Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Air Force
Rams Unable to Hold Off Falcons, 24-21
10/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 12, 2006
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -Shaun Carney led Air Force on three second-half touchdown drives, and the Falcons overcame an 83-yard pass play just before halftime to beat Colorado State 24-21 Thursday night.
The Falcons (3-2, 3-0 Mountain West) ended a seven-game losing streak on Thursday nights. Five of those losses came at the hands of the Rams (4-2, 1-1), who dominated the first half but gained just 72 yards in the second half.
Damon Morton's 83-yard reception from Caleb Hanie set up a touchdown just before halftime that gave Colorado State a seemingly commanding 21-3 lead. The big play ended up emboldening the Falcons.
After Falcons fullback Jacobe Kendrick scored on a 6-yard run, Air Force safety Bobby Giannini picked off Hanie's pass into heavy coverage at the CSU 14, and from there, Carney hit a sliding Spencer Armstrong to cut the Rams' lead to 21-17 with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
Carney's 19-yard pass to Victor Thompson with 11:20 left gave the Falcons their first lead at 24-21.
The Rams got the ball back with 4:07 remaining, and were backed up, facing second-and-20 from their own 10-yard line when Falcons linebacker Joey Keller drew a personal foul for a late hit on Hanie, giving CSU a first down at the 25.
But Hanie underthrew Dustin Osborn deep and Air Force cornerback Chris Sutton picked it off at the Falcons' 17 with 1:59 left. Air Force salted it away with three kneel-downs.
After throwing for 252 yards on 10-of-14 passing in the first half, Hanie was just 4-for-9 for 30 yards in the second half.
Carney ran for 106 yards on 14 carries and threw for 102 yards, and Chad Hall added 102 yards on 25 rushes.
Air Force stumbled through the first half and appeared headed to its second home loss in five days following a demoralizing defeat at the hands of Navy.
The Falcons fumbled away their first two possessions, leading to a CSU touchdown, and Zach Sasser missed his first field goal before hitting a 23-yarder with 1:16 left in the second quarter.
George Hill was stopped at the 14 on the ensuing kickoff, but instead of settling for an 11-point halftime lead, Rams coach Sonny Lubick called for the deep pass, and Morton beat cornerback Chris Huckins off the line and hauled in Hanie's pass more than 50 yards downfield. He slipped the safety at the 10 but that allowed Huckins to recover and save the score.
Hanie, however, took it into the right side of the end zone on a naked bootleg on the next snap for a 21-3 lead with 37 seconds left in the first half.
The Falcons got the ball back at their 21 but weren't as risky as the Rams and took a knee to end the half.
Colorado State went up 7-0 on Hanie's 60-yard touchdown pass to Osborn four plays after linebacker Jon Radford forced Hall to fumble the ball, which was scooped up by CSU cornerback Liddon Levine at the Rams 29.
The Falcons marched right back down the field and were threatening to tie it when fullback Ryan Williams mishandled the handoff and Radford recovered at the Rams 2.
After Sasser was wide right from 48 yards, the Rams made it 14-0 when Hanie hooked up with Kory Sperry for a 6-yard TD strike.
