Air Force Falcons Football Can Repeat Late-Season Offensive Success This Year

The 2024 college football season was a disappointing one for the Air Force Falcons, who were amongst the teams that underachieved the most last fall.

They managed to go only 5-7, the first time since 2018 that the team failed to finish with at least a .500 record. It was a major letdown after Air Force went 9-4 the previous campaign, reaching as high as No. 17 in the rankings.

A major culprit for the team’s shortcomings was an anemic offense.

The Falcons averaged 18.9 points per game, which was No. 125 in the country out of 134 teams.

Three different quarterbacks saw action; Quentin Hayes, John Busha and Josh Johnson. They combined to complete 60-of-136 pass attempts for 994 yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

It was a real struggle to move the ball, averaging only 4.6 yards per play throughout the year, as they endured a seven-game losing streak after defeating Merrimack in the season opener.

However, the offense did find a rhythm down the stretch, scoring 117 points over their last four games, all victories. In the first eight games of the campaign they managed to score only 110 points.

Hopefully that level of success can carry over into 2025, as Air Force is amongst he teams with the most returning production on the offensive side of the ball.

As shared by Bill Connelly of ESPN, 68% of their production on offense from 2024 is coming back in 2025, which is No. 27 in the country.

That may not be viewed as a good thing given how much they struggled to score throughout last fall, but the high note in which they finished the season on provides optimism moving forward.

Unfortunately for head coach Tom Calhoun, he will have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball.

For how much they have coming back on offense, they have lost on defense.

The Falcons are bringing back only 43% of their stellar defense in 2025, which is ranked 107th in the country.

There could be a flip of the script next season, as Air Force could be a dynmaic offenisve team that has some struggles slowing down their oppoentns from moving the ball and scoring.

Overall, the team is slightly below average when it comes to returning production, as their 56% ranks 72nd.

When compared to the other service academies, the Falcons are in better shape than the Army West Point Black Knights, who are 86th but trail the Navy Midshipmen, who are No. 34, by a considerable margin.

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