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BULLSEYE Sports 11January 8, 2016
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Falcons fall to Cal in bowl game
By John Van Winkle U.S. Air Force photo by Mike Kaplan the half. Goff and the Cal Bears widened the gap after
halftime, while the Falcons tried several approaches
U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs Several Air Force players tackle a California player during on defense to stifle the Golden Bear passing attack.
the Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 29, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas.
FORT WORTH, Texas — California’s passing game The Golden Bears beat the Falcons 55-36. “We did a little zone coverage and we did a little
was too much for the Air Force Academy Falcons to man coverage,” said Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun.
overcome as they fell to the Golden Bears 55-36 in the slowed their approach but Treggs lowered his head. “You’re allowed to bring anywhere from zero to 11 on
Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 29. Both bounced off each other but the referees ruled it as the rush and we used a lot of that number to increase
targeting and Steelhammer was ejected from the game. pressure.”
Cal junior quarterback Jared Goff passed for 467
yards and six touchdowns, while the nation and seven “Losing Wes, which hurt us, but we know we all Goff is projected to be one of the top five quar-
NFL scouts looked on. needed to step up,” said junior safety Brodie Hicks. terback prospects entering the 2016 NFL draft, if he
declares himself eligible for the draft. In the Armed
The Armed Forces Bowl matched the Academy’s The Cal offense outdistanced Air Force in the sec- Forces Bowl, Goff broke the Pac-12 passing touchdown
run-based offense, ranked third in the nation, against ond quarter, with Goff racking up two touchdown record of former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mari-
the Cal Golden Bear’s passing attack, ranked fifth in passes to widen the scoring gap and put Cal up 35-21 at ota, who starts at quarterback for the NFL’s Tennessee
the nation. Titans. Seven NFL scouts watched the game.
The game began with the team trading scores for the In the second half, the Golden Bear passing attack
first quarter, but Cal managed to stop the Falcons a few widened the scoring gap between Cal and Air Force
times, while completing their own possessions into the and put the game out of reach in the third quarter.
Falcons end zone. Goff’s six touchdowns and 467 passing yards are the
most of any quarterback in a bowl game this season.
“We needed to capitalize on our possessions, block
a little better, make better pitches and not turn the ball “As a defense, we should take this game as a learning
over as much,” said Falcons senior quarterback Karson point and use it to be better next season,” said junior
Roberts, who racked up two passing and one rushing linebacker Grant Ross. The junior racked up nine
touchdowns. tackles and one tackle-for-loss, as well as one 40-yard
fumble recovery that was called back.
The Falcon defense took an unexpected gut-punch in
the first quarter when starting safety Weston Steelham- For Ross and the rest of the Falcons, the work for
mer was called for targeting wide receiver Bryce Treggs. the 2016 season starts in February, earlier than most
The receiver missed a pass, and Steelhammer came teams.
in to make the tackle. With the play over, each player
