Air Force Could Soar To New Year’s Six Bowl

There are five games remaining in the regular season for Troy Calhoun’s Air Force Falcons. Hence, much can happen. The hope in Colorado Springs is that the wins will continue to pile up.

Frankly, it is neat to think that a service academy can make it to New Year’s Day. At 7-0 and the highest-ranked Group of Five team at No. 19 in both polls, Air Force has put itself in position to be that team.

No. 23 Tulane (6-1) is next in line. The Green Wave led the way among the Group of Five by checking in at No. 16 in the final College Football Playoff rankings last year and proceeded to defeat USC in the Cotton Bowl. (No. 25 James Madison, which is 7-0, remains postseason ineligible as it completes its second year of transitioning to the FBS. The Dukes could be invited to a bowl at the lower end of the selection order if there are not enough six-win teams to fill all slots.)

The highest-ranked Group of Five team in the final CFP rankings, revealed following conference championship weekend, will proceed beyond the velvet rope. The first CFP selection committee rankings will be released October 31.

The service academies have had a presence in the CFP rankings and polls in recent years. Navy, which went to 15 bowls in a 17-year run under Ken Niumatalolo and Paul Johnson, was No. 23 in the final 2019 CFP rankings and No. 25 in 2016. The Midshipmen ascended to No. 15 in the Week 12 CFP rankings in 2015 before placing 21st in the final ranking. Navy finished No. 18 in both polls that year.

Army, which has a had a very successful program under the direction of Jeff Monken following years of gridiron ineptitude, was No. 19 in both final polls in 2018. Air Force finished the 2019 season No. 22 in both polls.

A 17-6 win over the Midshipmen in the first leg of the battle for the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, the 56^th meeting between the academies, lifted the Falcons to 7-0 for the first time since 1997. It was also their 12^th straight win, the fourth-longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision and one shy of the program record 13 bridging the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

It was 1985 when the 12-1 Falcons, in Fisher DeBerry’s second of 23 seasons on the Air Force sideline, got as high as No. 4 in the AP poll before checking in at No. 8 in the final poll. It was a season that included an early-October win against visiting Notre Dame and was capped by a Bluebonnet Bowl victory over Texas. Calhoun was a freshman quarterback at the academy that year and, four years later, launched his coaching career by joining DeBerry’s staff as a grad assistant. The 57-year-old Calhoun succeeded DeBerry in 2007.

Calhoun has the Falcons are winning with a stifling defense and their typically efficient triple-option ground attack, which is averaging a nation’s-best 306 yards per game.

Air Force has won 18 straight when forcing two or more turnovers, which is no small detail given how a team that runs the triple option, as the other academies do, or at least some version of it, values possessions. To that extent, the Falcons have held the ball for 34:19 this season, which is tied for second (Liberty) in the country and one second behind leading Utah. Air Force was No. 1 last season at a whopping 36:33. Give the ball away and you might not get it back.

After holding Navy to 11 yards after three quarters and preventing the Midshipmen from crossing midfield until their final possession of the day, the Falcons elevated to second nationally (behind Penn State) in total defense at 223 yards per game. They are allowing 13.4 points per game, good for fourth behind the Big Ten East trio of Michigan (5.9), Penn State (9.7) and Ohio State (10.0).

Because of such a stingy defense, a 94-yard touchdown pass from Zac Larrier to Dane Kinamon early in the second quarter, equaling the longest play in team history, gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead over Navy. They never looked back.

“Credit to them for playing that great and picking us up when we were kind of faltering,” said Kinamon, in praising the defense during a postgame interview. “We have confidence knowing they are out there doing their job.”

Mountain West play resumes Saturday for the Falcons when they make a two-hour drive to Fort Collins to face Colorado State. Then the schedule gets tricky as Air Force hosts Army in Denver next week. A victory would mean keeping the CIC Trophy, which Air Force won last season for first time since 2016.

After playing Navy and Army in a stretch of 15 days with Colorado State sandwiched in between, the Falcons fly to Honolulu to play Hawaii on November 11. UNLV, the only other current unbeaten team in MWC play, visits the academy November 18. That matchup, which could play out again a couple of weeks later in the conference championship game, will be followed by a short week and a trip to Boise State for a Black Friday matchup.

Again, much football has yet to be played. At least to this point, one has to admire what Air Force has put together. Not that it is very surprising. After all, the Falcons piled up 31 wins in the previous three full seasons, each capped by a bowl victory over a Power Five opponent. It could happen on a grander stage at the end of this season.