Air Force scrambles to replace its open date with Tennessee St.

Tennessee State Tigers Head Coach Rod Reed

Colorado Springs, CO - It wasn't quite like searching for a needle in a haystack, but for Jim Trego at Air Force, there was a big sigh of relief when his call to Tennessee State proved fruitful.

During February and March of this year, Trego, a senior associate athletic director, was telephoning, e-mailing and contacting everyone he knew to find an opponent to fill the Sept. 24 date on Air Force's 2011 football schedule.

The combination of BYU and Utah departing the Mountain West and only one school, Boise State, coming in left Air Force in need of a game.

"I shut my office door and started going through the phone directory trying to find a game," Trego said. "I just kept looking and looking and finally found Tennessee State with an open date. I've been involved in scheduling for 24 years, and that was the biggest challenge I've ever had."

In Nashville, officials at Tennessee State also were looking for a game. A matchup in the Atlanta Football Classic against Florida A&M had fallen through. The telephone call from Trego proved a blessing.

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