The fuse didn’t take long to burn for Air Force in a season-opener that was explosive from the beginning.

Dane Kinamon hauled in an 80-yard pass on the first series. He ran in from 71 yards on the second.

Two more scores of 70-yards followed on a sun-drenched Saturday at Falcon Stadium as Air Force pounded Northern Iowa 48-17 in front of 31,180 in attendance.

The four plays of 70-plus yards was a first in Air Force history and the lead swelled to 48-3 before the visitors rallied for late scores against the Falcons reserves.

PHOTOS: Air Force Falcons beat the Northern Iowa Panthers

“It was awesome,” said Kinamon, whose 151 yards of total offense on those first two plays were nearly half of the output (306 total yards) he had last year. “We had a good camp, so it was good to see that work kind of pay off a little bit.”

Playing a Panthers program that carried as good a pedigree as any opening opponent during the Troy Calhoun era for Air Force, the Falcons feasted with 691 yards of offense (582 coming on the ground against the sixth-ranked FCS defense against the run a year ago and loaded with returning starters).

“They were faster than us,” Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said. “You can’t screw up when you play them. … At the end, they were faster than us.”

In many ways it was a best-of-all worlds scenario for the Falcons. Because of those big offensive plays and a few key defensive stops, the outcome of the game wasn’t seriously in question. Still, Northern Iowa offered some legit pushback. The Panthers gained 203 yards of offensive in the first half and, of Air Force’s first 19 plays, the Falcons averaged 4.4 yards on 16 of them.

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So, Air Force was playing the kind of back-and-forth football it hasn’t always experienced in its openers against FCS opponents, which have often been clear mismatches, and can highlight areas that need to improve. To top it off, the Falcons were able to reach deep into their bench on Parents Weekend at the academy.

“It was a good opener, but we’ve just got to get back in and keep working,” Kinamon said. “You can always get better. We’ve just got to look at the film and see what mistakes we made and try to correct them. That’s what we’ll do.”

But, goodness, did those big plays stand out for a team so known for its methodical approach on offense.

“It’s kind of shocking in some ways,” said linebacker TD Blackmon, offering his perspective from the defensive side. “Usually it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got a couple of minutes to rest and figure out what’s going wrong.’ But they were scoring.”

Brad Roberts, who led Air Force with 114 rushing yards on eight carries, scored from 71 yards, the fullback harkening back to his track days at Ralston Valley High School in outrunning the Northern Iowa secondary in his first game back after missing spring practice after a knee operation.

“Whenever a guy has a major surgery, which he did, how are they going to play in that every next game just because that’s a little bit of an indicator,” Calhoun said. “Maybe he can build some confidence that way by knowing, ‘OK, I can lean on this wheel again.’”

Junior Jalen Johnson took his first career carry 80 yards for a score.

Haaziq Daniels, whose scrambling in the pocket allowed the Kinamon touchdown pass to develop, added a 40-yard run on a day that saw him run for 107 yards and a touchdown and pass for 109 and a score.

“I feel like a lot of people just think it’s triple-option, straight runs,” said junior tailback John Lee Eldridge III, who ran for 85 yards on eight carries. “But we can really open it up and do everything this year.”

The big plays also came from the defense. There was Blackmon forcing a fumble against UNI quarterback Theo Day inside the Air Force 5-yard line (“If he’s holding it a little bit loose I like to take my chances.”) and an interception from safety Camby Goff on a tipped pass.

“Those were big-time plays,” Goff said. “Really just the stops. They stopped the momentum.”

For the Air Force offense, which saw its first eight drives result in touchdowns or field goals, it was the explosive start they sought.

“It’s a good feeling,” Daniels said. “We worked hard all summer. I think the hard work that we all put it in, it showed. … It was good to see those plays pop.”

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