Air Force backup quarterback Mike Schmidt launched bombs a la his Baseball Hall of Fame namesake, ran like a track star and compelled his coach to paraphrase basketball legend John Wooden.
On Saturday night, Schmidt was an all-sport stud in propelling the Falcons to a 56-26 win over Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.
Schmidt’s career day went like this: 5-for-6 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown, and 14 carries for 120 more yards and three scores.
After successfully spelling injured starter Donald Hammond III in the first quarter, guiding the military academy to four touchdowns in its first four drives, and putting the game away with two fourth-quarter keeper touchdowns, the four-year backup from North Carolina could finally take stock of what happened.
>> Click here to see photos of the game between Hawaii and Air Force.
“It’s a beautiful place to be, and we played a great team tonight,” Schmidt, slightly dazed, said of his first visit to the islands. “Just playing with my buddies is the best feeling in the world.”
Hammond was knocked out of the game at the end of a 9-yard keeper. Schmidt, who’d played only a handful of downs in his career — and never tossed a pass — was summoned to finish the drive in the Falcons’ triple-option attack. Three plays later, he drew a defender and ably pitched to Kadin Remsberg for the 2-yard score.
“We’re each other’s biggest supporters,” Schmidt said of Hammond. “I try to be the guy to him when I’m on the sideline, telling him what I see, and he was telling me what he saw. Just to have that in my ear, a guy with experience who’s done this before, it means a lot.”
By the end, he was the toast of his teammates, as well as a healthy contingent of Air Force supporters among the 20,217 in house as the Falcons claimed the Kuter Trophy and improved to 5-2 overall (3-1 Mountain West).
“I mean, there’s nobody who has just more energy and we got a bunch of guys who are highly, highly respected, and yet nobody more so than Mike Schmidt, as a teammate,” AFA coach Troy Calhoun said.
He then paraphrased the late Wooden, UCLA’s 10-time national champion basketball coach.
“One of his favorite sayings was, ‘If I’m prepared, then perhaps my chance will come.’ And Mike works extremely hard. It’s neat to see a guy get an opportunity and he made the utmost of it.”
Schmidt’s first career pass, at the start of the second quarter, went for 39 yards to Kade Waguespack, setting up his own 1-yard plunge the next play for his first career TD.
On the Falcons’ next drive, Schmidt’s 75-yard deep ball to receiver Geraud Sanders for another score was the 12th-longest pass play in AFA history. It caught just about everyone in the stadium off guard.
“I grew up playing quarterback. I always tried to perfect my passing,” Schmidt said. “It’s nowhere near perfect, but playing in this offense, we have the opportunity to throw the ball and catch defenses when they’re sucked up.”
When he came off the field from his 61-yard run to put his team up 42-26 — an immediate answer to UH’s last score of the game at the start of the the fourth quarter — the other Falcons clapped him on the helmet more enthusiastically than you’d see of any old touchdown for any old teammate. He added one more, a diving effort from 18.
“It means the world. I don’t know if it’s hit me yet,” Schmidt said. “We have a lot of season left, but to share that moment with my guys, the senior class, and even the younger guys, I try to be a guy that people can look up to, and if my role’s going to be a backup, then just be ready to go. I love this team. I can’t emphasize it enough. I just love playing with these guys, practicing with them and doing what we do.”
