYU linebacker Shawn Doman recovered.

Jefferson was slow to leave the field after the play but returned after BYU drove for a touchdown to make it 10-0. He still was clearly hurting from the shot he took in the back, though, and he floated a pass intended for Kevin Fogler. The Cougars’ Andrew Rich picked off the pass and returned it 39 yards to the Air Force 16-yard line, and on the very next play Hall hit Pitta for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead.

“Our guys were excited to play,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “But they didn’t play well enough.”