Clear your desks, Air Force secondary. It’s time for another test.

The Falcons, with a pass defense that ranks 130^th nationally, will face the No. 1 passing offense of San Jose State on the road Saturday.

But that’s not the full context of this challenging progress report.

For a five-game stretch early this season, the Falcons’ young secondary competed against a series of pass-heavy offenses and struggled. However, the schedule provided three weeks of reprieve with less throw-obsessed offenses of Wyoming and Army sandwiched around an open week. So the Falcons can measure their growth as they again face the kind of foe that proved so baffling.

“Are you improved at the details? I think we are. I know we are that way, I feel really confident about that,” Air Force (2-6, 1-4 Mountain West) coach Troy Calhoun said. “Now, do we still have a ways to go? Most certainly we do.”

Air Force’s secondary has started four freshmen and five sophomores at various points this season. The only senior to see time has been cornerback Levi Brown, who was injured in Week 2 and returned last week against Army.

That’s a lot of young players thrust into action, and the results have reflected the inexperience. During the five-game losing streak Utah State, Boise State, Hawaii, Navy and UNLV averaged 349.2 passing yards and 45.4 points against the Falcons.

San Jose State (3-5, 2-2) has been even better than those teams in throwing the ball, averaging 331.5 yards per game behind veteran quarterback Walker Eget and leading receiver Danny Scudero.

“A guy that old that’s seen about everything,” Calhoun said of Eget, a fifth-year senior. “Rarely does a ball get turned over.”

Scudero is the fastest Spartans player to 1,000 receiving yards, doing so last week in the eighth game of the season. Nick Nash led the nation during the regular season last year in receptions (104), receiving yards (1,382) and receiving touchdowns (16) before moving on from San Jose State to the Atlanta Falcons, but Scudero might surpass those marks.

On paper it looks like a mismatch, but San Jose State has a hunch things might be different.

“I know they’re a little bit younger in the back end, but those guys are athletic,” Spartans offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann said. “And at this time of the year, at that back half of the year, you’re not young anymore. You’re seasoned. You’ve played seven or eight games. They’ve gotten better week to week. I don’t think their statistics reflect how they play.”

The Falcons limited Wyoming and Army to 21 and 20 points, respectively, in the past two games, but those were entirely different challenges.

Calhoun said the difference might come from small details that players have learned and have been working on in practice with an understanding of their importance having seen it in game settings. Putting the inside parts of their cleats in the ground to help come out of a break quicker. Staring at a receiver’s hips instead of his eyes and holding concentration to not allow him to move into a blind spot.

“Maybe a little more accustomed to the speed of a game,” Calhoun said. “How quickly receivers close cushion and so forth. And maybe you have a little more confidence, too.”