AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - The University of Hawaii football team held a rare lead, but couldn't make it stand up against an opponent that never attempted a pass.
Air Force's option offense generated 338 yards on the ground, and the Falcons defeated the Warriors 21-7 on Friday.
"That's a good football team," said UH coach Norm Chow. "They have such a nice system for themselves. I'm sure they knew exactly what they were doing."
Article Photos
Air Force’s Joseph Champaign tries to bring down Hawaii’s Jeremy Higgins during the second quarter of the Warriors’ 21-7 loss to the Falcons on Friday.
AP photo
Hawaii (1-9, 0-7 Mountain West Conference) lost its eighth straight game - the Warriors have led at any point in just two of those contests. The losing streak is the second-longest in team history, surpassed only by a run of 19 straight losses from 1997 to 1999.
Warriors quarterback Jeremy Higgins made his first college start and directed a scoring drive to open the game, completing a touchdown pass to Clark Evans, but finished 14-for-23 for 125 yards and was sacked three times. Sean Schroeder, whom Higgins replaced as the starter, threw five passes, completing none.
Air Force (6-5, 5-2) accepted an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl immediately after the win.
Fact Box
MWC STANDINGS
| Conference | Overall | |||||||
| Fresno St. | 6 | 1 | 278 | 159 | 8 | 3 | 435 | 252 |
| SDSU | 6 | 1 | 242 | 159 | 8 | 3 | 379 | 266 |
| Boise St. | 5 | 1 | 197 | 95 | 8 | 2 | 296 | 144 |
| Air Force | 5 | 2 | 211 | 175 | 6 | 5 | 327 | 296 |
| Nevada | 3 | 3 | 251 | 228 | 6 | 4 | 392 | 339 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 4 | 156 | 204 | 3 | 7 | 266 | 336 |
| Colorado St. | 2 | 4 | 148 | 191 | 3 | 7 | 216 | 301 |
| UNLV | 2 | 4 | 141 | 173 | 2 | 9 | 253 | 348 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 5 | 149 | 195 | 4 | 7 | 291 | 338 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 7 | 119 | 313 | 1 | 9 | 183 | 411 |
Friday's Result
Air Force 21, Hawaii 7
Today's Games (Times HST)
Nevada at New Mexico, 10:30 a.m.
Colorado St. at Boise St.,10:30 a.m.
Wyoming at UNLV, 11 a.m.
"It's a pretty sweet way to go out," said quarterback Connor Dietz, who was one of 23 seniors playing in their final game at Falcon Stadium.
Cody Getz rushed for 125 yards for Air Force, and Wes Cobb had a pair of short touchdown runs.
"It was a gutty, gritty win," said Falcons coach Troy Calhoun. "An absolute gut-check of a win."
Air Force won the Kuter Trophy, a memento many on the team didn't know existed since the two schools hadn't played since 2001.
The trophy is named after the late Gen. Laurence S. Kuter, who was the first head of the Pacific Air Forces Command, and was first awarded in 1980, when Air Force and UH were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
Air Force was among eight schools who bolted the WAC and formed the MWC?in 1998.
Hawaii ......... 7 ..... 0 ....... 0 ....... 0-7
Air Force ..... 0 ..... 7 ..... 14 ..... 0-21
First Quarter
Haw-Evans 26 pass from Higgins (Hadden kick), 6:39.
Second Quarter
AFA-Cobb 2 run (Herrington kick), 12:13.
Third Quarter
AFA-Getz 5 run (Herrington kick), 10:43.
AFA-Cobb 2 run (Herrington kick), :34.
A-25,313.
....................................... Haw ....... AFA
First downs ...................... 10 ........... 14
Rushes-yards ............. 31-37 .... 68-338
Passing .......................... 125 ............. 0
Comp-Att-Int ............ 14-29-0 ....... 0-0-0
Return Yards .................... 28 ........... 38
Punts-Avg. ................. 8-46.4 ..... 6-39.3
Fumbles-Lost .................. 3-1 ......... 3-2
Penalties-Yards ............. 4-20 ....... 2-20
Time of Possession ..... 28:11 ..... 31:49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Hawaii, Iosefa 22-43, Schroeder 4-17, S.Jackson 2-3, Higgins 3-(minus 26). Air Force, Getz 21-125, Lee 8-72, Cobb 12-54, Dietz 14-47, DeWitt 4-18, Strickland 3-16, MacArthur 4-9, Team 2-(minus 3).
PASSING-Hawaii, Higgins 14-23-0-125, Schroeder 0-5-0-0, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Hawaii, Gant 4-25, Evans 3-55, Iosefa 3-21, Paclebar 1-10, Stutzmann 1-6, Hall 1-5, Vele 1-3.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL ON TV
Today
7 a.m.-W. Carolina at Alabama, KFVE
7 a.m.-Iowa at Michigan, ESPN
7 a.m.-Northwestern at Michigan St., ESPN2
7 a.m.-Florida St. at Maryland, ESPNU
7 a.m.-C. Florida at Tulsa, FSW
7 a.m.-Yale at Harvard, NBCSN
7 a.m.-Indiana at Penn St., BTN
7 a.m.-Temple at Army, CBSSN
7 a.m.-Tennessee Tech at Austin Peay, FCSA
7 a.m.-C Florida at Tulsa, FCSC
8 a.m.-Lehigh at Lafayette, FCS
8:30 a.m.-Washington at Colorado, FX
9 a.m.-Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M, ESPNCL
10 a.m.-Southern California at UCLA, FOX
10 a.m.-S. Florida at Miami, FSWP
10 a.m.-Washington St. at Arizona St., PAC12
10:30 a.m.-Ohio St. at Wisconsin, ABC
10:30 a.m.-Mississippi at LSU, CBS
10:30 a.m.-Wake Forest at Notre Dame, NBC
10:30 a.m.-N.C. State at Clemson, ESPN2
10:30 a.m.-Duke at Georgia Tech, ESPNU
10:30 a.m.-Colorado St. at Boise St., NBCSN
10:30 a.m.-Minnesota at Nebraska, BTN
10:30 a.m.-Texas St. at Navy, CBSSN
10:30 a.m.-Texas Tech at Oklahoma St., FSW/FCSC
10:30 a.m.-Bethel at Georgetown College, FCSA
11 a.m.-Wyoming at UNLV, TWCSN
Noon-Colorado St. at Boise St., NBCSN
1 p.m.-Cal Poly at N. Arizona, FCS
2 p.m.-Oklahoma at West Virginia, FOX
2 p.m.-Tennessee at Vanderbilt, ESPN2
2 p.m.-Syracuse at Missouri, ESPNU
2 p.m.-Iowa St. at Kansas, FSW/FCSA
2 p.m.-Old Dominion at James Madison, NBCSN
3 p.m.-Stanford at Oregon, ABC
3 p.m.-Kansas St. at Baylor, ESPN
3 p.m.-UTEP at Southern Miss, CBSSN
5 p.m.-BYU at San Jose St., ESPN2
5 p.m.-Arizona at Utah, ESPNU
5:30 p.m.-California at Oregon St., PAC12
