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Falcons brace for fast Bears
Air Force coach Troy Calhoun is a realist.
He knows the Falcons don't have players as fast as those on the California team, so there is no way to replicate the explosive speed of Golden Bears players such as receiver/punt returner DeSean Jackson and others.
Air Force (9-3) will battle the Golden Bears (6-6) on Monday in the Armed Forces Bowl at Amon Carter Stadium.
"Their speed, hands down, is the biggest concern we have," Calhoun said after Thursday's spirited practice. "We're trying to do everything possible during practice to simulate (California's speed), but you are unable to. You talk about Florida, you talk about Tennessee, you talk about California, Oklahoma and you talk about LSU, and those are about the fastest four or five football teams in the country."
Air Force will have to make quick adjustments to California's speed.
"Those first two or three series will be the key to the game," Calhoun said. "If we can just hang in there, then you start to adapt a little bit.
"We've got to find a way, coveragewise. Yet at the same time, you have to mix in an eight-man front. We'll have to be extremely versatile on defense. We just have to somehow reduce the amount of open-field plays, and that's a lot easier said than it is to do it."
But the Falcons aren't afraid of the matchup.
"They have tailbacks that can carry the ball, they have fullbacks that can throw it, they have receivers that are fast and run great routes, but it is something we are looking forward to because it's a great challenge to play them," cornerback Carson Bird said.
"We're not fearful of them, but you have to respect them, of course. You can't be scared of them. We have to be prepared."
Calhoun stepped up the Falcons' preparation with a hard practice that included kickoff and punt coverage.
It will be 43 days since Air Force last played a game when the Falcons and Golden Bears kick off Monday (10:30 a.m. MST, ESPN).
"We went in pads, and it was a physical practice," Calhoun said. "We had to have that. Anytime you have a long layoff, one of the things you are a little bit concerned with is how well you adapt to the speed to the game.
"The quarterbacks need to throw with their shoulder pads on, our ball carriers need to feel contact around them just so you can secure the ball. You can go into a bowl game without having contact for so long that, as physical of a game that it is, all of a sudden, that ball is on the ground a bunch. We're going to go hard again Friday."
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