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Old 01-02-2006, 12:26 PM   #141
hoopsguy
General Manager
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Chicago
It appears we didn't give our fans enough offense last week, as we have few no-shows today. 98,029 are on hand to root on the Bruins while showing respect for the armed forces.

We pick up one first down, but are forced to punt near midfield.

Air Force picks up 22 on 3rd and 7.
But the defense slows down Air Force at our 42, forcing a punt.

QB Greg Moorehead hits back to back completions for 20 and 12 yards.
Then Brown shows some nifty moves on a 15 yard pickup.
But a busted run play and a sack push us back to 3rd and 15 at the AF 39.
No problem, Brown runs for 15. Stud.
We break down on the next three plays, and McMullen comes in for a 44 yarder.
He misses. Wide left.

QB Billy Brown finds Ismail for a 24 yard pickup, into Bruin territory.
On the next play their RB, McCareins, sprints 45 yards untouched for a TD. 7-0 Air Force, 1:53 left in the quarter.

3 and out. QB issues are going to be a major obstacle to overcome.
Air Force breaks off a 36 yard punt return. They start at our 25.

3 plays and done, after a bad drop. They miss a 42 yard field goal, blowing a tremendous opportunity.

QB Derrick Fazande hits TE T.J. Thomas for a 23 yard gain, then finds Brown on a screen pass that just opens up. 53 yard TD pass and catch! 7-7, 12:45 left in half.

The Air Force passing game is much better than what we have seen so far this year. But ILB Scott Wilson picks off a pass to end their drive and give us the ball at our 29.

We have to punt after one first down. We surrender another return of 30+ yards and Air Force starts at our 33. Fricking special teams, it is like McMullen has now infected our coverage units.

2 play drive, Brown finds Ismail on a blown coverage. The easiest 35 yards of their lives. 14-7, 8:24 left in half.

QB Mel Rattay completes the first pass of his career, a 10 yard pickup on 3rd and 2.
Drive falters near midfield. Punt.

DT Chuck Rachal (keeps turning up in my game notes despite sucking) gets a sack, knocking AF back to the 6.
Defensive holding on 3rd and 14 - miserable penalty, our first of the game.
We force a punt - they are having some problems with the WRs holding onto good passes.

QB Greg Moorehead is getting the majority of the snaps for us, but he has been the least effective. After a 10 yard pickup on 3rd and 10 he is up to 5-14 for 62 yards.
Air Force has sustained a couple of injuries in the secondary, hope our guys can take advantage ...
Fazande hooks up with Jackson on a corner route, good for 38 yards before he steps out of bounds.
4th and goal on the 2, with 30 seconds left in the half. We go for it. Rattay is in, the play breaks down, and he tries to use his athletic ability (why we recruited him) to run it in ..... TOUCHDOWN! There is a flag down, but it is against Air Force. 14-14, 0:30 left in the half.

Halftime Notes:
Need to shore up our special teams play.
Need to jumpstart our running game.
Forcing a turnover or two would also help.

Defense forces a 3 and out to start 2nd half.

TE T.J. Thomas is making some plays this game - a 33 yard fingertip grab being the latest.
3 straight runs get us nowhere. Dare we bring out the kicker?
We have to. He makes a 30 yarder. 17-14, 9:45 left in 3rd quarter.

We are hit with a 15 yard facemask penalty.
The yards come back on an unnecessary roughness call against the troops.
Brown to Martin for 29 yards on 3rd and 16. That is one tough QB.
Air Force looks for the tie on a 52 yard attempt, which is good. 17-17, 6:51 left in the quarter.
Brown is 10-16 for 149 yards. 1 TD, 1 INT. But it feels like he is playing better than his numbers.

Brown doesn't give us much on the return, only getting out to the 9.
But he makes up for it on the next two carries, going for 10 and 28 yards.
Dawson goes for 15, thanks to a big block by OT Steve Whiting.
Fazande picks up a big 3rd and 7, finding scrub WR Dan Campbell for 19. Not nice to call a guy a scrub on a 19 yard gain, I know ...
Brown runs it in from 13 yards out. 24-17, 2:46 left in the 3rd quarter.

DE Smith comes up with a sack on 3rd and 4 to end the next drive.

We pound the ball on the ground during our next possession. Brown crosses the 100 yard mark on his 18th carry.
Moorehead completes a pass to Jackson on 3rd and 7, good for a first down but Jackson is JACKED UP! and fumbles the ball. Air Force recovers at our 15.

We bring big heat on a screen play and Brown dumps it into the hands of streaking CB J.R. Jackson! He stumbles, but keeps on his feet for 16 yards before falling to the turf. We take over at the Air Force 17.

C Nick Moore is injured run-blocking on a 3rd down pickup and it doesn't look like he will be back.
Brown takes it in from 3 yards out. 31-17, 9:25 left to play.

McMullen is doing his job on the kickoffs - four straight touchbacks.
Brown to Ismail for 22 on 3rd and 8. They are 9-16 on 3rd down conversions today.
But 9-17 after failing to pick up 3rd and 10 from their 45. Punt.

Brown has it going on in the second half. He moves the chains with a couple of strong runs, then goes 54 yards on a screen pass for a TD. 2nd time today he has done that to the fly guys. 38-17, 4:15 to play in the game.

QB Brown is pressing at this point, throwing a ball to our LB Travis Wilcox. Looks like he lost his grip on a pump-fake and it squirted into the air a few yards downfield.

Derrick is taking names at this point. He is over 250 total yards (100+ both rushing and receiving) and has 4 TDs.
McMullen gets a garbage time field goal from 41 yards out. 41-17, 0:40 left.

Very strong 2nd half. Hope that our backup QBs can still make plays against Pac 10 defenses when called upon.
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