Air Force rolls to 72-0 win over Nicholls State - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Air Force rolls to 72-0 win over Nicholls State

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Jared Tew scored three touchdowns and Tim Jefferson accounted for three more as Air Force rolled to its largest margin of victory in school history in a 72-0 rout of Nicholls State on Saturday.

The Falcons piled up 576 yards of total offense as they improved to 14-0 against Football Championship Subdivision schools.

The 72 points was three shy of the school’s all-time single-game scoring mark set in 1984 against Northern Colorado. The margin of victory eclipsed the 69-point record set against Colorado State in 1963.

Air Force (1-0) had 299 yards of offense before halftime as the team piled up 45 points, tying a school mark for a half. A bulk of the starters spent the second half on the bench, a productive day finished.

Asher Clark finished with 66 yards and Tew added 57, including touchdown runs of 3, 8 and 5 yards.

Jefferson rushed for two scores and threw for another, connecting with receiver Kevin Fogler late in the second quarter for a 57-yard touchdown score.

For Jefferson, this day almost didn’t arrive.

The sophomore signal caller had to skip most of the spring workouts to hit the books and avoid academic ineligibility. He got his grades in order and won the starting job over Clark in camp. On Saturday, Jefferson helped the Falcons to their third straight season-opening win under coach Troy Calhoun.

The Colonels (0-1) managed seven first downs in the game, including one on a fake punt from their own 4 yard line early in the first quarter. They almost had as many penalty yards (52) as total yards (59) in the first 30 minutes.

Nicholls State tried to avoid the shutout late in the fourth quarter, but kicker Ross Schexnayder’s 47-yard field goal attempt was just wide.

Air Force’s offense was highly efficient in the first half, scoring on seven straight drives. The Colonels turned the ball over three times in the first half, leading to 17 points.

Nicholls State once received pointers from former Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry on how to install the option offense.

On Saturday, the Colonels received a clinic on it from Calhoun’s squad. The 72 points matches the most scored by a Mountain West Conference team since the league’s formation.

AFA backup quarterback Connor Dietz was effective in leading the team in the second half. He finished with 83 yards rushing. Nathan Walker, Darius Jones and Drew Coleman added touchdown runs, while John Lerch scooped up a fumble for a 10-yard touchdown.

Nicholls State went with a platoon between redshirt freshmen LaQuintin Caston and Jake Witt at quarterback. Caston finished with 2 yards rushing while Witt had 23.

Antonio Robinson, the Colonels’ top playmaker, was bottled up most of the afternoon. He caught four late passes for 32 yards.

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