Game 7: Air Force (1-5, 0-4 MW) vs. Wyoming (3-3, 1-1 MW)

Air Force (1-5, 0-4 MW) vs. Wyoming (3-3, 1-1 MW)
Saturday, Oct. 18, 1:30 p.m. MT, Falcon Stadium (39,441), Colorado Springs, CO (USAFA)

FALCONS
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Website: GoAirForceFalcons.com
Conference: Mountain West

COWBOYS
Location: Laramie, WY
Website: GoWYO.com
Conference: Mountain West

THE GAME
• Air Force leads the overall series vs. Wyoming, 31-28-3, and has a 22-21 mark in conference games. The Falcons are 19-12-1 at home, 11-16-2 in Laramie and 1-0 in neutral site games.
• Air Force Athletics will honor the United States Space Force with alternate uniforms beginning this season. The football team will wear them for this week's game vs. Wyoming. All Air Force teams will wear a Space Force alternate uniform for a game or series to honor the service.
• Air Force extended the nation's longest active streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to 91 with a season-high 428 yards at UNLV. Air Force has had 400-plus yards of total offense in each game this season and seven straight overall dating back to last season.
• Air Force has scored 30-plus points in every game this season and seven straight dating back to last season. The six straight to open the season is the longest in the Troy Calhoun era (2007) and most since doing it in nine straight games in 1998.

THE SERIES
• Air Force leads the overall series, 31-28-3, and has a 22-21 mark in conference games.
• The Falcons are 19-12-1 at home, 11-16-2 in Laramie and 1-0 in neutral site games.
• Air Force defeated Wyoming, 34-27, in 2023 in the last meeting in Falcon Stadium.
• Wyoming defeated Air Force, 31-19, last season in Laramie.
• Air Force has won three straight at home in the series, dating back to 2017.
• Air Force and Wyoming did not play in 2020 due to COVID, snapping a streak of 40 consecutive years of games
• The teams first played Nov. 2, 1957, to a 7-7 tie in Laramie

LAST MEETING
(Sept. 28, 2024) Wyoming defeated Air Force, 31-19, to win its fifth straight in the series in Laramie. Air Force took a 13-7 halftime lead behind 13 unanswered points in the second quarter. The Cowboys opened the scoring with a Sam Scott touchdown run. Air Force opened its scoring with a 28 yard field goal by Matthew Dapore. Kade Frew scored on a four-yard run, the first touchdown of his career, to give Air Force the lead, 10-7. Dapore closed the scoring with a 27 yard field goal. Wyoming opened the second half with an Evan Svoboda touchdown run and Tyler King added a second to put the Cowboys in front, 21-13. John Hoyland added a 23 yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-13 early in the fourth. Aiden Calvert scored on a career-long 37 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-19. The two-point conversion failed. Svoboda clinched it for Wyoming with his second touchdown run, this one from 17 yards to make up the final margin. The Cowboys finished with 361 total yards and held the ball for 31:28. Air Force had 320 total yards. Calvert led the rushing attack with 54 yards while Frew chipped in with 52. John Busha hit 6-13 passes for 115 yards. Cade Harris recorded season highs with five catches for 106 yards. Jamari Bellamy led the defense with a career-high 11 tackles.

LAST TIME AT FALCON STADIUM
(Oct. 14, 2023) Air Force overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to defeat Wyoming, 34-27, in Falcon Stadium. The Cowboys jumped to a 14-0 lead with an Andrew Peasley touchdown run and pass. Owen Burk got the Falcons on the board with a 15-yard TD run to cut the lead to 14-7 late in the first quarter. John Lee Eldridge III tied the score midway through the second quarter with a 17-yard touchdown reception from Zac Larrier. Following another Peasley TD pass, Matthew Dapore kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 21-17 at the half. The Falcons opened the second half with a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown march that took the first 10:13 off the clock and took their first lead, 24-21, when Larrier capped the drive with a one-yard run. Dapore added a 43-yard field goal to make it 27-21 with 11:31 left in the fourth. Peasley threw his third TD pass of the game to tie it at 27-all. Trey Taylor kept it tied, blocking the PAT. Eldridge III clinched it for Air Force with a 58-yard scoring run to make up the final margin. Air Force finished with 414 total yards, including 356 rushing. Larrier led the way with a career-high 111 yards rushing while Emmanuel Michel chipped in with 97 yards. The defense was led by Taylor, who had a season-high 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and the blocked PAT. Alec Mock added 10 tackles and Bo Richter had two tackles for loss and a sack.

LOOKING AT WYOMING
• Wyoming is 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Mountain West play. The Cowboys scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to beat San Jose State, 35-28, last week.
• Wyoming is coached by Jay Sawvel, who is in his second season. He was the defensive coordinator at Wyoming for four years prior to being named head coach.
• Wyoming defensive tackles coach Deonte Gibson was defensive ends coach at Air Force in 2024. Joe Caufield, associate AD for football operations, was the director of football operations at Air Force in 2024.
• Wyoming linebackers Brayden Johnson and Evan Eller each rank in the top-50 players in terms of grading by Pro Football Focus. The two are also second and third graded linebackers in the MW this season. Guard Caden Barnett is the top graded guard in the Mountain West this season according to Pro Football Focus.

AN AIR FORCE WIN WOULD...
• Air Force would improve to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the Mountain West.
• Air Force would improve to 2-2 at home this season.
• Air Force would improve to 32-28-3 all-time vs. Wyoming, including a 23-21 mark in conference games. The Falcons would improve to 20-12-1 at home in the series.
• Air Force would win its fourth straight at home in the series dating back to 2019.

AIR FORCE HONORING SPACE FORCE
Air Force Athletics will honor the United States Space Force with alternate uniforms beginning this season. The football team will wear them for this week's game vs. Wyoming.
All Air Force teams will wear a Space Force alternate uniform for a game or series to honor the service. The Space Force is partnering with Air Force Athletics to provide the uniforms for each team.
The Academy first honored the service with the 2022 edition of the Air Power Legacy Series uniform. The Falcons wore the uniforms for the Navy football game in Falcon Stadium on Oct. 1.
"We are thrilled to unveil this collaboration with the U.S. Space Force to honor the men and women who make up this important service," Air Force Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said. "As the Space Force's Academy, it is an important partnership that will showcase uniforms for each of our teams to celebrate these incredible teammates."
The new uniforms for each team will feature some of the following elements.
• The uniform will use word marks of Space Force and USSF, in addition to the Delta mark of the USSF.
• USSF typographic Sharpe Sans Display, the official font of the U.S. Space Force.
• The four Space Force Core Values: Courage, Commitment, Connection, Character.
• Fusing together the official mark of the Air Force Academy, the AF, with the Polaris star and orbit, showing the connection between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
• Semper Supra, the Space Force motto, meaning Always Above.
The U.S. Air Force Academy is the premier undergraduate commissioning source for the Space Force. Each year, about 10% of each class commissions as Guardians. The Academy has always been the place for space, housing one of the only undergraduate programs in the nation to design, develop and fly real-world satellites, and offering space-focused majors. Additionally, the academy hosts Azimuth annually, which is a three-week program to introduce cadets to operations in the space domain modeled after NASA's two-year Astronaut Training Program."
Space is critical to our way of life and vital to our nation's defense. The Space Force was created to protect US interests in, from, through and to space. The U.S. Air Force Academy is here to train and inspire the men and women who are ready to lead these efforts.

LAST WEEK
Air Force lost a shoot-out at UNLV, 51-48. UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea scored on a 19-yard run with 36 seconds left to win it for the Rebels. Colandrea hit 20-32 passes for 361 yards and a score while rushing for 62 yards and two more touchdowns. He led an offense that scored on seven straight possessions and had 597 total yards. Daejon Reynolds had four catches for 139 yards and a score. Air Force recorded season highs with 603 total yards and 428 rushing yards. The Falcons added 175 rushing yards, 32 first downs and held the ball for 36:51. Quarterback Liam Szarka scored on a nine-yard run with 1:13 left to put the Falcons in front 48-44. Following UNLV's score, the Falcons had a chance to force overtime but a 40-yard field goal attempt was wide right. Szarka finished with 136 yards rushing and two touchdowns and hit 10-17 passes for 175 yards and a score. Junior FB Owen Allen rushed for a career-high 192 yards on 17 carries, scoring a career-best two touchdowns. Blake Fletcher recorded 10 tackles to lead the Falcons, hit fifth double figure tackle game of the season.

LAST WEEK'S POST-GAME NOTES
Team Notes
• Air Force had a season-high 603 yards of total offense, surpassing the previous high of 511 vs. Boise State on Sept. 20. The total ties for 22nd most in a game in program history and the seventh-most in a MW game. It was the most total yards in a game since 691 yards against Northern Iowa in 2022. It was the most yards in a MW game since 619 vs. Utah State in 2021.
• Air Force rushed for a season-high 428 yards. The team's previous high was 269 yards vs. Boise State. The Falcons went over 400 yards rushing or the first time since Sept. 22, 2023 at San Jose State (400 yds). It was the most yards rushing in a game since 461 rushing yards against Nevada in 2022.
• The 1200 combined yards of offense (603 for Air Force, 597 for UNLV) is the fourth-most ever in an Air Force game and is the second-most in a MW game. It is the most combined yards in a game since 1,247 combined vs. Utah State in 2021.
• The 99 combined points is the fourth-most in an Air Force game and the most since 103 combined points vs. BYU in 2005.
• The 48 points scored is the most-ever in a loss. The previous high was 45 points, done three times and most recently against Navy in 2017 (48-45).
• Air Force extended the nation's longest active streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to 91 with 428 yards vs. UNLV. Boise State is second nationally with a 43-game streak entering this week's games.
• Air Force has had 400-plus yards of total offense in each game this season and seven-straight dating back to 2024.
• Air Force has hit 61 straight extra points dating back to the Colorado State in 2023.
• Air Force game captains were Cade Harris (WR), Coston Cooley (OC), Bruin Fleischmann (TE) and Payton Zdroik (DL).

Individual Notes
• Sophomore QB Liam Szarka rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns on a career best 27 carries, becoming the first quarterback with four straight 100-yard rushing games since Beau Morgan in 1996 (Navy, Notre Dame, Hawaii, Colorado State). He is the first player at any position since Brad Roberts in 2022 (Nevada, Navy, Utah State, UNLV). Szarka has rushed for 538 yards the last four games combined (Boise State, 111; Hawaii, 139; Navy, 152; UNLV 136). His two rushing touchdowns marks his third game with multiple rushing touchdowns. Szarka threw for 175 yards, completing 10-of-17 passes and one touchdown. He has thrown for a touchdown in four straight games and at has at least 175 yards passing the last four games.
• Senior TE Bruin Fleischmann recorded two catches for 35 yards, including a touchdown. He has had a catch in all six games this season and has a streak of four straight games with a touchdown catch.
• Junior FB Owen Allen rushed for a career-high 192 yards on 17 carries, scoring a career-best two touchdowns. His previous high in rushing this season was 53 yards at Utah State. He had rushed just seven times for 18 yards in the three games prior to the UNLV game. The 100-yard game is the second of his career. His 192 yards rushing is the most by a Falcon this season and the most since Emmanuel Michel ran for 203 against James Madison on Dec. 23, 2023. His last game with a rushing touchdown was against Utah State.
• Senior WR Cade Harris rushed 12 times for 45 yards and two touchdowns. He scored his first rushing touchdown since the opener vs. Bucknell. The touchdowns give him seven (5 rushing, 2 receiving) overall this season. Harris had four catches for 46 yards. He has caught a pass in every game this season and seven straight games dating back to last season. Harris finished with 91 yards on 16 touches.
• Sophomore WR Jonah Dawson caught a pass in his second straight game. He set career high's in both catches and receptions, with three catches for a team-high 79 yards. He entered the game with one 53-yard catch for a touchdown in his career.
• Junior ILB Blake Fletcher had a team-high 10 tackles. It was his fifth game with double-digit tackles this season and fourth game leading the team in tackles.
• Junior ILB Dallas Daley had a career-high eight tackles. It was his second-straight game with career highs for tackles, as he had seven last week at Navy.
• Sophomore PK Jacob Medina has hit all 26 extra points this season after his six extra points vs. UNLV.
• Senior P Luke Freer punted twice for a 48.0 yard average. He put one punt inside the 20. His long punt went for 59 yards.

STREAKS
• Air Force extended the nation's longest active streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to 91 with a season-high 428 yards at UNLV. Boise State is second with a 44-game run.
• Air Force has had 400-plus yards of total offense in each game this season and seven straight overall dating back to last season.
• Air Force has scored 30-plus points in every game this season and seven straight dating back to last season. The six straight to open the season is the longest in the Troy Calhoun era (2007) and most since doing it in nine straight games to open 1998.
• Air Force has won the time of possession battle in two straight games and five of six this season.

Game 7: Air Force (1-5, 0-4 MW) vs. Wyoming (3-3, 1-1 MW)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Owen Allen

Jamari Bellamy

Owen Burk

John Busha

Aiden Calvert

Dallas Daley

Matthew Dapore

Jonah Dawson

John Lee Eldridge III

Bruin Fleischmann

Blake Fletcher

Luke Freer

Kade Frew

Cade Harris

Zac Larrier

Jacob Medina

Emmanuel Michel

Alec Mock

Bo Richter

Liam Szarka

Trey Taylor

Payton Zdroik

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