Air Force piled up yards and even took to the sky, but Broncos’ D finally held

COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. (Idaho Statesman) — What’s in a name? For the Air Force football team, typically not much.

The Falcons, like the other service academies, are renowned for their run-heavy, triple-option offenses, which often grind opponents into the ground.

But Saturday evening in a shootout with Boise State, the Falcons weren’t just getting yardage with the rushing attack. They were soaring — throwing the ball 20 times, which was nearly as many attempts as the Broncos.

Sophomore quarterback Liam Szarka passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns for Air Force (1-2, 0-2 Mountain West) in a 49-37 loss to Boise State (2-1, 1-0).

The last time this academy was in that neighborhood of passing yardage was 2021, when the Falcons threw for 252 yards in the First Responder Bowl.

“There are a lot of things that we’ve got to clean up schematically, fundamentally. There’s some lack of eye control at times,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said after the game. “But it’s a hard offense to defend.”

Defense became a problem for both teams in what was Boise State’s conference opener. The Broncos racked up 592 yards of offense and the Falcons countered with 514. Their option offense churned out 268 yards on 55 carries, with Szarka and running back Dylan Carson each eclipsing the 100-yard mark.

The dual-threat aspect made life difficult for the Broncos, whose secondary gave up six passes of at least 20 yards and 10 passes of at least 10. Szarka completed 13 of 18 attempts, meaning he averaged about 19 yards per completion.

A 74-yard throw from Szarka to Cade Harris — who torched Boise State with eight receptions for 177 yards — left senior corner Jeremiah Earby grasping at air before pulling Harris down at the 1-yard line. The Broncos especially struggled in the final quarter, with Szarka throwing for 153 yards and both scores to keep his team in the game.

“It’s definitely harder with the triple option, harder to see that kind of stuff coming. It’s all designed to mess with your eyes and your keys,” redshirt senior linebacker Marco Notarainni said. “Knowing that, we need to do a better job getting pressure on the quarterback as well as communicating with the back end.”

Notarainni ended the night with 10 total tackles, just one behind Ty Benefield, who led the team and was a bright spot. Danielson said there are still coverage issues to fix, but Benefield enjoyed a fun night of playing shallow to ballhawk any runners or receivers running short routes.

The junior safety had multiple big hits and iced the game with an interception on Air Force’s final drive.

“Ty Benefield is one of the best safeties we’ve ever had here,” Danielson said. “I’m not one bit shocked that he plays well in the game, because he practices that way.”

Danielson also had praise for senior defensive lineman Braxton Fely, who helped clog the middle of the line. The Falcons rushed for 268 yards but they had 4.8 yards per carry — and against a potent triple-option attack, sometimes that’s plenty good enough.

“I have a lot of faith in Braxton. He plugged up a lot of holes today, made my job a hell of a lot easier, and took on a lot of double teams,” Notarainni said. “All the D tackles did, and that’s a really terrible job, and there’s not a lot of glory in that.”