Morgan family locked in on QB job with Falcons

Mother knows best.

Just ask Air Force quarterback Blane Morgan.

It was early the morning of Aug. 4 that Morgan awoke with a pain in his side at his family's home in Carrollton, Texas.

"I thought I pulled a muscle working out the day before," Morgan said. "I wasn't going to go to the doctor because it started to subside a little bit. But my mom (Mary) made me go. It turned out to be an appendicitis. I had surgery that night."

A couple of weeks later Morgan was back doing what the Morgan family does best ... quarterbacking the Air Force football team.

This is the fifth straight year a Morgan has started at quarterback for the Falcons. Brother Beau, now a member of the Dallas Cowboys, started for Air Force from 1994 to 1996 and rewrote the school's record book. Blane took over in 1997 and led the Falcons to a 10-2 record and a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.

"It ended up being a blessing in disguise," Morgan said of his emergency appendectomy. "I was planning on driving back (to Colorado Springs) that next day. That wouldn't have been good if that had exploded in my car or anything like that. ... But leave it to mom to watch after you."

Morgan said the appendicitis was difficult to detect at first.

"I didn't have any of the signs you normally have with one," he said. "I didn't have a fever. I took a blood test and I didn't have a high white blood cell count. It wasn't until I took a CAT-scan that they found it."

A few hours later he was on the operating table.

"A few days later I was up and around and there wasn't that much pain," he said. "I was throwing the ball around. But it took me a couple of weeks to get back into full contact. They took quite a bit of precaution which was good."

If there wasn't any doubt if the illness would hinder Morgan this season it was quickly erased last weekend when he rushed for 20 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 60 more yards in leading the Falcons to a surprisingly one-sided 42-0 blanking of Wake Forest.

Now he and his Air Force teammates have their sights set on Saturday night's game with UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Falcons narrowly defeated the Rebels, 25-24, last year in Colorado Springs. If that wasn't enough incentive, they also have last December's 41-13 loss to Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl to think about.

"It's a new opponent and everything, but you're coming back to the same place that you got blown out of the water," Morgan said. "We feel maybe we lost some respect with that loss. That's something you want to gain back some day."

Morgan, who says he doesn't experience any painful side effects from his surgery, is thankful to just be able to play ... period.

"Going through what I did kind of gives you a wake-up call," he said. "It makes you realize that at any time that anything can happen. You've got to go out and take every play in practice and in the game and hold it as being sacred. I'm just thankful for God and his intervention. I believe it was a minor miracle because you never know what could have happened if I didn't go to the doctor that day."

Or listen to mom.

REBEL NOTES: Paramedics were summoned to practice at Rebel Park Wednesday afternoon after freshman center Robert Jordan of Arlington, Texas, suffered a broken leg during a blocking drill. "It just snapped, it wasn't pretty," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said, comparing the injury to the one suffered by former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann. "(His leg) was laying there like the bone wasn't connected." Horton said, adding Jordan did not suffer a compound fracture. ... The Rebels will practice for the first time this afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium to try to get used to the artificial turf. ... Starting safety Quincy Sanders has had his practice time limited this week because of a minor knee injury but is listed as "probable" for Saturday night's home opener with Air Force. ... With another blocked punt last week against Wake Forest, Air Force has now blocked 45 kicks in the '90s, including an amazing 11 last season. Because of that fact, the Rebels have spent an extra 15 minutes in practice this week working on special teams. "I think they're great in the kicking game," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said. "I don't think anybody has blocked as many kicks as they have over the years. Last year they blocked one of our punts, the only punt I've had blocked in five years here. They blocked a field goal also that probably cost us the game. So I think we need to spend the extra time this week working on our special teams."

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