Three games into his first season as a college football coach, Air Force’s Troy Calhoun is having a good time amid all of the topsy-turviness.
As he looked at game results that included BYU’s 55-47 loss to Tulsa, Notre Dame being shut out by Michigan and his own Falcons being a surprising 3-0, Calhoun exclaimed, “You’ve got to love it, it’s college football.”
But now his Falcons get the chance to see how much they really like their position as they look ahead to Saturday’s game in Provo, Utah, against what will be an angry BYU team. The Cougars are riding a three-game winning streak against Air Force and, after a 1-2 start, they need a win to get off to a fast start in Mountain West Conference play.
Calhoun isn’t looking forward to a shootout against the Cougars and he isn’t putting any stock in his team’s 3-0 record.
“No matter if you’re talking football, basketball or what, whenever teams here at the academy win, they better be able to play pretty darn good defense,” Calhoun said. “And if, in any way in our vision, we’re peeking behind us, we’re going to get hit from the side by a pretty good clip. If we even think anything about getting into a track meet, we’re not going to be a winner.”
Calhoun put his team through a short Saturday practice after its 20-17 overtime victory against TCU at Falcon Stadium on Thursday night.
One of his priorities in practice will be to shore up the outside linebacker position. Senior Julian Madrid suffered a sprained knee against TCU and could be out for up to a month.
Calhoun expects to add to the playing time of starters John Rabold and Hunter Altman. But he wants to decide on a backup player from a few candidates lower down on the depth chart.
The depth on the defensive line should be improved with senior Josh Clayton returning to action from a shoulder injury.
EYE ON … BYU
AIR FORCE AT BYU, 1 p.m., Saturday, The Mtn.
For the record: BYU is 1-2, 0-0 in Mountain West Conference.
Streaking: For the 12th time in 13 games, Brigham Young got on the scoreboard first in Saturday’s game against Tulsa.
Who’s hot: Sophomore Max Hall passed for a career-high 537 yards and four touchdowns in BYU’s 55-47 loss to Tulsa.
Who’s not: BYU’s defense gave up 595 total yards to the Golden Hurricane, which had a 75-yard touchdown pass and a 51-yard pass that set up another touchdown. Tulsa’s 75-yarder was the longest TD pass allowed by the Cougars since 2003.
Key stat: BYU has defeated Air Force by an average of 19 points in the past three meetings. The Cougars lead the series 21-6.
FYI: The Falcons have won only twice in Provo, Utah – 39-38 in 1982 and 24-10 in 2003.
Coachspeak: “As a defense, we did not execute the way we needed to. Tulsa ran some trick plays and there were some quirks in their offensive scheme that we weren’t completely ready for. I take full responsibility for that.” – BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached on 303 954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
