Bronco Mendenhall-coached teams haven’t really struggled much against Air Force over the years.
In seven meetings while he was at the coach at BYU, Mendenhall’s Cougars went 6-1 overall against the Falcons. The smallest margin of victory in those wins? Fourteen points.
The Cougars did lose the 2010 meeting convincingly, but that game was the exception, not the rule.
Last year at New Mexico, Mendenhall’s success against Air Force continued. The Lobos defeated the Falcons 52-37, yet another game decided by 14 points or more.
“I admire and respect the job he (Calhoun) does with Air Force every single year. Challenging system to defend. (I) can always expect great effort and toughness and resiliency from the kids who play at Air Force.”
— USU coach Bronco Mendenhall
It has been a different story for Utah State, however.
Over the last decade, the Aggies are 3-5 against Air Force, including two losses in Logan. There have been some thrillers, but also some beatdowns divvied out by the Falcons.
Will things be different for Utah State against Air Force now that Mendenhall is leading the Aggies? That will be determined late Saturday night — kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. MDT — at Maverik Stadium in a game USU is given a better than 60% chance to win, per ESPN’s matchup predictor.
But the Air Force program that the Aggies will face isn’t the same one Mendenhall had great success against while at BYU. Rule changes and the rise of NIL and the transfer portal have seen to that.
What have rule changes meant to the triple-option offense?
The triple option can’t function in the way it used to at the Division I level due to rule changes.
The biggest one, instituted in 2023, banned cut blocking outside of the tackle box. The rule change was made to reduce knee injuries, and it neutered a vital part of triple-option offenses.
“(Cut blocking) is beneficial because our offense is designed to get the ball to the perimeter quickly,” Army coach Jeff Monken told SB Nation. “The linebackers in the box were always the most difficult to block from the perimeter, so we had to block them below the waist.”
Service academies had to adjust, which meant being more creative and disguising what they wanted to do more than they had to in the past.
“When we run inside zone, it’s inside zone that everybody in college football is running. We run the power, it’s the power that everybody else in college football is running. We run GT, counter. I mean, everybody in college football does that,” Monken said. “I’m watching other teams every week do that, so it’s just a presentation that’s different.”
Air Force coach Troy Calhoun now does the same thing, or close to it.
Mendenhall is apt to admit that Air Force isn’t the same as it once was, when BYU and AFA were battling in the Mountain West, though that doesn’t mean the Falcons aren’t a challenge. If anything, AFA might be more of a challenge now. Less predictable on offense overall.
“Quite a bit different, because the rules have changed, and some of the blocking is different,” Mendenhall said. “Air Force does a really nice job just with how creative (they are). There’s option and that’s really effective, but there’s also multiple other types of run game formations (they use) and different things they do.
“So probably more than anyone, their creativity and the way they maximize the personnel they have and how well they adjust in game is really exceptional.”
How has Air Force been affected by the transfer portal and NIL?
It isn’t just on-field rule changes that have altered how Air Force is as a program.
The rise of the NCAA transfer portal and NIL have completely changed how Air Force and the other service academies build their programs.
NIL isn’t a thing for Air Force. Service academy athletes are employees of the federal government, which means they cannot receive any payment of any kind. As “active duty” service members, it is illegal for them to benefit from their name, image and likeness.
So while the rest of the FBS world is operating in a world with NIL collectives and now revenue sharing, Air Force has to operate as it always has.
Making that harder is that players can and do transfer from AFA, while incoming transfers are nonexistent.
Air Force must build its program solely through the high school ranks and has to replace upperclassmen who leave with high school freshmen. There can be no quick influx of talent, no dramatic improvements from one season to the next.
That is one of the reasons Air Force struggled as much as it did last season. The Falcons were 5-7 in 2024 and lost a lot of games early in the year, before things began clicking and the team reeled off four-straight wins to end the season.
Prior to this season, Calhoun noted that, because of more transfer portal defections, it might take some time this year before Air Force settles in.
“Each year is certainly unique,” Calhoun said in July at Mountain West media days. “Especially with the amount of roster turnover we have. We will play very, very hard. My gut tells me we will play good football late in the season, but it may take us six or eight games to get to that point.”
What does Utah State need to do to be successful vs. Air Force?
While Air Force might not be what it once was, Utah State still has a healthy amount of respect for the Falcons.
“I admire and respect the job he (Calhoun) does with Air Force every single year. Challenging system to defend,” Mendenhall said. “(I) can always expect great effort and toughness and resiliency from the kids who play at Air Force. The qualifications for those kids to play there and what their daily schedule looks like in the rigor is really impressive, and I think that has a lot to do with the history and success at Air Force with Coach Calhoun.”
Respect aside though, the Aggies view the game through a pretty simple lens.
If they do their jobs, their specific assignments, especially on defense, they can handle whatever Air Force throws at them.
“I always see just a physical game,” senior defensive end Enoka Migao said. “I mean, that’s what we can expect from Air Force. They’re just trying to run the ball down the middle. They’re trying to get people confused in their assignments. But it’s the same thing I’ve always seen every year having played them so many times. It’s just physicality, and we got to be prepared to match that physicality.”
Migao continued: “They’re not trying to hide anything. They’re trying to run the ball triple option. It’s just who can do their assignment better for longer, and it’s just comes down to discipline and execution. So whoever can execute and has the most discipline on their assignments — they’re going to win the game."
