Air Force Football: Will Falcons fly or fizzle in 2018?
Defense
The service academies often struggle on defense because of their lack of athleticism which is the dominant trait of any great defense. The Falcons defenders are the antithesis of the Crimson Tide defense with hulking 280 pound linebackers who can run with receivers in man coverage.
At Air Force, they’ve struggled with keeping a consistent defensive performance from year to year and the team’s records have depicted that. In 2017, Air Force’s defense finished ranked 118th overall defensively per the S&P+. Steve Russ, the defensive coordinator, is entering his sixth season calling the plays for the Falcons 3-4 scheme.
Under Pressure
The Falcons got almost no pressure on the quarterback in 2017; that’s rare in a 3-4 scheme that usually prides itself on blitzing and disrupting the passing game. Air Force had only 10 sacks all season and lost linebacker Jack Flor who logged three of them. Flor also took his 93 tackles into graduation with him. Also departing are Grant Ross and Marques Griffin, leaving voids of 97 and 65 tackles, respectively. Losing the top three tacklers and your leading pass rusher from an already porous defense could put Troy Calhoun and his staff back on the hot seat to end 2018.
Kyle Floyd who played an up-safety slash nickel back type role in ‘2017 returns for his senior season. Floyd logged 60 tackles and an interception a year ago. Lakota Wills is a pass rushing linebacker that made 47 tackles, six tackles for loss, and recorded two sacks as a freshman a year ago. They’re the two stars that combine for seven returning starters from last year’s defense that can hopefully improve enough to get back to .500.