MOUNTAIN WEST ROUNDUP: Air Force can't keep pace with Irish - North County Times
Air Force's option offense ran up the yards, the Falcons' no-huddle made Notre Dame scurry at times to keep up, and coach Troy Calhoun used everything he could muster to keep the Falcons in the game.
But two first-half turnovers, poor field position, the Irish's strong offensive front and array of skill players were too much Saturday.
Notre Dame (4-2) built a 42-16 halftime lead behind four TD passes from Tommy Rees and routed the Falcons 59-33.
"It's embarrassing. It hurts," Air Force linebacker Alex Means said. "We've been preparing all week for this. I've been thinking about this game from the beginning of the season. Playing Notre Dame at Notre Dame. We should have played better than this. We got beat. We beat ourselves a little bit, but we got beat."
The wide-open game featured the combined points ever for a game at Notre Dame Stadium, breaking the previous mark of 90. And the 59 points were the most by Notre Dame since beating Rutgers 62-0 in 1996 — Lou Holtz's final home game as Irish coach.
The two teams combined for 1,125 yards total offense — 565 by Air Force and 560 by Notre Dame.
Air Force (3-2) tried everything to go with its diverse offense. An onside kick the Falcons' didn't recover, a fake punt that resulted in a 19-yard gain. Air Force was 5-for-5 on fourth down conversions in the game.
It wasn't enough.
"I mean, their movement, their size, that's a really, really good offensive line. I think the quarterback played super," Calhoun said.
"Frankly when you see them playing live, you're a little bit surprised that the record is not even better and it can be as they go."
Two Falcons turnovers, a fumble by Asher Clark on Air Force's first play from scrimmage and an interception, helped send the Irish onto TD drives.
"We put our defense out there with some short fields, absolutely," Calhoun said.
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At Logan, Utah: Chuckie Keeton threw five touchdown passes and Michael Smith ran for two more scores as Utah State cruised past Wyoming. Robert Turbin also ran for 109 yards, his fourth-consecutive 100-plus-yard game for the Aggies (2-3). Turbin scored a TD on the ground and caught a 19-yard Keeton pass for a score, becoming the Aggies' fourth all-time leading career scorer. Wyoming (3-2) was led by Brett Smith, who threw for 265 yards on 28-of-46 attempts and an interception. Wyoming was held scoreless in the second half.
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Nevada 37, UNLV 0
At Reno, Nev.: Tyler Lantrip passed for 366 yards and three touchdowns and Nevada's defense held UNLV to 110 total yards as the Wolf Pack beat the Rebels (1-4) their seventh straight win in the intrastate rivalry and first shutout in the history of the series. Rishard Matthews caught 10 passes for a career-best 220 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown, and Stefphon Jefferson rushed for 100 yards for the Wolf Pack (2-3), who totaled 699 yards on offense in their home opener. They now lead the series 22-15.
09 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFvGfx-jviy_U_D_XQ8cxY70MSNwg&url=http://www.nctimes.com/sports/college/article_abb7a9d2-3497-5621-b445-cf6f1e2ceec3.html
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