Air Force could be in for a long day.

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diefirma

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Air Force could be in for a long day. I looked at their roster and the heaviest 2 people they have on the team are 285. Most are smaller.

When they are on offense they will be going against Jacobs, Brown and Small who are all over 300 and McKinley who I think is about 280. After watching the practice video of Brown grabbing Alford, who weighs 320, and tossing him aside like a rag doll I have to think AF will have a tough time running against our D line.

When AF is on D they will be facing a lot of beef. Jeff T-A is the smallest at 285 with everyone else over 300. I have to think the strategy will be to run at them and grind them down with our size. It will be a good example, good or bad, of the Davis Dictum “Mass kicks ass”.

Please discuss.
 

Makes sense i guess... they are smaller so that they don't weigh down their aircraft. :)
 

Size limits

I think AF does have size limits. I have sat in the cockpit of an F-15 and I know Wills and Brown would not fit. All cadets get glider training as sophmores and those sailplane cockpits are even smaller. It would be very tight for a 285 lb guy.
 

I think the size difference will show when our offense is on the field against their defense, especially late in the game after 4 quarters of grinding them down. But it'll be interesting to see how our D does against their offense, because the misdirection is, in theory, supposed be used to make up for size mismatches.
 

They played Utah tougher than Alabama did last year. I'm worried about this one.
 


Air Force is accustomed to this. They are trained within their football framework to
defeat opponents who are bigger, stronger, and faster, and often do.

The biggest mistake the Gophers can make is to look at size, strength, and speed
differentials and forget that there are different ways to play this game.

Air Force will be an extremely difficult opponent, I believe.
 

One advantage Air Force has is that since the game is being played outdoors, they can use inflight refueling.

Seriously though, there are size restrictions to flight crew, there's only so much that can fit on in a cockpit. Military personnel are not in general bigger than life. On the other hand, not everyone in the Air Force has a job that involves flying. There are plenty of squadrons to command that don't involve flying, someone has to command Air Traffic Control, Weather, Civil Engineering, etc.
 


Tough game...can hardly wait!

IMHO...
I am not sure AF would be intimidated by us after their schedule last year with the likes of Utah, TCU and BYU... even given our guys upfront? They certainly played respectfully in these games albeit in a losing cause. The total offense of AF is what amazes me and at least on paper anyway, it certainly looks like they find ways to gain yards even against opponents with beef? It actually sounds from Rivals like they are looking forward to playing us…

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams/aabfootbl/auto_pdf/cumulative-stats

This season, for the first time in Calhoun's tenure, there are some bigger expectations. The Falcons are coming off back-to-back bowl appearances and return most of their key contributors from 2008—five of their top seven rushers, three of their top four receivers and seven starters on defense. So another bowl berth and a winning record are all but expected.

And…

Key Game: at Minnesota, Sept. 12—After facing Nicholls State of the Bowl Championship Subdivision in their opener, the Falcons will make a serious leap in competition when they face the Gophers. They’ll also have to deal with what probably will be the toughest road atmosphere they’ll face all season, as Minnesota will be playing its first game in TCF Bank Stadium. Air Force likely will be favored in each of its first four games except this one. So if the Falcons can steal a victory, they could be on their way to a 4-0 start
 



metrolax said:
Air Force is accustomed to this. They are trained within their football framework to
defeat opponents who are bigger, stronger, and faster, and often do.

The biggest mistake the Gophers can make is to look at size, strength, and speed
differentials and forget that there are different ways to play this game.

Air Force will be an extremely difficult opponent, I believe.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The Gophers under Mason were the same way. Smaller and quick. Smaller players can still be powerful when they all execute a scheme effectively...especially if the scheme is unique and not something you can easy prep for (like their run centric triple option).
 

smaller offensive linemen are exactly what the air force offense needs. they need quicker guys who can get outside and block the linebackers. air force will be a very touch game.*

*see wisconsin versus cal poly last year
 

found this article while researching.

--Calhoun wants his offensive linemen lean. Here's proof: Senior Ryan Gonzales, who moved from the defensive line to the offensive line last season, will play at about 248 pounds. As a sophomore defensive lineman he weighed about 300 pounds.


this aint montana state
 

We recognize that this is going to be a very challenging game for the Falcons, but it really isn't anything different than we face in many games each year--or have faced in the past. AFA routinely plays well (and every now and then beats) teams that are bigger and (on paper at least) stronger. Size isn't a benefit if you make the wrong cover decision or are chasing a 160 lb RB. In the last few years, look at wins over at Utah, TCU, at Notre Dame, at Cal, etc. Remember that three years ago we went to Tennessee for our opener and lost 31-30 because we didn't convert on a two-point conversion at the end of the game--we didn't play for OT.

The Air Force counter to your statement is that UM may be in for a very SHORT day. By that, I mean that if we are successful running the option, our fullbacks do well, and we mix in enough passes to keep your D honest, the clock could move very, very quickly and the Gophers may not get many possessions. We've had games where the opposition only has single digit possessions in an entire game. That's been a consistent recipe for our success over the years.

Good lateral speed of linebackers and DBs can cause us problems, and no team has demonstrated that better than TCU. But size, in itself, doesn't worry me at all. You've got a decent amount of both (even if the speed is, by my guess, maybe a notch down from a TCU or Utah), so it should be a great game.
 



If you look at the Denver Broncos when the dominated those years with Terrell Davis and Elway they always had the smallest but most effective o-line in the NFL because of the schemes and the solid fundamentals those lines employed, so size isn't the only way to dominate.
 

???????

They run the Option...OF COURSE THEY'RE GONNA WANT SMALLER FASTER LINEMEN.......

The Option creates Misdirection which is where Speed comes into play and I have a feeling we'll understand that in the 1st half if they start running all over us. The thing that scares me about AF is this.......

.......WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE FACED AN OPTION TEAM??????? We defense so many Spreads in & out all year that this may slap us in the face unexpectedly because we haven't faced it. Maybe this will be Cosgrove's strength who knows.......
 

Academies going to bowls

AF and Navy haven't gone to bowls in recent years by being afraid to play "bigger and stronger" teams. (Something that can be admired in our armed forces.)

If the Gophers aren't clear on their defensive assignments and ready to stay at home, this could as somebody said, be a miserably short game.
 

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