1982 Air Force Falcons football team

The 1982 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Ken Hatfield, Air Force played its home games at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs and finished the regular season at 7–5 (4–3 in WAC, third), for their first winning record in nine years.

1982 Air Force Falcons football
Hall of Fame Classic, W 36–28 vs. Vanderbilt
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	8–5 (4–3 WAC)
Head coach	Ken Hatfield (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Fisher DeBerry (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone triple option[1]
Co-defensive coordinator	Chan Gailey (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Fred Goldsmith (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Falcon Stadium
Seasons ← 1981 1983 →

1982 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
BYU $	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
New Mexico	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Air Force	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	5	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Hawaii	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Colorado State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Utah	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wyoming	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
UTEP	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Following their upset of #18 Notre Dame on November 20,^[2][3] Air Force was invited to play in the Hall of Fame Classic in Birmingham on December 31,^[4] where they rallied to upset Vanderbilt and finished at 8–5.^{[1][5][6][7][8]} It was the first bowl appearance for the Falcons in twelve years and their first postseason win.^[5][6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	at Tulsa*	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK	L 17–35	29,811
September 11	San Diego State	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 44–32	23,000	[9]
September 18	at Texas Tech*	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	L 30–31	38,694
September 25	at BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 39–38	64,253
October 2	New Mexico	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	L 37–49
October 9	Navy*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 24–21
October 16	Colorado State	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)	L 11–21	25,326
October 23	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 35–7	28,678
October 30	Wyoming	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 44–34
November 6	at Army*	Michie Stadium West Point, NY (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 27–9
November 20	No. 18 Notre Dame*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)	W 30–17	46,712
November 27	at Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (rivalry)	L 21–45	40,019
December 31	vs. Vanderbilt*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	W 36–28	75,114	[5][1][6]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1982 Air Force Falcons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB John Kreshner Jr QB 11 Marty Louthan Jr OL Dave Schrek Sr HB Jody Simmons So HB Ted Sundquist	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Carl Dieudonne Jr DL Chris Funk So S Scott Thomas Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Jeff Kubiak Jr K Sean Pavlich	Head coach Ken Hatfield (4th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Dave Schrek, guard, 3rd team All-American (AP), 1st team All-WAC

References

1. Hurt, Cecil (January 1, 1983). "SEC strikes out". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). p. 10.
2. "Louthan, Falcons ground Irish, 30-17". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 21, 1982. p. 7F.
3. "Air Force 30, Notre Dame 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 21, 1982. p. 2B.
4. "Air Force gets bowl invitation". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. November 22, 1982. p. 2D. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
5. "Louthan flies, so do Falcons". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). staff and wire services. January 1, 1983. p. 1B.
6. "Unsung lads hit high note". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1983. p. 17.
7. "Football Schedule/Results: 1982-1983". Air Force Athletics. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
8. "1982 Air Force Falcons Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
9. Dave Distel (September 12, 1982). "Aztecs Can't Stop an Air Force Bomb -- or the Wishbone". The Los Angeles Times (San Diego County ed.). Los Angeles, California. p. III-1. Retrieved January 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.