Isaac Hubert can speak to the mindset of some of his defensive teammates.

Coming into Air Force’s season opener, the junior had no career defensive stats to his credit. Then he rampaged his way to a pair of sacks against Bucknell.

The breakthrough transformed him mentally.

“Belief,” said Hubert, who now ranks 12^th in the nation with 1.36 tackles per loss per game. “That’s all you need.”

That’s the feeling Hubert hopes is currently permeating through the defense, a unit that has struggled this season but saw multiple young players contribute during a 24-21 victory over Wyoming on Saturday. The team is off this week and will look to carry some of that newfound confidence into Army’s visit on Nov. 1.

“They believe in themselves,” said Hubert, who was specifically noting a secondary that started three freshmen and two sophomores in the victory over the Cowboys. “They settled in and making plays now. Bright future ahead.”

Sophomore safety Roger Jones made 10 tackles and grabbed in interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter when the game was tied.

Freshman safety Max Mustell had 10 tackles, broke up a pass and also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter.

Alexander Perez, a freshman, made his first start at nickel, making five tackles, including half a tackle for loss.

Freshman RJ Reedus, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound cornerback, jarred the ball loose just as a receiver got his hands on it for a pass breakiup and made three tackles.

And sophomore cornerback Mikhail Seiken made his fifth start, registering five solo tackles with a tackle for loss.

One performance against a Wyoming offense ranked 11^th in the 12-team Mountain West in scoring average doesn’t mean all is fixed for Air Force. The defense still ranks last in the nation in yards allowed and sixth from the bottom in scoring, but this was the first indication that perhaps the right personnel combination has been identified.

And Falcons players know how a strong performance can spur growth.

“100 percent,” said defensive lineman Payton Zdroik, who burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2022 with 5.5 sacks. “Once you start getting those plays and once you start believing – more than anything else, believing – that you can make those plays, the game slows down and becomes a lot easier. That’s the way it works.”

Coach Troy Calhoun discounted the theory, sticking to his belief that progression occurs only in “micro, mini little” steps.

He also said starting three freshmen on one side of the ball, unheard of for the program, is not what he wants to see.

“It’s not the roadmap. It’s not at all,” Calhoun said. “There are times you look out there and you see the bodies, week in, week out, playing the teams we play, there’s just a difference. It’s in their legs and their backsides.”

The Falcons (2-5, 1-4 Mountain West) followed a similar trajectory last year, starting 1-7 before winning the final four games. That team wasn’t relying on freshmen, though it did include a few sophomores and a roster full of players who had to prove to themselves that they could succeed at this level.

Once that happened, the team took off.

Could this team, which wore uniforms honoring the Space Force vs. Wyoming, find itself on the launching pad once again after snapping a five-game losing streak?

“We’ve got to keep the momentum going,” running back Kade Frew said. “We’re hot right now, coming off of a ‘W.’ Let’s keep it rolling into Army. That’s what we need to do.”