Sept. 5, 2009

Final Stats

Colorado Springs, Colo. - Nicholls never found its groove in Saturday's season opener, while Air Force looked polished as the Falcons defeated the Colonels 72-0 on Saturday afternoon in Falcon Stadium.

The margin of victory was the second largest in Falcon history, while the margin of defeat was the greatest in the Colonel record books. The margin of defeat eclipsed the previous record of 53 points, 56-3, set in 1995 in a loss against Stephen F. Austin.

Junior preseason All-American Patrick Dolan punted a total of seven times on the afternoon, and had an average of 46.7 yards per punt. Dolan had three punts over 50 yards, including a career long 59-yard boot that pinned the Falcons on their own four yard line.

"We seen a lot of things that we need to work on and clean up. I have all the confidence that these guys will bounce back," said Head Coach Jay Thomas. "In a game like this, you have to steal some momentum because you have everything going against you, and we were unable to ever get that momentum swing."

Senior Yashua Wilis led all tacklers with a career-high 10 (five solo), while true freshman Darrell Brown and junior Marquis Russell turned in seven each in their first collegiate game.

"One positive about today's game is that a lot of young guys, including a lot of freshman got a chance to play. We are a very young football team, and it showed today. We have a lot of football left and we will definitely improve," said Thomas.

Nicholls failed to score on its opening possession to start the game, and Air Force marched right down on its, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jared Tew. The scoring drive consisted of 8-plays, 63 yards, and used 3:18 of the clock. Erik Soderberg tacked on the point after and the Falcons took a 7-0 lead at the 10:18 mark of the first quarter. Tew finished the game with 57 yards on nine carries with three touchdowns.

The Colonels followed up with what seemed to be another three-and-out, but were given a breath of life with a fake punt that senior running back Marlin Meeks took up the gut from the Nicholls four-yard line to the 32. However on the next play, the Colonels fumbled and the Falcons answered with a 6-play, 24-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a 23-yard field goal by Soderberg. With the field goal, USAFA took a 10-0 lead.

Then it only got worse for the Colonels with another turnover deep in there own territory, and the Falcons wasted no time extending its lead to 17 points with a two-play scoring drive. Jefferson did the honor from 1-yard out, and USAFA led 17-0 with 2:58 left in the first quarter. Jefferson finished with 22 yards on five carries with two touchdowns, while the Colonels finished with a total of four turnovers, all fumbles.

The scoring continued in the second quarter for USAFA, finding the end zone at the 13:31 mark as Jefferson crossed the plain from a yard out. Soderberg went on to add the PAT, and the Falcons led 24-0 early on in the second quarter.

The Falcons went on to score three more touchdowns to close out the half, and take a 45-0 lead to the locker room. USAFA scored on every offensive possession on the first half with the exception of one, while the Colonels sputtered with eight penalties for 52 yards and only 59 yards of total offense.

USAFA continued to score in the second half, but not at as often or as quick as they did in the first. However, the Falcons did put four more touchdowns in the books to cruise to a 72-0 victory.

Nicholls finished with 151 yards of total offense, while its counterpart racked up a total of 571 yards, 474 of which came on the ground. Leading Nicholls in rushing was Meeks with 28 yards on one carry, and senior Antonio Robinson led the Colonels in receiving with 32 yards on four receptions.

Nicholls will bounce back next week with its home opener in John L. Guidry Stadium against Duquesne on Sept.12 with kickoff at 1 p.m. Air Force follows up with a trek to Minnesota next week.