Air Force Falcons

2005 Season Summary

Head coach Fisher DeBerry and his Air Force Falcons entered the 2005 campaign as an unknown commodity. The 2004 season was one of disappointment as the Air Force went 5-6 straight up and 5-5 against the spread and missed out on a bowl for the second consecutive season.

Not a reliable play

Gamblers took note of the fact that Air Force was not a reliable play over the past few years as they finished in the black against the college football betting boards just once in the last four seasons entering 2005.

Life proved tougher in the Mountain West

Air Force was a perennial contender in the old Western Athletic Conference but found that after bolting with the other top shelf teams of that league to form the Mountain West Conference that the level of competition was up at least one notch from those days. The Air Force defense, in particular, had problems keeping up with the more athletic MWC teams.

Signs of hope

As Air Force entered the 2005 campaign many fans and some hard working gamblers would point towards the fact that DeBerry had an unusually young squad in 2004 as 18 freshmen saw action and that the injury bug bit harder than normal. Also, the last two times that Air Force came off a losing season they rebounded with an 8-win campaign the following year.

Quick burst out of the gate

Air Force opened the season at Seattle's Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, in a "neutral" (hardly) site game against the Washington Huskies. Although Washington was coming off a horrendous season and playing its first game under new head coach Ty Willingham, who faced a major rebuilding job, the Huskies were still favored by 3.5-points. Air Force pulled off a 20-17 upset win.

In the MWC and home opener the following week, the Falcons were 7.5-point chalks against San Diego State and prevailed 41-29 for a nice quick burst out of the gate for the 2005 season.

Two nail biters set the tone for the rest of the season

In their next game, another WWC affair against a Wyoming team that was a preseason pick for a bowl, Air Force was a modest 2.5-point chalk in a heartbreaking 28-29 loss. This was fallowed by an Thursday Night ESPN TV game at Utah where, as 7-point dogs, Air Force lost another close encounter 35-38 as the two nail biters set the tone for the rest of the season.

Unable to turn the tide against its rivals

Intra-state rival Colorado State was next as the Falcons were 3.5-road dogs in a 23-41 loss. This was followed by another rivalry game against the Naval Academy where, as 2-point road chalks, Air Force lost to the rebuilding Midshipmen 24-27. Air Force was unable to turn the tide against its rivals and had lost four consecutive games straight up with three of those games also being losses against the spread.

Brief band aid that ultimately couldn't stop the bleeding

Air Force returned home to face struggling and rebuilding UNLV as a seemingly expensive 13.5-point chalk but got the cash in a 42-7 win. As it turned out, however, this was a brief band-aid that ultimately couldn't stop the bleeding.

Air Force was exposed for what it truly was in their next game at home versus TCU as they were blown out of the park 10-48 as 1-point chalks. Next, as 7-point dogs at BYU they lost 41-62 as 7-point dogs.

The home finale was against another Service Academy rival Army, who pulled off a stunning 27-24 upset win as 12.5-point dogs. It was the Air Force's fifth loss in six games against the betting boards.

Ended the season as a bargain dog

Air Force faced New Mexico as a 9.5-point dog in the season finale and scored a 42-24 upset win as they ended the season as a bargain dog but with a lot of questions remaining about their future.