Game 12: Air Force at Boise State

Game 12: Air Force at Boise State
Friday, Nov. 24, 2 p.m. MT, Albertson Stadium, Boise, ID

THE GAME
• Air Force travels to Boise, Idaho, to take on Boise State Friday, Nov. 24, at 2 p.m. in Albertson Stadium. Air Force is 2-0 this season on Friday, winning vs. Utah State in Falcon Stadium and at San Jose State.
• Air Force and Boise State are meeting for the 12th time overall, all as conference foes. Boise State leads the series, 7-4. Air Force is 2-3 at home and 2-4 at Boise State.
• Air Force can earn a spot in the Mountain West championship game Dec. 2 with a win at Boise State this week and a UNLV win vs. San Jose State. UNLV would win the regular season title with a 7-1 mark and Air Force would be second at 6-2. The Rebels would host the Falcons. Any three-way tie would result in computer rankings deciding the participants.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
• Television: FS1
Dan Hellie (play-by-play), Petros Papadakis (analyst)
• Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs, 104.3 the Fan in Denver, SIRIUS XM 391
Jim Arthur (play-by-play), Jesse Kurtz (analyst)
• Live Stats: airforce.statbroadcast.com

GENERAL INFORMATION
Category........................... Air Force ............................................................... Boise State
2023 Record...................... 8-3 (5-2 MW)......................................................... 6-5 (5-2 MW)
Current Streak................... L 3......................................................................... W 2
Rankings (AP/Coaches)... -- / RV.................................................................... -- / --
Last Week......................... L 31-27 vs. UNLV.................................................... W 45-10 at Utah State

Head Coach....................... Troy Calhoun.........................................................Spencer Danielson
    Alma Mater (Yr).............. Air Force (1989)....................................................Azusa Pacific (2012)
    School Record.............. 129-81 (17th season).............................................1-0 (1st season)
    Career Record............... Same..................................................................... Same
Record vs. Opp.................. 4-7........................................................................ First Meeting

Location............................ Colorado Springs, CO...........................................Boise, ID
Website............................ GoAirForceFalcons.com........................................BroncoSports.com
Conference....................... Mountain West...................................................... Mountain West
2022 Record......................10-3 (5-3 MW/T2nd).............................................. 10-4 (8-0 MW/1st MD)

THE SERIES
• Air Force and Boise State are meeting for the 12th time overall, all as conference foes
• Boise State leads the series, 7-4
• Air Force is 2-3 at home and 2-4 at Boise State
• Boise State has won five of the last six in the series
• Air Force defeated Boise State, 24-17, in 2021 in the last meeting in Boise, ID
• Boise State defeated Air Force, 19-14, last season at Falcon Stadium
• The teams first played Oct. 22, 2011, at Boise State, resulting in a 37-26 Boise State win

Year by Year
2011 - BSU 37-26 (A)
2013 - BSU 42-20 (A)
2014 - AF 28-14 (H)
2015 - AF 37-30 (A)
2016 - AF 27-20 (H)
2017 - BSU 44-18 (A)
2018 - BSU 48-38 (H)
2019 - BSU 30-19 (A)
2020 - BSU 49-30 (H)
2021 - AF 24-17 (A)
2022 - BSU 19-14 (H)
Site is for AF

LAST SEASON
(Oct. 22, 2022) Boise State defeated Air Force, 19-14, in Falcon Stadium. The Broncos jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter while holding Air Force to -1 total yards. The Broncos extended the lead to 16-0 in the second before Haaziq Daniels got the Falcons on the board with a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 16-7. Boise State added a field goal to take a 19-7 lead at the half. Brad Roberts cut the lead to 19-14 with a three-yard touchdown run with 9:15 to play. The Falcons had one last chance on their final drive, but a fourth down pass was batted away by Boise State to preserve the win. The Broncos finished with 342 total yards and were led by Taylen Green, who hit 16-of-24 passes for 227 yards. Air Force finished with 271 total yards and were held to 175 rushing. Roberts led the way with 90 yards on 25 carries. The defense, which held Boise State scoreless and to 122 total yards in the second half, was led by Jayden Goodwin's nine tackles.

LAST TIME AT BOISE STATE
(Oct. 16, 2021) Air Force defeated Boise State, 24-17, to record its first win on the blue turf since 2015. The Falcons used a pair of Brad Roberts touchdown runs and one by Haaziq Daniels to take a 21-14 halftime lead. Following a scoreless third period, the Falcons extended the lead to 24-14 with a Matthew Dapore field goal with 2:49 left. Boise State cut the lead to 24-17, with a field goal with 49 second left and recovered an onside kick. Tre Bugg III sealed the win for Air Force with an interception on Boise State's first play. Air Force finished with 366 total yards, including 307 rushing. Roberts led the way with 138 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Daniels added 83 yards and a score on 21 carries. The defense was led by Alec Mock, who had a then-career-best 11 tackles. Bugg III added eight. Boise State had 337 total yards and were led by quarterback Hank Bachmeier, who hit 23 of 36 passes for 259 yards and a score.

AIR FORCE'S PATH TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST TITLE GAME
• Air Force can earn a spot in the Mountain West championship game Dec. 2 with a win at Boise State this week and a UNLV win vs. San Jose State. UNLV would win the regular season title with a 7-1 mark and Air Force would be second at 6-2. The Rebels would host the Falcons.
• An Air Force win and a San Jose State over UNLV would force a three-way tie with Air Force, UNLV and San Jose State at 6-2. The three would all be 1-1 in head-to-head competition. The next tiebreaker swould be computer polls.
• An Air Force loss at Boise State would eliminate the Falcons from the title game.

ROAD/NEUTRAL SUCCESS
Air Force has won five of the last six true road games, including four of the last five in Mountain West play dating back to last season. The Falcons have won eight of the last 10 away from home overall.

Date................ Opponent (Site).................... Result
Nov. 11, 2023.. at Hawaii*............................. L 13-27
Nov. 2, 2023.... vs. Army (Denver, CO)..........L 3-23
Oct. 28, 2023... at Colorado State*................W 30-13
Oct. 21, 2023... at Navy................................. W 17-6
Sept. 23, 2023. at San Jose State*................W 45-20
Sept. 9, 2023... vs. Sam Houston (NRG).......W 13-3
Dec. 22, 2022.. vs. Baylor (Fort Worth, TX)...W 30-15
Nov. 26, 2022.. at San Diego State*..............W 13-3
Nov. 5, 2022.... vs. Army (Arlington, TX)........W 13-7
Oct. 15, 2022... at UNLV*.............................. W 42-7

AIR FORCE 39-11 LAST FOUR SEASONS
• Air Force is 39-11 the last four full seasons, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Air Force is 8-3 this season and finished 10-3 in 2022 and 2021 and 11-2 in 2019.
• Air Force, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Utah and Oregon are the only teams to win 10-plus games the last three full seasons (2019, 2021, 2022).
• The Falcons are 23-8 in conference play during the same stretch. Air Force is 5-2 this season and was 5-3 and finished second in the Mountain Division last season. Air Force shared the Mountain Division title with a 6-2 mark in 2021 and finished second with a 7-1 mark in 2019.

LAST WEEK
UNLV defeated Air Force, 31-27, in Falcon Stadium. The Rebels scored on their opening drive with a Jayden Maiava to Ricky White 78-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead. Air Force recovered from a slow start offensively and tied the score with a 55-yard touchdown run by John Lee Eldridge III. Jensen Jones, making his first career start at quarterback, scored on a one-yard run to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter. Matthew Dapore added a 27-yard field goal and Jones added a second one-yard scoring run to push the lead to 24-7. UNLV added a touchdown run from Vincent Davis and Dapore closed the half with a 42-yard field goal to make it 27-14 Air Force at the half. UNLV cut the lead to 27-21 with a Donavyn Lester touchdown run. The Rebels took the lead for good, 28-27, on a Maiava to Kaleo Ballungay touchdown pass. Jose Pizano added a 39-yard field goal to make up the final margin. Air Force's last chance ended with a turnover on downs after a first-and-goal at the UNLV 10. UNLV had 465 total yards, including 351 passing. Maiava hit 15-29 passes for 339 yards and two scores. Air Force finished with 404 total yards, including 344 rushing. Dylan Carson led the way for Air Force with 104 yards. Jones finished with 88 yards rushing and two scores.

LAST WEEK'S GAME NOTES
Team Notes
• Air Force forced its first turnover in two games (Colorado State) with the Trey Taylor first-quarter interception. The Falcons had been a -10 in turnover margin the last two games.
• UNLV scored a touchdown on its opening drive, which marks the third straight game the opponent has scored on its opening drive. Air Force punted on its opening drive for the third straight game and sixth time this season.
• Air Force rushed for 344 yards, its most in five games since rushing for 356 yards against Wyoming on Oct. 14.
• Air Force had 404 yards of total offense, its first game over 400 yards since gaining 414 yards against Wyoming.

Individual Notes
• Senior QB Jensen Jones made the first start of his career. Jones rushed for career highs in yards and touchdowns with 88 yards and two touchdowns. His previous high for rushing yards was 56 at Hawaii last week while his previous high for touchdowns was one, done several times with the most recent vs. San Diego State earlier this season. Jones also caught a pass for four yards.
• Senior OLB Bo Richter recorded three tackles with a sack. He has had a tackle for loss in seven straight games and 10 of 11 this season.
• Senior DB Trey Taylor recorded his third interception of the season, which leads the team. The interception is the sixth of his career which leads all active Falcons.
• Junior WR Cade Harris rushed for a career-high 33 yards. He recorded a career-long run of 29 yards. His previous rushing high for yards and long run was 28 vs. San Diego State earlier this season.
• Sophomore FB Dylan Carson recorded career highs in rushing with 16 carries and 104 yards. His previous highs came last week at Hawaii with 13 carries for 87 yards.
• Sophomore P Carson Bay punted a career-high eight times for 344 yards (43.0 average). His previous high for punts was seven vs. Navy earlier this season.
• Junior PK Matthew Dapore recorded a career high with two field goals. He has kicked two field goals in a game five times this season and 13 times in his career. Dapore went over the 200-point mark for his career and now has 205 points, which moves him into 11th place in Air Force history.
• Junior DB Trey Williams had a career-high nine tackles. His previous high was seven last week against Hawaii. He also had a pass breakup.
• Senior DL PJ Ramsey recorded a sack, giving him a team-leading 7.5 on the season. Ramsey had four tackles.
• Sophomore QB John Busha was 1 for 2 passing for 21 yards. It was the first-two passes thrown in his career.
• Senior WR Wyatt Wilson had one catch for 21 yards. It was his second game with a reception this season.

Players Mentioned

Carson Bay

John Busha

Dylan Carson

Haaziq Daniels

Matthew Dapore

John Lee Eldridge III

Jayden Goodwin

Cade Harris

Jensen Jones

Alec Mock

PJ Ramsey

Bo Richter

Brad Roberts

Trey Taylor

Trey Williams

Wyatt Wilson

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