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Calhoun delivering for Falcons
  
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By Ryan Boldrey
Despite losing their last two ballgames, including a 44-10 blowout at No. 15 TCU on Nov. 22, Air Force fans should feel they have a reason to be excited about their football program.
Although, as head coach Troy Calhoun has pointed out throughout the season that the Falcons are “not there yet,” meaning amongst the elite teams of the Mountain West Conference, and nothing has been more evident than the last two outings, for the first time in 10 years Air Force will still be playing football after their final scheduled game… for the second consecutive season.
Two years ago Calhoun took over a program that had suffered three consecutive losing seasons and was coming off a 4-8 campaign in 2006. The so-called experts predicted that the Falcons would finish in seventh place in the nine-team league in Calhoun’s first season. Calhoun’s Falcons responded by finishing in second place at 6-2 in the MWC, going 9-4 overall and making their first post-season appearance in five years.
This year, albeit the Falcons only returned eight starters and were picked to finish a lowly sixth in the league, Calhoun once again had his cadets exceeding expectations and despite losing the final two games of the year — to two ranked opponents — Air Force finished in fourth in league play at 5-3, and at an impressive 8-4 overall.
Signs at this time are pointing to the Falcons, on Dec. 31, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas for a return trip to the Armed Forces Bowl against what should be a representative from Conference-USA (likely 9-2 Tulsa or 8-3 Rice). The next best bet for the Falcons would be the New Mexico Bowl Dec. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M. where they would butt heads against a representative from the Western Athletic Conference (most likely 7-4 Fresno State or 6-5 Nevada).
“I think the three toughest schools to get a bowl game each year are Vanderbilt in the SEC, Stanford in the Pac-10 and Air Force in the Mountain West Conference,” Calhoun said earlier this season. “So when you can have one that’s a quality achievement. You just have to have enough humility to be disciplined on a day-in and day-out basis and that has to be us at the Air Force Academy.”
For the second straight season it has been exactly that at the Academy. And with a team led by a group of talented freshmen and sophomores, the future looks bright on the terrazzo.
Although, as head coach Troy Calhoun has pointed out throughout the season that the Falcons are “not there yet,” meaning amongst the elite teams of the Mountain West Conference, and nothing has been more evident than the last two outings, for the first time in 10 years Air Force will still be playing football after their final scheduled game… for the second consecutive season.
Two years ago Calhoun took over a program that had suffered three consecutive losing seasons and was coming off a 4-8 campaign in 2006. The so-called experts predicted that the Falcons would finish in seventh place in the nine-team league in Calhoun’s first season. Calhoun’s Falcons responded by finishing in second place at 6-2 in the MWC, going 9-4 overall and making their first post-season appearance in five years.
This year, albeit the Falcons only returned eight starters and were picked to finish a lowly sixth in the league, Calhoun once again had his cadets exceeding expectations and despite losing the final two games of the year — to two ranked opponents — Air Force finished in fourth in league play at 5-3, and at an impressive 8-4 overall.
Signs at this time are pointing to the Falcons, on Dec. 31, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas for a return trip to the Armed Forces Bowl against what should be a representative from Conference-USA (likely 9-2 Tulsa or 8-3 Rice). The next best bet for the Falcons would be the New Mexico Bowl Dec. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M. where they would butt heads against a representative from the Western Athletic Conference (most likely 7-4 Fresno State or 6-5 Nevada).
“I think the three toughest schools to get a bowl game each year are Vanderbilt in the SEC, Stanford in the Pac-10 and Air Force in the Mountain West Conference,” Calhoun said earlier this season. “So when you can have one that’s a quality achievement. You just have to have enough humility to be disciplined on a day-in and day-out basis and that has to be us at the Air Force Academy.”
For the second straight season it has been exactly that at the Academy. And with a team led by a group of talented freshmen and sophomores, the future looks bright on the terrazzo.
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