Liam Szarka’s right hand bears the small, circular scabs that anyone who has carried a football would recognize as the result of painful impact with a defender’s facemask.

It’s to be expected, considering Szarka has piled up 25-plus carries in four consecutive games.

What’s remarkable is that the same battered hand has also delivered 160-plus passing yards in five of the last six games.

For the sophomore, it’s mind over battered body parts.

“Looking at the seniors and upperclassmen ahead of me, seeing how much stress they go through whether it’s military, school and football,” Szarka said Tuesday as coach Troy Calhoun made his breakout quarterback available to media for the first time. “How they are able to just respond and keep going and not be down on themselves or complain but just keep going day after day. I really look up to them and model them and just keep going after whatever cuts or scrapes you might get.”

Is this workload sustainable?

“That’s a good question,” Calhoun said.

Reducing Szarka’s carries isn’t as simple as it might seem. The majority of Air Force’s plays have him reacting – both before and after the snap – to the defense. If the quarterback run is the best play, he has clearly indicated a willingness to take it.

Calhoun isn’t about to suggest a different mindset for a quarterback he believes wouldn’t wear a different jersey in practice – the color indicating he, as a quarterback, is off limits for contact from the defense – if it wasn’t required.

“It’s contagious in a really positive way,” Calhoun said. “If somebody’s getting hard yards, trust me, those offensive linemen, you don’t think that puts some jolt in those guys when you say the guy that’s the quarterback wants to lower his shoulder yet has the poise to wait, wait, wait until the very last instant before delivering a throw? They know that. And is that instinct, is that talent, is that toughness, is that heart? I mean, or all of those intangibles?”

This was what Calhoun first noticed about Szarka. On a bye week in late October 2022, Calhoun made the short trip north to Aurora to watch Grandview take on eventual state champion Cherry Creek.

Calhoun went with the purpose of scouting tight end Simon Kibbee, who is a junior with the Falcons, but defensive coordinator Brian Knorr mentioned there was also a junior quarterback he might want to evaluate.

Szarka went 12-for-19 passing for 112 yards and ran 16 times for 61 yards and two touchdowns in the 24-21 victory.

“I was like, this dude’s a warrior, man,” said Calhoun, in verbiage he rarely uses when talking about a current player. “Did you see some skill in terms of delivery? In terms of movement? You absolutely did. I mean, you aren’t going to recruit a guy unless he has some ability.

“But you just felt will.”

Szarka has burst onto the scene this season, compiling 1,219 passing yards and 816 rushing yards through the first eight games, and that’s after spending the first three weeks coming off the bench and splitting time.

He said his season has come as somewhat of a surprise, but he also believed whoever won the quarterback battle between himself and Josh Johnson would be in position to thrive because of the team’s talent on offense.

“They’ve helped me with those stats,” he said, crediting the skill position players and the offensive line. “I don’t think it’s just on me, it’s on those guys.”

If there’s a knock on Air Force’s offense this season it has been protecting the ball. The team is minus-4 overall in turnovers, an average of -0.5 per game that ranks 107^th nationally. Szarka has been intercepted five times in 107 passing attempts.

Calhoun expressed full confidence that Szarka would learn from his miscues.

Likening it to a race car driver learning best by flying around the track or a baseball player who can only develop a feel by seeing live pitching, he wants Szarka to continue to test his limits.

“Swing, baby,” Calhoun said.

Szarka acknowledged that three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble when he was hit from behind just before attempting a pass) played a big role in last week’s 20-17 loss to Army.

“It’s my job to be smarter with the ball, especially being the quarterback, and kind of evaluating those risks and rewards with maybe a deep ball and those turnovers,” he said. “What it really comes down to is being a critic of yourself. …  Being a young guy, that means learning from my game experience and maybe reducing my turnovers and those mistakes.”

Szarka has very clearly won over his teammates – “I love that guy,” fifth-year senior defensive lineman Payton Zdroik said – and he has a head coach who seems to have grown even more fond of him since that glowing first impression in Aurora.

As long as Szarka can continue to hold up to the workload he’s asked to take, it is clear Calhoun wants to ride that hot, banged-up hand.

“The maturity, the poise,” Calhoun said of Szarka’s makeup. “Darn near fearless. Good stuff.”

Decision looming

Air Force cadets are free to depart through the end of their sophomore year, so quarterback Liam Szarka would be able to transfer following this season if he chooses.

In his first meeting with media on Tuesday, Szarka was asked about how he will approach that decision after the season, or if it has already been decided.

“I think right now I’m just kind of focused on the season and trying to win games and get better,” Szarka said. “So, I haven’t put too much thought into that. I’m trying to focus on what I can do to get myself better and put my team in opportunities to win right now.”

Coach Troy Calhoun, when asked if he feels a need to essentially re-recruit a player who has demonstrated so much value, said that is not his approach.

“I won’t do that,” Calhoun said. “I hope not. What we owe each player, each member of our program, is to do everything we can where they flourish and grow.”

Calhoun said that development includes each player in football and as a student and a cadet.

“Most of all, as a human being,” added Calhoun, a 1989 Air Force graduate. “We’re here to build men and women at the Air Force Academy. They get every bit of us in that way. And that’s where our focus, our energy, that’s where our commitment is.

“That’s what we’re doing.”

PACE SETTER

Sophomore quarterback Liam Szarka has 1,219 passing yards and 816 rushing yards for Air Force. Over the past six games, when he began taking the bulk of snaps for the team, he is averaging 184.2 passing yards and 128.2 rushing yards. If he maintains that pace for four more games, here’s where he would rank in program history for a season.

Rushing yards

1. Brad Roberts, 2022 – 1,728

2. Beau Morgan, 1996 – 1,494

3. Chad Hall, 2007 – 1,478

4. Brad Roberts, 2021 – 1,352

5. Liam Szarka, 2025 – 1,329*

Passing yards

1. Bob Parker, 1970 – 2,789

2. Liam Szarka, 2025 – 1,956*

3. Gary Baxter, 1969 – 1,783

4. Mike Thiessen, 2000 – 1,687

5. Tim Jefferson, 2011 – 1,637

* If pace continues