Air Force football: Can Falcons build upon one of school’s best seasons?

Solid front-seven returns, but secondary is major question mark

If you had to try and guess the nation’s top 10 run defenses, you would probably not think of Air Force, but the Falcons had the seventh-best run defense and the ingredients are there to have another top-tier unit.

The defensive line was successful at getting pressure last season and defensive end Jordan Jackson is back to lead the group up front after he had 3.5 sacks last season and is in for a great encore in his senior year. Christopher Herrera will step into a full-time starting role this season after having two sacks last year as a backup. Joey Woodring will step into the starting nose tackle spot, and he is undersized at 5-foot-11 but Air Force defenses often employ undersized defenders.

The linebackers will be the strength of the defense and they will be led by seniors Demonte Meeks and Lakota Willis, and the latter will be looking to wrap up his career as a four-year starter. Meeks was second on the team in sacks with four and he also had 98 total tackles. These two will need to lead the group that will be welcoming in two new starters in Caleb Humphrey and TD Blackmon.

The unit that will be under the most pressure this season is the secondary. Three of the four starters and some of the backups are gone from what was a pretty solid unit a season ago. The lone starter returning in the secondary is Tre Bugg and he had three interceptions last season. Trey Taylor is a new starter at safety and he was having a good spring, as Air Force was one of the few that got the majority of their practices in before the COVID-19 pandemic ended spring football.

If this unit can come together quickly, Air Force should field one of the best defenses in the conference and possibly the country.