1989 Air Force Falcons football team

The 1989 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In the Ram–Falcon Trophy match, the Falcons beat the Colorado State Rams to win the trophy.

1989 Air Force Falcons football
Liberty Bowl, L 29–42 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	8–4–1 (5–1–1 WAC)
Head coach	Fisher DeBerry (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone triple option
Home stadium	Falcon Stadium
Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

1989 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 22 BYU $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Air Force	5	–	1	–	1			8	–	4	–	1
Hawaii	5	–	2	–	1			9	–	3	–	1
Wyoming	5	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	1
Colorado State	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Utah	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	8	–	0
UTEP	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
New Mexico	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	San Diego State		Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO		W 52–36	44,579
September 10	Wyoming		Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO	ESPN	W 45–7	44,098
September 16	at Northwestern*		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		W 48–31	27,334
September 23	UTEP		Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO		W 43–26	43,898
September 30	at Colorado State	No. 24	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (Ram–Falcon Trophy)		W 46–21	30,955
October 7	at Navy*	No. 20	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 35-7	35,632
October 14	No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 17	Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO (rivalry)	ESPN	L 27–41	53,533
October 21	at TCU*	No. 19	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX		L 9–27	23,593
November 4	Army*		Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO		W 29–3	52,226
November 11	at No. 21 BYU		Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	CBS	L 35–44	66,089
November 25	at Utah		Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 42–38	20,119
December 9	at No. 23 Hawaii		Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (rivalry)	ESPN	T 35–35	37,604
December 28	vs. Ole Miss*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	FOX	L 29–42	60,128	[1]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1989 Air Force Falcons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 53 Kevin Bell OT 67 Terry Carr QB 6 Dee Dowis Sr RB 24 DeShawn Durham RB 4 Ron Gray OT 79 Scott Hollister RB 34 Chris Howard RB 40 Greg Johnson FB 30 Jason Jones WR 90 Lee Jones QB 8 Charles Kuhl RB 29 Rodney Lewis QB 7 Lance McDowell RB 37 Brian Neal LB 16 Geoff Rich WR 83 Steve Senn WR 82 Trent Van Hulzen C 56 Paul Walski TE 85 Mark Weber G 62 Steven Wilson WR 17 Darryl Woods RB 13 Ron Worthington RB 49 Bill Wosilius WR 11 Dan Zdroik	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 81 Lane Beene DB 19 Mike Betance DL 96 Steve Brennan CB 27 Eric Faison LB 45 Randle Gladney LB 46 Brian Hill DB 21 Mike Jurries DL 75 Tom Kafka CB 5 Bob Lietzke FS 18 Mario Mathis CB 3 Carlton McDonald Fr DL 61 Pat McNielis LB Vergil Simpson Fr LB 42 Terry Walker LB 51 Doug Young	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 39 Eric Olson K 2 Joe Wood	Head coach Fisher DeBerry Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

San Diego State

• Dee Dowis 13 Rush, 249 Yds, 6 TD

Wyoming

At Northwestern

UTEP

At Colorado State

At Navy

Notre Dame

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	14	21	3	3	41
Air Force	0	14	0	13	27

Game information

First quarter ND – Anthony Johnson 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 9:41. Notre Dame 7–0. Drive: 80 yards. ND – Ricky Watters 5-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 0:51. Notre Dame 14–0. Drive: 14 plays, 69 yards. Second quarter ND – Raghib Ismail 56-yard punt return (Craig Hentrich kick), 14:42. Notre Dame 21–0. AFA – Greg Johnson 61-yard pass from Dee Dowis (Joe Wood kick), 13:36. Notre Dame 21–7. ND – Anthony Johnson 27-yard pass from Tony Rice (Craig Hentrich kick), 9:46. Notre Dame 28–7. AFA – Steve Senn 26-yard pass from Dee Dowis (Joe Wood kick). Notre Dame 28–14. ND – Raghib Ismail 24-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 0:30. Notre Dame 35–14. Third quarter ND – Craig Hentrich 20-yard field goal, 8:24. Notre Dame 38–14. Fourth quarter ND – Craig Hentrich 38-yard field goal, 12:42. Notre Dame 41–14. AFA – Steven Wilson 23-yard run (run failed), 9:35. Notre Dame 41–20. AFA – Rodney Lewis 1-yard run (Joe Wood kick), 3:22. Notre Dame 41–27. Top passers ND – Tony Rice – 9/13, 123 yards, TD AFA – Dee Dowis – 15/24, 306 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers ND – Ricky Watters – 11 rushes, 96 yards, TD AFA – Rodney Lewis – 13 rushes, 58 yards, TD Top receivers ND – Raghib Ismail – 3 receptions, 25 yards AFA – Steve Senn – 6 receptions, 101 yards, TD

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–0) at #17 Air Force Falcons (6–0)

at Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Date: October 14, 1989
• Game attendance: 53,533
• TV: ESPN
• Recap/Box Score

External videos
1989 Notre Dame at Air Force – Television broadcast

Awards and honors

Dee Dowis

• Honorable Mention All-American (AP)
• WAC Offensive Player of the Year
• 6th in Heisman Trophy voting

Lance McDowell

• Bullard Award

References

1. "Rebels fly the friendly skies". The Commercial Appeal. December 29, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.