The challenge of playing Air Force early

One of the first things people around the BYU football program noticed when the Mountain West Conference schedule was released yesterday was that the Cougars will be visiting Air Force the second week of the season, on Sept. 11.

The Falcons, of course, present opposing defenses with a triple option offense that they rarely have to prepare for. In general, BYU has learned through the years how to slow down the Falcons’ attack. The Cougars have won six consecutive games against AFA.

But here’s an interesting note: since 1981, BYU is 6-4 against Air Force when the two teams meet in the month of September (and 2-2 when they play in Colorado Springs). By comparison, the Cougars are 14-2 against the Falcons when they play each other after September. Those numbers fuel the thinking popular notion that you don’t want to play Air Force early in the season; you’d rather play them late in the season, when their players seem to wear down.

“I was obviously not hoping for a conference game in week two, but that’s what it is,” Mendenhall said.
Is playing a conference game in week two better than a bye?
“I’m not so sure. I think if I had my druthers, I would rather have a bye after the opener and get a few things fixed, then go on. But that’s not really so relevant now.”

Mendenhall added that playing Air Force early on in the season will somewhat change the dynamics of fall camp — a time when the Cougars will be trying to settle on a starting quarterback. BYU opens the season on Sept. 4 at home against a vastly improving Washington team.

“(Playing Air Force on Sept. 11) will add a different perspective on our fall camp,” the coach said. “Not only will we be deciding on a quarterback at that point, we’ll be preparing for a very good Washington quarterback (Jake Locker), and a senior who’s mobile … There’s going to have to be some time devoted in fall camp to make sure we get at least a few days head start on (Air Force’s offense). A lot to happen in fall camp.”