2020-21 Season Preview: Air Force Falcons
By: Dakota Isgrigg | July 1st | @dakota_isgrigg | @BoilerInTexas
We are officially on the countdown to the 2020-21 Purdue football season! Even though there are still a lot of details to be figured out because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems as though the precautions taken in early 2020 will allow us to have college football in some form or fashion. So we here at Boiler In Texas will continue on as if the season will be taking place and Purdue will be suiting up this fall. So over the weeks leading up to the presumptive start to the season, we will be going week by week and taking a look at the season for our Boilermakers and their opponents every week.
Purdue 2020 Football Schedule:
9/5: @Nebraska
9/12: Memphis
9/19: Air Force
9:26: @Boston College
10/10: Rutgers
10/17: @Illinois
10/24: @Michigan
10/31: Northwestern
11/7: @Minnesota
11/14: Wisconsin
11/21: Iowa
11/28: @Indiana
Air Force, like Memphis, is coming off one of their best seasons in recent history. They finished 11-2 with their only losses coming at Navy (34-25) and at Boise State (30-19). Unfortunately, these losses kept them from any major team honors on the year. The loss to Navy kept the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy (Trophy between all service academies) out of their hands, and their loss to Boise State prevented them from reaching the Mountain West title game. They did finish the season with a win over Washington State in the Cactus bowl 31-21. This will only be Purdue’s third game against the service academies as they have lost to Navy 32-0 in 1944 and Navy again 17-13 in 1926.
Air Force 2020 Football Schedule
9/5: Duquesne
9/12: Boise State
9/19: @Purdue
9:26: @Fresno State
10/3: Navy
10/10: @San Jose State
10/17: Hawaii
10/24: @Wyoming
11/7: @Army
11/14: Colorado State
11/21: New Mexico
11/27: @Utah State
Air Force Offense
I hope you enjoy quick games because the clock will be running when Air Force has the ball. Air Force, like the other service academies run the ball. A lot. The three service academy teams lead the nation in rushing offense last season with Navy first, Air Force second, and Army third. There is no reason to believe that this year will be any different. On the other hand, they were one of the bottom teams in terms of passing the ball finishing 125th in the nation in passing yards per game at 123.2 yards per game.
Kadin Remsberg: RB
Remsberg returns as the Falcons’ top rusher. In 2019 he finished with 1,050 yards and 8 touchdowns. Expect to see a heavy dose of Remsberg out of the backfield with Air Force running the option.
Donald Hammond III: QB
Hammond returns as a senior to lead the option one more time after finishing 2019 with 553 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Leading the option can challenging and Hammond did a good job in orchestrating the offense. Through the air Hammond finished with 1,316 yards and 13 TD’s against just 6 interceptions.
Daniel Morris Jr./Ben Peterson: WR
Air Force only lists eight receivers on their 2019 roster. Comparing them to Purdue, who feels like has 20 receivers on the roster, they are truly leaning into the option and going with the less is more mentality. The Falcons lose their two biggest threats at receiver as Geraud Saunders (30 rec, 746 yards, 7 TD’s) and Ben Waters (22 rec, 658 yards, 7 TD’s) to graduation. They also accounted for 52 of Air Force’s 68 completed passes last season. The next two up appear to be the combo of Daniel Morris and Ben Peterson, the only potential issue is that they only had a combined 4 receptions last season.
The Air Force offense is designed to take advantage of defensive mistakes. The option has always been deemed the great equalizer in college football and the service academies show it very well. They only look to pass as a misdirection and they feel like they have the opposing defense in position to take advantage. They will run the ball, control the clock, and try to make fewer mistakes than the opposing team. If Purdue is going to have success with stopping the Air Force offense, they will have to stay fundamentally sound and focus less on making one big play and focus on making every simple play. If they can make the simple play and stay sound in their assignments, Purdue will have chance to have success on defense.
Air Force Defense
On the defensive side of the ball Air Force will look to create pressure with a 3-4 defense and they will have a bit more trouble with the loss of their top pass rusher in Mosese Fifita from 2019. Last season they ranked seventh nationally in rush defense holding teams to 100.5 ypg and even with the loss of Fifita. When the opposing team moves to the pass, the Falcons fair pretty averagely as they finished ranked 62 in the country allowing 230 ypg.
Linebackers
Leading the interior of the defense will be Demonte Meeks who had a great 2019 finishing with 98 tackles, 4 sacks, and 4 QB hits. Meeks will be joined by a former top recruit TD Blackmon.
Secondary
In the secondary they have Milton Bugg III who finished 2019 with 3 interceptions, 7 pass-breakups, as well as 49 tackles.
Even with the difference in the Falcons’ rush defense and pass defense, this will still be one of the better defenses Purdue will face in 2020. The Air Force defense gave up less than 20 points-per-game in 2019 and even with losses in Mosese Fifita as well as in the secondary, there is no reason to believe that their defense will step back at all. All service academies will play sound fundamental football and even though they struggled more against the pass last season, Purdue will have to play sound offense and limit turnovers. If the Boilers are able to limit turnovers, our weapons on offense should give them a chance.
Air Force Special Teams
Air Force lost both their punter and kicker from 2019. The loss of their kicker Jake Koehnke will be a bigger blow than most as he was 13-13 on field goals with a long of 57. In the return game, the Falcons don’t threaten much when returning punts or kickoffs as they only averaged 1.2 yards in punt returns and 20 yards per kick return. They are more comfortable playing the field position/possession game in an attempt to even up the game.
Game Outlook
The triple option will always be the great equalizer in college football and this game will be a great example as to why. Purdue should have the advantage in personnel as well as a physical advantage. That being said, having to face the option when you rarely, if ever, see it can be tricky and the Purdue coaching staff will have to work hard to ensure the defense is ready. It may be tough for the defense as they will have to shift gears from Memphis the game before, a game with a dynamic and explosive offense, to an offense that wants to control the ball. Air Force will have no issues going on a 15+ play 10+ minute drive just running the ball if Purdue can’t get them off the field.
On the other side of the ball, as will be the case all season, is where Purdue will have the advantage over most defenses. Rondale Moore and David Bell should have no trouble taking advantage of their speed and skill over the Falcons secondary. If the Purdue quarterback can just get the ball into the receivers’ hands, Purdue should have little trouble on offense. A big question surrounding the Boilermaker offense that will follow it all season, is whether or not they will be able to generate anything in the run game. If Purdue can have some balance on offense, the passing game will become that much more potent.
This should be a very intriguing game to see as well as compare to the week 2 match up with Memphis. Playing service academies is always interesting and is usually memorable in one fashion or another. This should be a fun one!
Score Prediction
If Purdue is going to have a successful season, they must win this game at home. Air Force had a lot of success last year but they do have some losses that will show up this season. They, like the other service academies, will always be an extremely disciplined team and Purdue will also have to play disciplined football when facing the option. If they can do that, Purdue should win this game.
Score Prediction: Purdue 42, Air Force 28
What do you think will happen when the Falcons visit Ross-Ade?
As Always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!
