Football Game Notes: The Air Force Game

Photo by: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Football Game Notes: The Air Force Game

November 02, 2015 | Football

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army football team returns to action after the bye week with a visit to Air Force for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPNU this coming Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TELEVISION • ESPNU
RADIO • Army Sports Network
VIDEO • WatchESPN
AUDIO • Knight Vision
LIVE STATISTICS • GoAirForceFalcons.com

The Black Knights are 2-6 following a 38-31 loss to Rice in Houston. Army erased a two-touchdown defeat in the second half, but Rice scored on its final drive to outlast the rally by the Black Knights.

Air Force, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is 5-3 overall and 4-1 in conference games. The Falcons are coming into the weekend after 58-7 win over Hawai'i.

Army is averaging 24.1 points per contest and ranks 12th nationally with 258.7 rushing yards per contest.

The Black Knights are allowing 28.5 points per game and five of their losses this season have been by seven points or less for a combined 23 points.

Fullback Aaron Kemper and quarterback A.J. Schurr lead the team in rushing with 384 yards. Schurr has carried 98 times and has a team-best seven rushing scores. He ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and threw for one as well. Kemper put up big numbers with 129 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. He has gone over 100 yards twice this season.

Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw has chipped in with 354 yards on the ground, but missed the Rice game due to injury. Matt Giachinta has picked up 253 yards, while John Trainor has 236 yards. As a team, Army has 20 rushing touchdowns and six through the air.

Defensively, Andrew King leads the Black Knights with 62 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 quarterback sacks. Jeremy Timpf shows 59 tackles, 13 more than Xavier Moss. Brandon Jackson has two of the team's five interceptions.

The Black Knights return to Michie Stadium for the final two home games of the season with Tulane next Saturday and Rutgers the following week. CBS Sports Network will carry both of those games on national television.

RICE LEFTOVERS
• Center Matt Hugenberg started his 20th consecutive game, the most of any Army player.
• Army's offensive line was the same for the third consecutive week. Hugenberg was joined by guards Victor Nieves III and Mike Houghton and tackles Rick Kurz and Ryan Alexander.
• Army had a pair of 100 yard rushers in the same game for the first time since Sept. 3, 2013 against Morgan State (Larry Dixon & Angel Santiago).
• Senior A.J. Schurr made his third start of 2015 and first since Duke on Oct. 10 and finished with 23 carries and 117 yards.
• Schurr ran for over 100 yards for the second time in his career with the last time coming at Yale (122 yards) on Sept. 26, 2014.
• Schurr scampered for a career-long 71 yards in the second quarter and scored his 14th rushing touchdown of his career.
• Schurr has thrown and ran for a touchdown for two-straight games.
• Schurr threw for his third touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career.
• Aaron Kemper had a season-long rush of 69 yards, setting up Schurr's touchdown run.
• Kemper found the endzone for the second time this season with a 24-yard run in the fourth quarter.
• Kemper ran for a team-high 129 yards on 14 carries for a 9.2 average.
• John Trainor scored his second career touchdown on a 23-yard run in the third quarter.
• The first scoring drive of the game for the Black Knights was a season-long 97-yard drive.
• Freshman Jordan Asberry made his first collegiate start at wing back.
• DeAndre Bell scored his first receiving touchdown of his career in the second quarter.
• Army started five defensive backs as Brandon Jackson, Tevin Long, Xavier Moss, Rhyan England and Chris Carnegie earned the starts.
• Jeremy Timpf made his 20th consecutive start, which is the longest streak among defensive players.
• Jordan Smith forced his second fumble of the season and John Voit recovered it for his first career recovery.
• Army has given up only three third-quarter points in the last three games combined, allowing a 17-3 advantage for the Black Knights.
• Timpf led the Black Knights in tackles with 10 and had six solos.
• Rhyan England equaled his career high with seven solo tackles.
• Alex Aukerman equaled his career high with three solo tackles and made his first career fumble recovery.
• Brandon Jackson set a new career best in tackles with eight total and seven solo stops.
• Tevin Long tied his career high with six total tackles, and all solo which is a career best.
• Army executed and recovered an onside kick for the first time this season with Spencer Sheff recovering and Daniel Grochowski on the kick.
• Grochowski kicked off five times for 325 yards, an average of 65.0 yards per kick with two touchbacks.
• Grochowski is now 3-4 on field goals in 2015 and 28-44 in his career.
• Alex Tardieu punted five times for 82 yards, an average of 36.4 yards per boot.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
Air Force, a member of the Mountain West Conference, enters this Saturday's contest with a 5-3 mark overall and a 4-1 record in league play. The Falcons have earned wins over Morgan State (63-7), San Jose State (37-16), Wyoming (31-17), Fresno State (42-14) and Hawai'i (58-7). They have won two-straight by a combined score of 100-21.

Air Force is averaging 35.8 points per game and 452 yards per game of total offense.

The third-ranked rushing attack is led by Jacobi Owens who has 114 rushes for 578 yards and four scores. He averages 72.2 yards per contest. Samuel Stewart is second with 282 rushing yards and has scored three times. The Falcons have five rushers with four or more touchdowns.

Quarterback Karson Roberts has ran for 386 yards and a team-high seven scores. He has completed 32-of-64 throws for 538 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.

Garrett Brown has hauled in 19 catches for 393 yards, while Jale Robinette has 10 catches for 239 yards and two scores.

Defensively, Air Force allows 20.9 points per game and 306 yards of total offense.

Weston Steelhammer shows a team-best 47 tackles as five players have 30 or more total tackles on the season. Alex Hansen is the team leader in tackles for loss with nine for 24 yards and he tops the sacks list with five on the year.

Air Force has picked off nine passes this season, including three each from Steelhammer and Roland Ladipo. Brodie Hicks has contributed two interceptions.

ARMY-AIR FORCE HISTORY
Air Force and Army meet for the 50th time in the all-time series with the Falcons leading at 34-14-2. Air Force has won the last two contests, including a 23-6 win last season at West Point. Army last won at Air Force on Nov. 5, 2005 in a 27-24 victory.