Air Force

It looks like the snow/sleet is going to hold off later on in Colorado Springs today which should be good news for the Irish offense. We shouldn't have to rely as much on the running game today as would have had to been bad conditions.

I keep trying to tell myself that we should roll in this one because its Air Force. For some reason we just have never really been able to blow out the Air Force Academy, no matter how much better of a team we have had. This week I just keep thinking about how they came within a two-point conversion of upsetting Tennessee in Rocky Top.

I expect this afternoon to be quite a bit like when we played Navy two weeks ago. The Air Force offense is good, but after seeing it for two or three possessions, it is a lot easier to defend. I expect our defense to be able to do that and slow down the Falcons running game sometime starting in the second quarter.

Offensively, Erik Ainge was able to throw for 333 yards against Air Force earlier this year, while completing 24 of 29 passes with 3 scores. Erik Ainge is no Brady Quinn and the Tennessee receiving core is nowhere near the talent level of Samardzija, McKnight, and Carlson. Brady should have a pretty big day as it appears he's finally getting going after the past few weeks.

On defense the Irish will stack the line against Air Force, probably having 8 or 9 guys in the box on most occasions. Also I would expect to see Shaun Carney, the fleet footed quarterback for AF be spied most of the afternoon, because he can be lethal if he gets outside the the tackles.

I think both teams will exchange a couple of scores early on but I really expect the Irish to pull away in this one in the second half.

ND 38 Air Force 17