Air Force football: Can Falcons build upon one of school’s best seasons?
Offense has experience and potential across the board
Assuming that star quarterback Donald Hammond III is eligible to play this season, the Air Force offense should be a force to be reckoned with. He was an effective runner, but was also an explosive and efficient passer as well. He threw for over 1,300 yards last season and ran for over 500 yards and was a big-play threat waiting to happen and ran Troy Calhoun’s option offense to perfection.
If Hammond were to be ruled ineligible this season, the Falcons would be forced to turned to an inexperienced signal-caller. The favorite could be Chance Stevenson, who is the only one competing for the job that has any experience, and he has only thrown two career passes. This offense could be hindered in bad way if Hammond is not able to play this season.
The Falcons had the nation’s No. 2 rushing attack in 2019 and the leading rusher for the option attack is back. Kadin Remsburg is back for his senior season and he had over 1,000 yards rushing last season to go along with eight touchdowns and he averaged nearly six yards per carry. Timothy Jackson was the third-leading rusher on the team last season with over 700 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging over six yards per carry.
The Falcons use a committee approach to running their lethal option attack and it is one of the most devastating in the whole country.
Air Force will have to replace their two leading receivers from last season, Geraud Sanders and Benjamin Waters, and those two guys accounted for nearly 1,400 yards last season and were the only Falcons to catch touchdown passes.
While Air Force employs an option attack that relies on running the football, it is always nice to have threats on the outside that you can count on for big plays off of play action. The two guys replacing Sanders and Waters will be David Cormier and Brandon Lewis who were slated to get plenty of playing time but were ineligible and had to sit out 2019.
The offensive line will surely be a strength for the Falcons this season, especially on the left side. Parker Ferguson and Nolan Laufenburg are back to anchor an offensive line that should be starting five seniors and will be one of the most experienced in the whole country.