Differing opinions about AFA

Every year before the Air Force game, Bronco Mendenhall reiterates that playing against the Falcons is his favorite game of the year.

And every year his team disagrees.

Where Mendenhall sees a team full of disciplined and dedicated young men, his team, especially the defensive linemen, see one thing: cut blocking.

When asked if he is excited to play the Falcons, defensive end Jan Jorgensen didn’t even have to think about it. “No,” he said without a moment’s delay. “I don’t know what coach Mendenhall said. Maybe with me being a defensive linemen it’s a little bit different because I’m the one who has to deal with all the cut blocks, and he doesn’t. He just gets to stand there and watch. I’m the one who comes away with beat-up shins and stuff like that after the game.”

The Falcon linemen are often undersized (the average weight of Air Force’s o-line is 268 pounds while the average weight of BYU’s o-line is 321 pounds), so they use different blocking schemes. Foremost among their techniques is the cut block – a legal but controversial technique in which players block below the waist. Cut blocks become chop blocks, which are illegal and draw a 15-yard penalty, when they are performed on players who are already engaged with another player.

UNLV coach Mike Sanford took a shot at Air Force’s blocking tactics after the Falcons defeated the Rebels 45-17 on Saturday. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Sanford said Air Force does “a lot of things that are dangerous and unsafe.”

He’s not the only one.

“It’s legal but dirty. That’s how I feel,” Jorgensen said. “When they cut block they dive at your knees, and you can get injured very easily.”