Air Force football has all the ingredients to have their first back-to-back double-digit win seasons in more than 20 years.
Midseason last year, Air Force was 3-2 and heading towards their usual finish under head coach Troy Calhoun and that was usually a respectable 7-5 or 8-4 regular season and be a tough opponent in whatever bowl it wound up in. The Falcons found another gear to finish the season and ended the 2019 season on an eight-game winning streak, winning seven of those by double digits and finishing the season ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1998.
Now, the Group of Five is interested in seeing what the Falcons can do for an encore because they have not had back-to-back double digit win seasons in over 20 years and there is now some serious doubt as to whether star quarterback Donald Hammond III will even play this season due to falling out of good standing at the Air Force Academy. Traditionally when cadets fall out of good standing, they lose a season of on-field competition.
The decision on Hammond will be the most interesting storyline leading up to the season for the Falcons and if he is not able to play, it will be hard for Air Force to challenge for the Mountain West title and another double-digit win season.
I would not expect the bottom to fall out completely however, because Troy Calhoun has built a really solid program that plays a physical style of football, running the triple-option effectively and being physical on defense, especially in the front-seven.
This will be an interesting season for Air Force football, as it tries to prove that last season’s excellent squad was not a fluke.