Kemper Hodges rubbed his belly after the first of his four touchdowns, adding a little self-deprecating humor to underline a message.
The message? This might not look normal, but it has the Falcons eligible for their first bowl game in three years.
The 245-pound thumper came off the bench in place of the replacement to be the replacement at Air Force quarterback and ran 35 times for 200 yards in a bruising 35-26 victory over UConn before a sparse Halloween crowd at Falcon Stadium.
“The guys like to mess around,” Hodges said, explaining the gesture. “I’m a little chubby, so I had to play into it.”
Hodges wasn’t messing around with this performance, as nearly all of those 35 yards came straight into the heart of the Huskies’ defense — though one saw him race right through it for 62 yards.
“The pounding, the resiliency,” Falcons coach Troy Calhoun said. “And yet he’s the one that just kept asking for more.”
The Falcons started Howard Fisher IV at quarterback, the first time a freshman started at the position for the program since 2013. This came after losing Evan Medders last week to a turf toe injury. Medders had started the past three games, replacing Liam Szarka, who was lost for t...