Air Force takes fullback off depth chart after injury in season opener
Air Force gave the first hint as to the severity of an injury to Dylan Carson, dropping the fullback off the depth chart.
Carson left in the first quarter of a 21-6 victory over Merrimack on Saturday and did not return.
Now, if the depth chart is an accurate indication, he’ll miss this week’s game against San Jose State.
The Falcons had 16 players make their first starts on Saturday. If Carson is indeed out, a 17th player will make his starting debut against the Spartans.
Junior Terrence Gist, a South Carolina native, is listed as the starter on the new depth chart that was issued Monday. Sophomore Owen Allen is listed second at the spot.
Allen led the Falcons with 16 carries for 63 yards on Saturday. Gist ran 10 times for 29 yards. It was the college football debut for both.
“It was good for those guys to really be involved,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said after Saturday’s victory. “Both those guys had a bunch of tough, hard-nosed inside carries, which helps them going forward. I think more than anything else, just the sheer physicality when you collide with opposing bodies and being really, really strong when it comes to handling the ball, too.”
Carson, a junior, put together a promising sophomore season in 2023 that included 493 rushing yards on 68 attempts (7.3 ypc). He ran for 100-plus yards against UNLV and Boise State in the final two weeks of the regular season and was the returning leader in the backfield in terms of snaps and rushing productivity. He left Saturday’s game after running seven times for 14 yards.
FCS Merrimack Visits Air Force for the Start of the 2024 Season…
Air Force will open the 2024 football season with the typical FCS opponent for Parent’s Weekend on Saturday, August 31 with the kickoff at 1:30 PM MT. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Saturday’s opponent will be the Merrimack College Warriors, who will be playing their first season as an FCS independent team after playing several years in the Northeast Conference. Head Coach Mike Gennetti will be directing the team for the first time after serving the last ten years as the Warrior’s Defensive Coordinator.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
The Warriors feature a run heavy attack featuring a single tailback. Last year’s TB Tyvon Edmonds carried the ball 279 times for 1247 yards, but transferred over the summer to Robert Morris. His backup last year, Brendon Wyatt, returns and will likely take over the starting position. He was effective as the backup, carrying the ball 56 times for 310 yards and 5.3 yards per carry.
However, the real star of the team is wide receiver Donovan Wadley. In 11 games last year, he caught 26 passes for 471 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Warriors like to have him get as many touches as possible and gave him 34 carries for 233 yards for a 6.4 yards per carry average. He also returns kickoffs and led all FCS with a 37.9 yard average and 3 TDs. He has been named to the Walter Payton Award preseason watch list. The Falcon’s number 1 objective will be to contain Wadley.
Senior quarterback Malakai Anthony is returning as the starter for the Warriors. He completes about 50% of his passes and delivered 8 TDs and only 2 interceptions in 7 games. He’s also a threat with his legs and averages about 4-5 yards per carry excluding sacks.
Defensively what stands out for the Warriors is a stout 3rd/4th down stop rate. They allow only 22.55% of third down conversions and 57% fourth down conversions. Senior lineman Tyler Leavy anchors the line with 8.5 TFLs last year. Late down situations for the all-new offensive line will be a good test of their overall progress.
In the defensive backfield, Tre Jordan is the ballhawk with 3 interceptions in 8 games last year.
GAME ANALYSIS
In 16 season openers against FCS opponents, Troy Calhoun led teams are 16-0 with the least number of points put up being 35 points. There has never been anything “fancy” about the offense in these games. The Falcons will run their basic offense with the speed, movement, and execution that comes from running the same basic attack that is practiced every season and every spring session for all four years of each player’s career at the Academy and in most cases the one year at the Prep School prior to entry.
OC Mike Thiessen will call for around 5 passes, just to give his new starting quarterback a warmup for the season. The focus will be on giving the offensive line a chance to gel together in a game environment.
There are a few surprises in the depth chart for the game. WR Jared Roznos is absent from the list with Quin Smith and Tre Roberson as 1 and 2. The Falcons don’t announce injuries, but I’m assuming Roznos has some nagging injury that the coaches want him to recover from before the tougher part of the schedule. On the defensive side of the ball, NG Peyton Zdroik is listed as #2 on the depth chart with James Tomasi as the starter – again I assume this is to avoid aggravating an injury. Also missing is ILB Zach Juckel, who DC Brian Knorr had a lot of praise for in last week’s press conference. Grant Uyl will get the start. Junior Jackson Adams is listed as the starter at defensive end.
On the defensive side of the ball, it will be an opportunity for the Falcons to work on the run defense with so many new players along the line of scrimmage. It’s always a priority to make the other team one dimensional and force them into throwing the ball with long yardage situations. The experienced secondary will be focused on containing Donovan Wadley.
GAME OUTLOOK
Draft Kings has Air Force favored by 30.5 with an over/under of 47.5, implying a score of 39-9. That’s very much in line with what I think will happen. The Falcons should dominate the game with long drives, but a few errors due to inexperience and first game jitters should hold them back from overwhelming the opponent.
My prediction is a 41-10 win; Falcons to cover the spread and I’ll take the over.
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