Air Force football (10-3) capped the 2022 season with a resounding 30-15 win over Baylor (6-7) at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Thursday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The Falcons reached double-figures in wins for the third-straight full season.
After a close 9-7 lead at the half, the Falcons out-scored the Bears 21-8 in the second half to roll to the win.
The Falcons racked up 276 yards rushing on the ground, led by senior quarterback Haaziq Daniels and senior running back Brad Roberts. Daniels threw for two touchdowns and 103 yards passing. In addition, Daniels ran for 81 yards and one touchdown. For his efforts, Daniels took home bowl game MVP honors for the second straight season.
Roberts capped a standout season and career with his 11th 100-yard rushing game for the season, with 116 yards on 37 carries, including two touchdowns. Roberts finished the season with a school-record 1,728 yards rushing and his 17 rushing TDs tied for eighth. His 3,541 career rushing yards is third all-time at Air Force and the most by a fullback. His 35 career rushing touchdowns is third at Air Force and the most by a fullback.
After forcing a Baylor punt to start the game, Air Force scored on its first possession, grinding out a 15-play, 55-yard drive that took 8:44 off the clock to take a 6-0 lead after the extra point was blocked. Roberts capped the drive with a two-yard plunge off the right side for the touchdown.
The Falcons forced another Baylor punt and drove right back down the field to score on a 37-yard field goal by Matt Dapore to go ahead 9-0 with 1:13 to play in the first quarter.
Baylor pulled to within two points right before the half with a touchdown. The Bears drove 47 yards on six plays, capped by an eight yard touchdown pass by quarterback Blake Shapen to wide receiver Hal Presley with five seconds to play before the half to make it a 9-7 game.
Air Force re-took the momentum in the second half, opening with a touchdown on just five plays to go ahead 16-7. The Falcons went 83 yards, capped by a two-yard run by Daniels. Setting up the touchdown score was a 68-yard pass from Daniels to wide receiver Amari Terry.
The Falcons extended the lead with a touchdown after stopping Baylor on downs. Air Force went 64 yards on six plays, capped by a 15 yard touchdown pass by Daniels to tight end Caleb Rillos, to make the score 23-7.
Air Force made it 30-7 on another Roberts touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. The drive went for 42 yards on seven plays.
Baylor scored a late touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to make it 30-15. The Bears went 85 yards on four plays, capped by a 14 touchdown reception by receiver Gavin Holmes.
The Falcons recovered the onside kick with 3:34 to play and took the clock down to 22 seconds to essentially run out the clock.
Air Force held Baylor to 230 yards of offense and just 42 yards rushing. The Falcons held the ball for 40 minutes and three seconds and limited Baylor to just 19:57 with the ball.
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