Loud and clear: BYU not afraid of rushing attack

The voice over the telephone from Provo, Utah, was clear and fullof bravado. There was no need to stop and ask in an annoying-commercial-way, "Can you hear me now? How about now?"

Aaron Francisco, the Brigham Young sophomore starting strongsafety, enunciated his words distinctly, making sure to deliver aconfidence in himself and his teammates for their Saturday night gameagainst unbeaten Air Force at Falcon Stadium.

"I don't think they'll beat us with their option this game," hesaid Wednesday evening. "We defend the option really well. They'llhave to execute their trick plays."

Air Force, ranked 21st by The Associated Press and 19th by ESPN/USA Today, is first nationally in rushing yardage per game thisseason (329.8 yards).

BYU is 79th nationally in rushing defense (165.4 yards per game).BYU's 4.6 yards per carry allowance is the worst in the Mountain WestConference by a half-yard.

Using trick plays to supplement its offense, Air Force nudged NewMexico 38-31 in overtime Sept.7.

Francisco, a 6-foot-2, 208-pounder from Laie, Hawaii, got on-the-field knowledge of the Air Force offense last season.

He made the second start of his career in the game where BYU led21-7 at the end of the first quarter, 42-13 at halftime and 63-13 inthe third quarter before settling for a 63-33 victory.

Air Force rushed 52 times for 334 yards in the game, led byhalfback Anthony Butler's 120 yards.

When remembering that October2001 game, Francisco described mainlythe various blocking techniques used by Air Force.

Defending league champion BYU (3-2) will try to avoid "all thosecut-blocks" by Air Force (5-0, 2-0 Mountain West), which trails theseries 18-4.

"This is our first game in the conference and we can start byknocking off the top team in the league," Francisco said. "They'rethe team to beat now."

TAILFEATHERS: Starting defensive linemen Nick Taylor and MontyColeman, who missed the Navy game last week, remain doubtful for theBYU game. Sophomore John Peel will start at center in place ofinjured Wayne Southam (strained left knee). ...

A few hundred returned tickets are available for the Air Force-Notre Dame game at 8p.m. Oct.19 at Falcon Stadium. Each ticket is$30. The tickets are available at the Air Force ticket office inCadet Field House, at AirForceSports.com, or by calling 1-800-666-USAF or 1-719- 472-1895. Plenty of $25 reserved seat tickets andgeneral admission tickets ($10 children, $12 military, $15 adults)remain for the home game Saturday night against BYU. ...

The late kickoffs will not mean cadets will miss the academycurfew. Unless a weekend pass is used, most cadets will be expectedback at their dormitories about an hour after the conclusion of thegame. Freshmen and sophomores usually ride academy buses to the gamebecause of their restrictions from having cars on campus.Upperclassmen are allowed to drive their cars to the game. ...

Air Force's "The Bird" mascot is one of 12 finalists for theCapital One Bank national mascot competition, with the winnerreceiving $10,000 for its school's athletic association. Voting onthe Internet is at http://www.CapitalOneBowl.com/mascot_vote.php.

- Tim Mimick may be reached at 636-0365 or tmim@gazette.com