Falcons like their Chance

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Aug. 18, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.

MWC PREVIEWS

Today: Air Force

Tuesday: Brigham Young

Wednesday: Colorado State

Thursday: New Mexico

Friday: San Diego State

Aug. 25: Utah

Aug. 26: Wyoming

AIR FORCE AT A GLANCE

Air Force has 17 starters back from a team that started 6-0 last season and eventually lost, 20-13, to Virginia Tech in the San Francisco Bowl. But it is one of the few non-returnees who grabbed most of the headlines in the off-season.

Sophomore middle linebacker Anthony Schlegel was a first team all-Mountain West Conference pick who led the team in tackles with 118, including 10 for loss, and seemed destined for All-American honors. He had 19 tackles alone in the Falcons' nationally televised 21-14 loss to No. 7 Notre Dame.

But Schlegel decided to transfer after the season which kept him from having to fulfill a mandatory military commitment that automatically kicks in following the sophomore year. He had no shortage of suitors and eventually landed at defending national champion Ohio State where he must sit out the 2003 campaign.

The story of Schlegel, however, shows just how far Fisher DeBerry has brought the Falcons in his 20 years in Colorado Springs. How many other teams in the country have a sophomore linebacker good enough to play for the defending national champs?

"Anthony would be a big loss to anybody's program because he's such a good young man and such a competitor," DeBerry said. "He led our team in tackles. He was first team all-conference. I think everybody respected his ability and the way he played. He's a good player and we'll miss him. But we understand in the end that the academy isn't for everybody."

But if you think DeBerry is losing sleep over losing his star middle linebacker, think again.

DeBerry believes that John Rudzinski (6-2, 230), who started 12 games at outside linebacker last year and is the son of former Green Bay Packer Paul Rudzinski, could be even better.

"We have a lot of confidence in John," DeBerry said. "He's the only guy who has ever been elected a captain as a sophomore for our football team. He kind of has a little better range and a little better speed than Anthony. He's not quite as thick as Anthony, but boy can he throw his body around."

Another player DeBerry has a lot of confidence in is senior quarterback Chance Harridge, who rushed for 22 touchdowns and an average of 94.5 rushing yards per game while directing the Falcons' wishbone attack.

"It's huge to have him back," DeBerry said. "Any program that has its starting quarterback back ... then you have a chance. There's no substitute for game experience, especially at that position."

The Falcons have four starters back on the offensive line and three talented fullbacks led by senior Don Shaffer, who missed most of the 2002 season with a knee injury. Former Las Vegas High star Anthony Park returns to lead a solid wide receiving corps.

If Rudzinski and a veteran defense that has eight returning starters plays as good as it looks on paper, the Falcons should make a run at the Mountain West title. The schedule, which includes the standard Commander-in-Chief's Trophy games with fellow military schools Army and Navy as well as winnable non-conference games with Northwestern, North Texas and DeBerry's alma mater, Wofford, is arguably the softest in the Mountain West.

The Falcons, who lost of five of their last seven games in 2002, are prone to fast starts and slow finishes when injuries usually begin to take their toll. But DeBerry hopes his veteran team will try to take another step forward this year and is using the phrase "Unfinished Business" as his theme.

So when informed that his team was picked third in the preseason Mountain West media poll and even picked up one first-place vote, he wasn't satisfied.

"I'm flattered," DeBerry said. "I'm encouraged that people think that much of our football team. Usually we're picked sixth or seventh. ... But I just hope that gives our team more incentive going into this season and that they're not going to be satisfied with being picked to finish third." First in a series previewing MWC football.