Air Force Football: Firewall Necessary

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As we approach the mid-point of the 2026 season, the Air Force Falcons are positioned a lot better than they were this time a year ago. Despite an early loss to North Dakota State and a victory over Nevada that yielded some warning signs, this is a team in the thick of the Mountain West hunt. As they approach a critical matchup with UNLV who is undefeated in Conference play (2-0), both teams enter the contest fresh off of quality victories. The Reb’s handed North Dakota State their first loss of the year, while Air Force featured a quarterback making his first collegiate start, in a dominant looking debut.

Playing to Personnel

If your going to roll into another teams stadium with a quarterback making their first career start, it’s hard to imagine a better scenario than what played out in DeKalb, Illinois last week. Evan Medders number has been called, as Liam Szarka suffered a season ending injury late in the Falcons win against Navy the prior week. In his first opportunity as the starter, Medders looked very comfortable, operating the offense very efficiently.

Multiple things factored into the ultimate result, which was a 28-7 victory of Northern Illinois. The obvious, Medders was prepared for the moment. The Sophomore signal caller had been getting reps in live game action all season long, spelling Szarka. Now, Spelling and starting are two very different tasks. Being “the guy” operating Mike Thiessen’s offense requires a lot, and under Medders control they didn’t miss a beat. In fact, the offense thrived.

I would submit, much of the reason for the success we saw on Saturday was due to the scheme being much more like what we have traditionally seen from a Troy Calhoun led team. That is an offense that is predominantly run directly under center, featuring a fullback at the center of attack. Until this game, it felt like the fullback position, and Owen Allen in particular, were underutilize. All of that changed last week, and it resulting in a relentless rushing attack that ran the Huskies into the ground.

When the dust settled, “Air” Force only called one pass play, and Medders didn’t end up throwing the ball. They didn’t need to throw it, as the Falcons rushed for 439 yard, punishing the NIU defense all night long. The offense got nearly 200 yards out of the fullbacks, Allen alone gaining 100, finally being featured. Yes, that means well over 200 yards came right down Main Street.

Medders chipped in 114 yards, while slot back/receiver Matt Long did damage to the tune of 76 yards on the outside. That doesn’t include a 75 yard carry he had called back on a holding penalty. The rushing offense was dynamic, stressing the defense across every blade of grass. Vintage Falcon football.

All ingredients to a successful recipe for Air Force success.

Showing Out

We gave Medders and the offense their flowers, and rightfully so. However, the defense has put together back to back strong showings. They stifled Navy, and followed that up with a dominant performance against NIU. Now, you have to acknowledge that the Huskies might not be the Mountain West’s most imposing offense, but you can’t ignore the improvements we’re seeing from Steve Russ’ defense.

And you cannot talk Air Force defense without mentioning Blake Fletcher. There is a reason Fletcher’s a Lombardi Award finalist at the midpoint of the season. He has been as impactful as any player in the Mountain West. As linebackers go, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone playing better than 6 anywhere in the country. He’s not just a tackling machine (8th Nationally in Total Tackles), but he’s been sideline to sideline an every down player, collecting 2.5 TFL’s and a pair of interceptions (1 returned for a TD). It should be noted, Fletcher’s 55 tackles are 26 more than their next leading tackler, which happens to be his partner in the linebacking corp, Dallas Dailey. And Dailey is another guy playing at a very high level.

Air Force will need contributions from all of the aforementioned if they want to continue their winning ways, as they face a very good UNLV team that appears to be peeking at the same time.

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