Prior to take off a plane must reach a critical speed where lift occurs. Lift happens when air is moved by a solid object. In mechanical flight this is done with an engine and a wing. With Air Force Football flight happens when Jacobi Owens has the ball more often than anyone else in the first quarter. Jacobi ran for almost 30 yards on the first possession giving AF a quick lead. On the second possession in the opening quarter it was Kale Pearson moving the ball through the air and hitting a moving Garrett Brown for the second TD in as many possessions. Jacobi Owens had 31 more rushing yards on that drive setting up the TD pass.
Air Force Flies Over Georgia State
Air Force reached cruising speed early in the first quarter with those first two TDs. They didn’t let up in the second quarter. Georgia State responded with 14 points of their own but allowed the Falcons to add 17 more before halftime arrived. Nick Arbuckle made good use of good field position in the second quarter to set Kyler Neal up for a short run and TD to get on the board 2 minutes into the second. Air Force responded with two more touchdowns and led at one time 28-7. A field goal from each side sent the teams to the half at 31-10
Panthers Like Air Too
Georgia State controlled the second half but it wasn’t enough to make up for the upside down first half. While QB Arbuckle passed at times with ease to 4 different receivers, it was Duvall Smith and Kyler Neal running that brought the ball to the red zone. Setting up Arbuckle for a short pass to Blair for first of 4 second half TDs. One of those came from the QB himself as he ran for 1 yard after long passes to Joel Ruiz and 3 runs by Duvall Smith set him up at the 1 yard line.
Too little Too Late
The Panther’s 28 second half points weren’t enough with the 17 additional points added by the Air Force. Georgia State’s Nick Arbuckle passed for 414 yards with only 1 Int. Great numbers any other week for sure. The two teams were only 7 yards apart in total yards. Each amassing over 530 yards each. While Georgia State passed for more than 400 yards, Air Force had only 224 yards by air and won this game on the ground where they rushed for 3x as many yards as the Panthers. Final score Air Force (2-1) 48 and Georgia State (1-2) 38.
Around the Sun Belt
This weekend we also saw ULM head to Death Valley to take on the LSU Tigers. The Warwawks held their heads high despite the 31-0 loss. UL Lafayette took their second loss when they took on the SEC’s Ole Miss, ranked 14th, losing 56-15. The Ragin Cajuns dropped to 1-2.
#RLBowl
Follow all the action from the Sun Belt and Mountain West Conference here on the official R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Blog. Follow us on Twitter at @RLCarriers and via the hashtag #RLBowl. Join the conversation by commenting here or on our Facebook page. The 14th playing of the New Orleans Bowl game will be in the world famous Mercedes Benze Superdome on December 20 in New Orleans.
