Air Force’s personnel situation on defense can partly be attributed to the normal patterns of college football but also reflects the program’s precarious position within this new era.

The Falcons lined up on Saturday night with three sophomores and a freshman in the defensive lineup. That extreme youth was by no means the full story of the issues during the 49-37 loss to Boise State, as the same inexperience wasn’t the case for a defensive front that was part of the same effort, but it also can’t be discounted in a season that has already seen six underclassmen start games on defense.

“I do think if you go down through (Boise State’s) offensive line, how many of those guys are fifth-year guys or have a six beside their name?” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said, contrasting the Broncos with the age of his crew. “That matters.”

Air Force (1-2, 0-2 Mountain West) knew it would be breaking in newcomers at cornerback, where the senior trio of Jamari Bellamy, Trey Williams and Jerome Gaillard graduated. But Levi Brown, who had seen time at safety and moved to cornerback, figured to be an option with some snaps to his credit.

But Brown was injured at Utah State in the second game and didn’t play on Saturday.

So the starting cornerbacks on Saturday were sophomores Mikhail Seiken and Korey Johnson, with freshman Jordan Elie-Stuart subbing in for several series.

At safety, Kyle Chen started four games last season and Houston Hendrix started seven. Both figured to return, bringing that experience with them. But Chen injured a knee and won’t play this season. Hendrix has been injured for much of the past two months and didn’t play against Boise State.

In their place, sophomore Roger Jones Jr. and Max Mustell started at the safety positions.

Finally, perhaps no player was more impactful on defense during a season-ending four-game winning streak than Lincoln Tuiti-Mariner. The sophomore nickel (a position also known as SPUR linebacker for Air Force) made four tackles for loss at San Diego State in the season finale and rode that performance into the transfer portal, where he landed at Southern Utah.

In his place, sophomore Nick Beckwith has started the first three games of the season.

The Falcons also lost sophomore outside linebacker David Santiago to the transfer portal. Santiago has five tackles this season for Michigan State.

Sophomore Jaylin Reese was initially the starter in Santiago’s place, though junior Isaac Hubert has since moved into the lineup.

Football minds can debate if the issues stem from execution or scheme or quality of opponent, but certainly in an era where teams reload in the portal and capitalize on extra seasons of eligibility, the lack of experience certainly is helping Air Force. Injuries and graduation have always been factors, but the portal taking away from the Falcons as it did this year and boosting opponents has only accentuated the issue.

“To be completely honest we’re one guy away on all those big plays,” junior linebacker Luke Fisher said after the loss to Boise State. “One guy away from doing the right job, making the play.

“We should never lose a game when our offense puts up 37 points.”

When asked after the Falcons gave up 49 points for a second consecutive game what he attributed the issues to on the defensive side, Calhoun noted that the team had to “find a way to get older some way.”

“If that’s who we’re going to play with, and we’re lucky to play with, those guys are laying it on the line, we’ve just got to get them physically to come along,” Calhoun said. “If you look, pretty much here on our we’re going to play against older, bigger teams. We’ve just got to grow.”

CSU game time set

The Air Force at Colorado State game on Nov. 28, in Fort Collins (the day after Thanksgiving) will start at 1 p.m. and be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1 The game is the regular-season finale for both teams and their final meeting as Mountain West opponents before the Rams leave for the Pac-12.