1989 Air Force Falcons football team

External videos
External videos
	1989 Notre Dame at Air Force – Television broadcast

1989 Air Force Falcons football
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

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.

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

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

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

at Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado

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

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

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

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

This college football 1980s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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

[1]