Sport: High-Flying Falcons

Three years ago the U.S. Air Force Academy was only a piece of level ground at Colorado Springs. The student body was located temporarily at Denver's Lowry Air Force Base as the football team took on freshman and minor-college opposition with indifferent success. But last week the academy's Falcons found themselves in astonished possession of an unbeaten record in big-time competition, aspirations of national ranking. Reason: a 37-year-old coach named Ben Martin.

Onetime varsity letterman and later an assistant coach at Annapolis, Martin went to Colorado Springs from the University of Virginia last winter. In two years under businesslike Buck Shaw (now coach of the Philadelphia Eagles), the Falcons had been unresponsive. Martin took one look at movies of Air Force games and decided, "We had to set our sights on basics.''

Fun & Fundamentals. He started slowly, worked on fundamentals all spring, did not even introduce his offense (split-T with variations that include a double wing belly series) until pre-season practice started in August. Says he: "I had to create a happy atmosphere. The game should be fun—relaxed, happy, undrudge-like. We don't berate the boys for failures. There are no horsewhips around here."

Physical limitations imposed by the Air Force (no cadet may be over 6 ft. 4 in. tall, weigh more than 216 Ibs.) hampered Martin and his young staff. But they still managed to produce two units of similar if not overpowering strength. Martin set up competitive situations by scrimmaging the units against each other. To vary the routine, he broke practice one day to let the boys hold a hula hoop contest. During one scrimmage, he even dived into a play to make the tackle himself. The blend of fun and fundamentals paid off. Says a faculty member: "He convinced them they could win."

By Bus & Phone. Spirit soared for the Falcons' game with heavily favored Iowa six weeks ago. Cadet officers pleaded with the Commandant. Brigadier General Henry R. Sullivan, for permission to attend the game at Iowa City. The general countered with an offer to let the cadets go to the Stanford game in Palo Alto. Protested the cadets: "We'll beat Stanford anyway, sir, but the team needs us at Iowa." The answer was still no. The cadet wing gathered in the courtyard for a pre-game pep rally and set up a din that would not be denied. General Sullivan explained patiently that the trip would involve a 20-hour bus ride each way, that it would cost every cadet $25. Each objection was met with a roar of dissent. General Sullivan gave in. The entire cadet wing boarded 22 buses, rode all night to Iowa City, changed into their blues en route and arrived just before game time.

"When I saw them march onto that field," says Team Captain Brock Strom, "I got to admit I got kind of choked up." Strom, a burly tackle, wept as he went to midfield for the toss of the coin. "After seeing the rest of the cadets march in,'' says Martin, "I knew our team would rather have died right on the field than fail them." The Falcons promptly played Iowa off its feet for a stunning 13-13 tie.