'That is the standard': Air Force football draws respect despite major lineup holes

Air Force football begins practice in one week, entering the season with the odd combination of glaring roster holes to fill and lofty outside expectations.
How to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory elements? Well, for one, the Falcons have won 10 or more games in the past three full seasons, piling up a 31-8 record in those seasons with a 5-0 mark vs. teams from Power Five conferences. Expectations naturally follow results like that. And, yes, the quarterback and leading rusher — both three-year staples — are gone, but the program has in recent years shuffled from one productive player to the next in those roles.
Throughout, one constant has remained, and that’s clearly the reason the team was picked to finish second in the Mountain West.
“That guy is the standard,” Hawaii coach Timmy Chang said, darting a look across the room at Air Force coach Troy Calhoun last week at the conference’s media days in Las Vegas. “You ask me, that’s the baddest football team in this place. I show my team that, and I let them know that that is the standard.
“They play hard. They play the right way. Defensively, they play with all guys running to the football — all 11 guys get around the ball. In a world of ranking recruits and all that thing, ain’t a lot of stars going to that program over there. But when you turn on the film and you watch those guys play, you better buckle up, you better bite down on your mouthpiece, and come ready to play.”
Calhoun is entering year No. 17 at the helm of his alma mater. He brings with him a staff with only one change: wide receivers coach, where Taylor Stubblefield begins his second stint with the program.
The roster, of course, takes some hits, but three full-time starters return on the offensive line, along with two others with some starting experience. Running back John Lee Eldridge III comes back after averaging 7.7 yards per carry last year, sixth-best in program history. Familiar faces like Dane Kinamon (slot receiver) and Caleb Rillos (tight end) are also back on offense.
For the defense that ranked No. 1 in total yards and No. 3 in scoring last year, seven full-time starters return and it is likely that the lineup for the Sept. 2 opener against Robert Morris will include 10 players who have made at least one career start.
“The one thing that maybe will play in our favor is they’re breaking in a new quarterback,” said Utah State's Blake Anderson, whose team will add 39 newcomers, when asked about the disparity of his situation vs. an Air Force roster that largely remained stable, barring some key graduations. “Now, the guy has probably been there forever and run a million reps of triple option, but it will be a new body for them. In that sense it’s not a transfer, but it’s someone new in a pivotal position.”
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The main voice of dissent against the expectations awaiting Air Force came from Calhoun.
He emphasized the impact of losing fullback Brad Roberts on offense and Vince Sanford, Chris Herrera and TD Blackmon on defense. Likening those losses to those from the 2012 team Cody Getz, Brian Lindsey, Alex Means — he drew parallels to the 2013 season.
“The next year was a real challenge,” said Calhoun, whose team went 2-10 that year, easily the worst of his tenure. “That may be the case with where we are now, too.”
Calhoun’s public preseason pessimism has remained a constant over at least the past decade. But players say it’s like that in private, too.
“Coach Calhoun tries to keep us in the underdog mentality all the time, and we always think that we are,” center Thor Paglialong said. “We don’t like being ranked in the preseason at the top — we’d rather be at the bottom. But it is what it is, and we’re focused on winning the week.”
There are some positions that need to be sorted out for Air Force, and that will start on Aug. 2 with the beginning of practice. But asking around the Mountain West Conference, there is little doubt from anyone that those details will work themselves out and that Air Force will field a team capable of continuing the program’s run.
“Coach Calhoun and those guys are so good,” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said. “Nobody wants to play them. Nobody in America wants to play them. They just happen to be in our conference. They have the total respect of everybody. When you play them you know you’re going to have to play something that’s totally different, it’s going to be physical. You’re going to feel it for two weeks, and you have to change the way your players think, because it’s such a different style of offense that they have to defend.
“They’ve won 10, 11 games the last three years, right? That’s fun. I want to do that. Win 11 games? Let’s go.”