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Tag: air force football

  • Anthony Colandrea outduels Liam Szarka as Air Force loses another shootout at UNLV

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    LAS VEGAS — Liam Szarka keeps putting up ridiculous numbers. And the Air Force Falcons keep finding ways to squander them.

    Air Force lost yet another fireworks show Saturday afternoon, this time in Sin City, as UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea ran in a 19-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left that sent the unbeaten Runnin’ Rebels to a 51-48 victory inside Allegiant Stadium.

    The scoring run capped a brilliant day for the UNLV quarterback, who threw for 361 yards and one touchdown on 20-of-32 passing and also ran for 62 yards and a pair of TDs to lead the Runnin’ Rebels (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West) to a sixth straight win.

    It also obscured yet another gaudy performance from Szarka, the sophomore who’s been on a tear in his first season as the Falcons’ starting quarterback, even as Air Force has fallen to 1-5 this season. The Grandview High product fell just short of topping 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight game, finishing with 175 yards and one TD on 10-of-17 passing to go along with 136 yards rushing and two TDs on 27 carries.

    His last touchdown run, from 9 yards out, had the Falcons on the verge of ending a four-game losing streak, up 48-44 with 1:13 left in the game. Instead, on the ensuing series, Colandrea scrambled to his left and then ran untouched before knocking an Air Force defender into the end zone with him for the go-ahead score.

    Szarka led the Falcons to the UNLV 23 on their final drive, but Jacob Medina missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt to end it. The loss drops Air Force to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the Mountain West despite topping 30 points scored in all five of the Falcons’ losses.

    Owen Allen ran the ball 17 times for 192 yards with two touchdowns for Air Force. Cade Harris also had two touchdown runs for the Falcons.

    The teams combined for six lead changes and 42 points in the fourth quarter.

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    The Associated Press

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  • Cade Harris scores 3 touchdowns, Air Force rolls past Bucknell for 19th straight season-opening win

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    AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Falcons’ quarterback competition continued into their season opener Saturday afternoon against Bucknell.

    While both Josh Johnson and Liam Szarka had their moments against the Bison, it was Johnson who had the biggest ones in a dominant 49-13 victory.

    Johnson threw touchdown passes of 62 and 40 yards — the former to Cade Harris for one of his three TDs — and finished with 112 yards on 4-of-7 passing in the Falcons’ 19th-straight season-opening victory.

    Air Force has won five-straight, dating back to last season, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation, and the season-opening streak is second only to Ohio State.

    Johnson’s 40-yard connection with Quinn Smith came on the Falcons’ second drive of the game. Last year, he threw one touchdown pass in his six appearances, and none of the four Falcon quarterbacks had a multiple-touchdown game.

    Szarka, a Grandview High School alum, completed both of his passes for 47 yards on the Falcons’ very next drive, which ended with a 9-yard Harris scoring run and 14-0 lead. Szarka led another touchdown drive in the second quarter.

    Harris finished with 66 yards on eight carries and 83 yards on three receptions. Dylan Carson and Maguire Martin also had rushing touchdowns. Korey Johnson returned a fumble 34 yards for a score.

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    The Associated Press

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  • Kanye Udoh scores two touchdowns and leads No. 21 Army over Air Force 20-3

    Kanye Udoh scores two touchdowns and leads No. 21 Army over Air Force 20-3

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    WEST POINT, N.Y. — Kanye Udoh rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns Saturday to help No. 21 Army to a 20-3 victory over Air Force and the Black Knights’ nation-leading 12th straight victory.

    Playing without starting quarterback Bryson Daily, who missed the game for unexplained reasons, Udoh fulfilled a promise to his captain.

    The sophomore running back told Daily, who missed the last Air Force game, that the team was going to play for him and keep Army’s undefeated season alive.

    Udoh backed it up, setting career highs in rushing yards (158) and carries (22) while recording his third multiple touchdown game this season.

    “I felt like I had a responsibility to fill the shoes of Bryson and go out there and play my best game,” said Udoh, who accounted for 76% of Army’s 207 rushing yards.

    Udoh ran seven times for 48 yards on Army’s opening drive of the second half. The sophomore finished the possession off with a 12-yard touchdown run, his eighth of the season.

    Army (8-0), the defending Commander in Chief’s champions, defeated Air Force for the fourth time in the last five meetings. The victory sets up a winner-take-all for the CIC trophy with Navy on Dec. 14 at Northwest Stadium.

    Army’s defense limited Air Force to only three red-zone plays on the day and picked off three Falcons’ passes in the fourth quarter.

    Senior safety Max DiDomenico’s interception sealed the victory for Army with 1:51 left. DiDomenico returned the interception 69 yards to Air Force’s 25. Udoh scored his second touchdown on the next play.

    Daily missed practice this week with either injury or illness, per a statement from the academy. Junior Dewayne Coleman made his first start for the Black Knights in Daily’s place. Coleman finished with 42 rushing yards, completed 5 of 8 passes for 48 yards and didn’t turn the ball over.

    Army struggled in the first half, settling for Trey Gronotte’s 30-yard field goal on its first drive. It was the first time the Black Knights did not score a touchdown on its opening possession. Gronotte added a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter.

    The loss was the seventh straight for Air Force (1-7) after a season-opening win over Merrimack.

    “It (stinks),” Air Force wide receiver Cade Harris said. “Obviously, you want to beat these guys real bad. We missed some opportunities to make sure plays.

    Up in the air

    Army safety Casey Larkin intercepted his third pass of the season on the Black Knights’ 7 to end an Air Force threat with 13:24 left in the game. Jaydan Mayes picked off his third pass of season with 36 seconds remaining.

    Air Force quarterback Quentin Harris was sacked six times and threw an interception.

    Takeaways

    Air Force: The defense kept the Falcons close in the first half. The Falcons stumbled on offense with only one red-zone drive that ended with Matthew Dapore’s 32-yard field goal with 1:47 remaining in the first half.

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    The Associated Press

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  • UNLV and Air Force to remain in Mountain West with financial incentives, AP source says

    UNLV and Air Force to remain in Mountain West with financial incentives, AP source says

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    UNLV and Air Force have decided to remain in the Mountain West as the conference thwarted off attempts at further poaching by the Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference by offering financial incentives to its most prominent remaining members to stay, a person with knowledge of the decisions told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

    The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the schools had not made their intentions public. The Mountain West declined to comment on its internal discussions.

    The Action Network first reported UNLV and Air Force had decided to stay in the Mountain West.

    College Sports

    Pac-12 to add Colorado State and others in 2026, poaching Mountain West

    The Mountain West has already lost five members to the rebuilding Pac-12 over the last two weeks, including Utah State earlier this week.

    Utah State’s departure came as Commissioner Gloria Nevarez was trying to convince her remaining members to agree to a multiple-year grant of rights that would bind schools together and to the conference through media rights.

    That gave the other seven schools a chance to reconsider, but ultimately it appears Nevarez will be able to keep the Mountain West alive with the help of about $100 million dollars in exit fees expected to come the conference’s way from the departing schools.

    The Pac-12 is suing the Mountain West over another $55 million in poaching penalties that were part of a football scheduling agreement Oregon State and Washington State entered into with the conference for this season.

    The person said UNLV and Air Force have been offered signing bonuses of more than $20 million to stay put, and that was more than other conferences were willing to spend to lure them away.

    UNLV had been targeted by the Pac-12 to become its eighth member. Mountain West schools Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State agreed two weeks ago to join Oregon State and Boise State in the relaunched Pac-12 in 2026.

    Air Force was being courted by the AAC to join fellow service academies Army and Navy in a conference for the first time.

    College Sports

    Pac-12 files a federal lawsuit against Mountain West over $43M in penalties

    Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press

    The other remaining Mountain West schools are San Jose State, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada and Hawaii, which is a football-only member. That leaves the Mountain West, like the Pac-12, still in need of at least one more member to be a recognized conference by the NCAA and College Football Playoff.

    Phase two of the Pac-12’s expansion has not gone as smoothly as the the first. The conference had targeted AAC schools in the Central tme zone, including Memphis and Tulane, in an attempt to extend the league’s footprint and gather the top remaining non-Power Four football programs under one roof.

    The Pac-12 also has had discussions with basketball powerhouse Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference, but that would still leave the league one football school short of the minimum.

    Texas State of the Sun Belt could be next up for the Pac-12.

    The Mountain West could find another member in Northern California, with Sacramento State leaders considering a move up from the Big Sky to Division I football’s top tier.

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    Follow Ralph D. Russo at twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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    Ralph D. Russo, AP College Football Writer

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