Author: Brent Briggeman

Air Force is playing for more than bowl eligibility. It is playing for more time. “I think everybody’s goal is to go 4-0 and just keep this team together in an extra game,” junior fullback Owen Allen said following a 26-16 victory at San Jose State, the first of those hoped-for four wins. Six wins…

AIR FORCE PLAYER OF THE GAME Payton Zdroik, sr., defensive lineman Playing an hour from home in front of about 20 friends and family members, Zdroik thought he might catch a touchdown. A San Jose State pass had been batted backwards, and a brief struggle had begun to grab it. “That was insane,” said the…

SAN JOSE, Calif. – This 26-16 victory was a redemption story for Air Force. A senior cornerback, standing a few yards from where he had dropped a chance for an interception two years ago, grabbed his first pick. A defense that struggled to stop the pass kept the nation’s top passing attack from throwing a…

Air Force (2-6, 1-4 MW) at San Jose State (3-5, 2-2) Kickoff: 4 p.m. MT, CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif. TV/Stream: FS1 – channel 11.1 in Colorado Springs on Comcast/Infinity (Channel 55/775 HD), DirecTV (Channel 219) and Dish (Channel 150). The game will also be streamed through Fox Sports website and app. Broadcast crew: Eric Collins…

A series of close games – mostly losses – has provided at least one practical advantage for Air Force. For a team trying to develop a number of young players, virtually ever snap has occurred in a situation that truly mattered. “You know how close you were,” senior nose guard Payton Zdroik said. “You know…

South Dakota scored 16 consecutive points in the fourth quarter Friday, speeding away as it handed the Air Force women their first loss of the season 75-50 in Vermillion, S.D. The only lead of the game for the Falcons (1-1) came on the game’s opening basket from South Dakota native Jayda McNabb. From there, Air…

Familiarity has not bred contempt between longtime foes Troy Calhoun and Ken Niumatalolo. The pair have squared off as head coaches in all but one season since 2007, but the competition stays confined to the football field. “Now, for about 60 minutes there, I mean, you want to ram into each other’s head about as…

Clear your desks, Air Force secondary. It’s time for another test. The Falcons, with a pass defense that ranks 130th 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…

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…

With four weeks remaining, the overall tenor of Air Force’s football season is yet to be determined. At play for the Falcons (2-6, 1-4 Mountain West) is a spot on a spectrum that runs from bowl eligibility as the best-case scenario to a 2-10 record that would match the worst in program history. The Falcons…