1983 Air Force Falcons football team

1983 Air Force Falcons football
Independence Bowl, W 9–3 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 13
Record	10–2 (5–2 WAC)
Head coach	Ken Hatfield (5th season)
Home stadium	Falcon Stadium

1983 Western Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 BYU $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 13 Air Force	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Wyoming	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
New Mexico	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Hawaii	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Utah	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Colorado State	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
San Diego State	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	9	–	1
UTEP	0	–	8	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Ken Hatfield and played its home games at Falcon Stadium. It finished the regular season with a 9–2 overall record and a 5–2 record in Western Athletic Conference games. The team was selected to play in the Independence Bowl, in which it defeated Ole Miss 9–3.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 3	at Colorado State		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (Ram–Falcon Trophy)	W 34–13
September 10	Texas Tech*		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 28–13
September 17	at Wyoming		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	L 7–14
September 24	BYU		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	L 28–46
October 8	at Navy*		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 44–17
October 15	UTEP		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 37–25
October 22	Utah		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 33–31
October 29	Army*		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 41–20
November 5	Hawaii		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)	W 45–10
November 19	at Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	W 23–22
November 26	at San Diego State	No. 18	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	W 38–7
December 10	vs. Ole Miss	No. 16	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA	W 9–3
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1983 Air Force Falcons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB John Kreshner Sr QB Bart Weiss	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Chris Funk Jr LB Terry Maki Fr CB Tom Rotello Fr S Scott Thomas So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Ken Hatfield Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Notre Dame

Chris Funk blocked a field goal in the final seconds to preserve the win for Air Force.

Awards/Honors

John Kreshner

• 3rd Team All-American (Football News)