Air Force is the most inexperienced team in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season. The Falcons returned just four starters — one on offense and three on defense — and is relying heavily on a large contingent of players with minimal game experience.
Air Force has by far the most first-time starters (26) of any FBS program this season. The Falcons return just 20% of their rushing output and 27% of their total tackles.
Exacerbating the experience issue is that a majority of the first-time starters, along with most of the backups, had seen very little varsity action coming into this season.
It is the result of Air Force graduating a huge senior class filled with 18 starters and an almost equal number of backups. Unlike most teams in the current era of college football, service academies cannot rebuild the roster using the transfer portal.
Second-year Navy head coach Brian Newberry was asked by a reporter with the Colorado Springs Gazette earlier this week if he could “sympathize” with the Air Force situation. Newberry made it clear he did not because he knows why the Falcons are suddenly so inexperienced.
In 2020, the Mountain West Conference initially announced it would not play football during the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was talk about conducting a spring season in 2021 if the climate allowed.
Ultimately, the Mountain West Conference reversed course and played an abbreviated schedule in 2020. Air Force wound up playing four conference contests along with its rivalry games against Army and Navy.
Air Force played that season with a limited roster because, based on the original Mountain West plan, the football program elected to send approximately 40 players home for the fall semester to preserve their eligibility. Coach Troy Calhoun, with the support of the administration, was taking advantage of an academy policy that allows cadets to disenroll for a semester if they are facing a serious personal hardship.
Air Force football had its best players, regardless of class, disenroll from the academy for the 2020 fall semester then return for the 2021 spring semester. Those “turnbacks” all wound up getting a fifth year of eligibility due to special NCAA rules implemented due to the pandemic.
As a result, Air Force had a significant number of fifth-year seniors during the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Falcons won 29 games and three bowls during that stretch.
Now all the turnbacks are gone and Air Force football is left with a roster consisting of players that were low on the depth chart when the roster was filled with all those experienced players. Which is why Newberry delivered this response when asked if he has sympathy for Air Force being so inexperienced this season.
“Without getting into it too much. I think coming out of COVID, turnbacks, things like that, things that we didn’t do here… maybe some of the older guys in that program played a lot more snaps than some of the younger guys, who didn’t get developed quite the same as they would have otherwise had you not had 15 fifth-year seniors or something like that,” Newberry said. “That’s not me being disrespectful from that sense, those are the facts.”
Navy football played 10 games in 2020 and struggled to a 3-7 record. The Midshipmen went 4-8 in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, in part because they were relying on a lot of young players.
For the past three seasons, the Navy coaching staff has privately grumbled about having to play against Air Force and Army teams that were both loaded with fifth-year seniors.
“You know, we didn’t do that here. We took some lumps because we didn’t,” Newberry said.
On the positive side, Navy now has an extremely experienced roster filled with numerous players that are going to be four-year varsity lettermen. Defensive standouts such as inside linebacker Colin Ramos and safety Ray Lane have played significant roles since they were freshmen.
“Those things are starting to pay off for us. A lot of guys who probably weren’t ready to play, played and got valuable playing time because of that,” Newberry said. “The seniors on our team right now have played a lot of snaps together, probably earlier than they should have. We’re kind of reaping the rewards of that now.”
Colorado Springs Gazette reporter Brent Briggeman asked Calhoun to respond to Newberry’s comments during his weekly news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t have a reaction to that,” said Calhoun, adding that freedom of speech is one of the many rights service academy graduates fight to uphold.
Earlier this season, Calhoun said he did not regret not playing younger players in games the past three seasons so they could gain experience. However, Calhoun made it clear the coaching staff worked hard to develop its young players during practice.
“Now practice is different. The investment in practice time, especially early in the week on Mondays and Tuesdays, for our twos and threes, is significant,” he said. “I mean, we heavily invest in the younger guys on Mondays and Tuesdays. We’ve done that ever since I’ve been here and we will continue to do that.”
Defending Air Force
A normally potent Air Force offense has not performed up to its past standards so far this season. The Falcons, who returned just one offensive starter, rank 131st out of 133 FBS teams in both scoring offense (12.5 points) and total offense (243 yards).
Navy defensive coordinator P.J. Volker is preparing for Air Force as though it ranked Top 10 in every offensive category. He believes the Falcons are capable of breaking out at any time and does not want to see it happen against the Midshipmen.
“I don’t see a team that looks like that statistically. I thought they were really impressive this past game against Wyoming. They looked fast and physical,” Volker said. “Obviously, the scheme presents an incredible challenge. We expect them to play the best game they’ve played all season.”
Starting quarterback John Busha is a junior who appeared in just four games last season, all in mop up duty. Busha is averaging just 32 rushing yards and 60 passing yards through four games. Volker thinks Busha is a talented player with the ability to run the traditional Air Force offense at a high level.
“I see the same thing out of the quarterback as I see from the offense in general. Every week he gets better and better,” Volker said. “As he goes out there and gets more experience, you see more comfortability, more playmaking ability. Now that he’s got several games under his belt you’re going to see him continue to grow.”
During his 18-year tenure in Colorado Springs, Calhoun has developed his own version of triple-option offense that relies heavily on multiple formations and lots of motion — elements Navy is now employing in its new Wing-T attack.
The Falcons have routinely been able to hit big plays against the Midshipmen by using the formations and movement to confuse defenders. Last season, an assignment mistake in pass coverage allowed quarterback Zac Larrier to complete a 94-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dane Kinnamon.
Volker praised Calhoun and Air Force offensive coordinator Mike Thiessen this week, calling both “a heck of a football coach.”
“Schematically, they shift formations and move people around to different spots to run the same type of plays; They do a great job of moving their skill people around to create mismatches. They just do a good job of getting guys in position to make plays,” Volker said. “Eye discipline is always critical in CIC games. You have to keep your eyes on your key and not fall for all the other window dressing that’s going on. It’s a heck of a lot easier said than done. We have to make sure we’re crystal clear with what our job description is and where our eyes need to be on every single play.”