Air Force report: Thomas honored

By Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 8, 2008 at 10:31 p.m.

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Numbers game

4 first downs converted in 25 third-down attempts by Air Force opponents in the first two games. The Falcons' 16 percentage rating is tied for fourth in FBS.

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Junior strong safety Chris Thomas was selected the Mountain West Conference's defensive player of the week.

Thomas made 13 tackles, including eight solo stops and a sack, in the Falcons' 23-3 win against Wyoming in Laramie. He also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, both of which set up Air Force field goals.

Air Force limited Wyoming to 216 yards.

"The defensive line played great up front, and so did the linebackers," Thomas said. "All I had to do was make tackles."

Ranking in jeopardy

Air Force's defense ranks fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) in total defense, allowing 173 yards a game, but the Falcons haven't faced a team as explosive as the Houston squad they will play Saturday at Robertson Stadium.

The Cougars rank first in FBS statistics in passing offense, with an average of 427 yards a game. Houston is eighth in total offense (549 yards a game) and tied for 18th in scoring offense (46 points per game.)

"When you look at them on tape, we're looking at an extremely skilled, extremely quick, excellent football team," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. "Just capabilitywise, they are very, very good. The thing that will show this week is there are going to be more open-field plays that we have to make on defense.

"I didn't think Saturday (at Wyoming) there were many plays we had to make in the open field. This week, that's drastically going to change. Because of that, we're going to have to really swarm, which we haven't had to do in the first two games. This Saturday, we're going to have to hit a different pitch."

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