AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Air Force coach Troy Calhoun hopes to use Saturday’s season opener against Nicholls State as a football refresher course.
At his weekly news conference Tuesday, Calhoun said his main mission is to see how well the Falcons can play in a game environment.
“We have some players who are having their first opportunity to play in a college football game,” Calhoun said. “We also have a bunch of other players who have played college football and they want to see how much better players they have become. Collectively we want to see at what level we can play. Then, come back Monday, view the tape and see what lessons were learned.”
Air Force is a heavy favorite over Nicholls State, a Division I-AA team. When Calhoun took over as AFA coach in 2007 he made playing a home game in the team’s opener a priority.
In Calhoun’s openers, Air Force clobbered South Carolina State 34-3 in 2007 and Southern Utah 41-7 last year.
Asked if the Air Force schedule could have stronger opening-game opponents in the future, Calhoun said that wasn’t the coach’s decision. A year ago, Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh announced he and Calhoun had reached an agreement on future scheduling.
Calhoun got his wish for a home game to start the season against a lower-level team. Mueh said his priority was a national opponent the second game of the season. Air Force plays at Minnesota next week.
Mueh has said that in a few years Air Force might have to upgrade its schedule and play more teams from Bowl Championship Series-affiliated conferences.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
