Neither coach, Joe Glenn of Wyoming or Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, was ready Tuesday to tag Saturday’s game in Laramie pivotal or a must. But both acknowledged the winner will have a better view of BYU, TCU and Utah in the early going in the Mountain West Conference race.
For the Cowboys and Falcons, it’s the conference opener in a race that has them walking a fine line while trying to stay close to the title favorites. Glenn said Tuesday during a coaches teleconference that he thought Air Force might be charting its course by casting some sort of spell.
“Air Force at times spreads your defense from one side of the field to the other,” Glenn said. “I don’t know what they’re trying to do. Maybe it’s a little voodoo.”
Wyoming has lost two straight in the series, including 20-12 last year at Falcon Stadium, when it had five turnovers.
“I don’t know if you’d call it a pivotal game this early in the season, but neither Troy nor I want to be looking up in the standings when it’s over,” said Glenn, who is 2-3 against Air Force. “It’s pivotal in my mind because we need a victory, but I doubt if it’s pivotal to how we’re going to do in our season and how they’re going to do in their season.”
Calhoun noted the Cowboys finished among the top 25 teams in scoring defense in 2007. The Falcons allowed 21.1 points per game en route to finishing 9-4, including a bowl loss to California.
Both teams opened with a win last week, Air Force downing Southern Utah 41-7 and Wyoming rallying past Ohio 21-20.
The Falcons lead this Front Range series 23-20-3.
“You’re not going to win this league by going 5-3,” Calhoun said. “I think it’ll take at least seven victories to win the title this year.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
