Air Force can't fumble away season

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 31, 2006 | by DAVID RAMSEY Gazette Sports columnist

Why has the Air Force football team transformed from winner to loser in the past two seasons?

Just follow the bouncing ball.

The Falcons have fumbled 52 times in the past 22 games. The fumbles have doomed drives, turned wins to losses and irritated coach Fisher DeBerry.

This month, DeBerry has delivered a consistent football sermon to his running backs and quarterbacks.

His message: Treat the football as a precious possession.

"I don't care how strong they are," DeBerry said after practice this week. "I don't care how elusive they are. I don't care how well they block. If they put the ball on the ground, they ain't going to play."

As Air Force seeks a revival season, DeBerry is searching for methods to reduce fumbles. This is a crucial quest.

The Falcons stumbled to the first consecutive losing seasons in DeBerry's reign, which began in 1984. They finished 4-7 last season partially because of a porous defense that allowed 32 points per game.

But the defense doesn't deserve all the blame.

Opponents struggled to slow Air Force's wishbone offense, which rolled to the Mountain West's highest total of rushing yards (and eighth nationally), but defenders often were rescued by the Falcons' careless ways. Air Force fumbled 28 times last season, losing 14.

A late fumble killed Air Force's last chance against Army. Two lost fumbles helped fuel a humiliating 62-41 loss to Brigham Young.

Halfbacks coach Jemal Singleton has attacked the problem by installing a new ball-carrying technique for all backs.

The Falcons now imitate New York Giants back Tiki Barber, who carries the ball high on his chest at a 45-degree angle. Falcons call this style, "the Tiki tuck."

The Falcons have been ordered to keep their elbows close to their frames. This will keep tacklers from stealing the ball.

Quarterback Shaun Carney embraces DeBerry's no-fumble command and Singleton's ultra-careful technique.

Carney carries a football any time he runs sprints or dodges cones. He spent much of the summer, even his break at home in Ohio, with a football in his hand.

"I'd never had a problem," Carney said of fumbles, "but I had a big problem with it last season. It's really been on my mind all summer."

Offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen is confident the fumbling woes will remain in the past. Carney, Petersen said, is now a third- year starter, familiar with the offense and comfortable with the risks of directing a wishbone offense.

"We don't talk about it," Petersen said of last season's turnovers. "We know you're deemed to repeat history if you don't learn from it, but once you've done that you have to out and play."

Petersen emphasizes the future, which follows a trend. Air Force coaches decline to relive the bad times of the past, preferring to look instead to the good times of tomorrow.

This is called optimism, and we'll soon discover if there's any reason for all this hope.

Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com