Air Force Football – 2013 Spring Update

Spring Summary

Head coach Troy Calhoun had the most physical spring during his seven years there. While they did not have a spring game the Academy went to the extreme during their 15 practices by using the maximum allowable time in regards to pads and hitting. Calhoun wanted to see how durable the players were during spring.

The reason for the intensity increase in the practices was to figure what players would step up, the Falcons have so many starting holes to fill they needed a way to see who could fit the bill.

Kale Pearson should be the Falcons starting quarterback this fall to replace Connor Dietz, that was expected but there was a sense of a competition during spring.

Name a few unknown players who could become stars this season

The quarterback position has the chance to create a star and that is Kale Pearson. That position has the ability to rack up yards on the ground, and even sometimes in the air.

Running back Jon Lee is slated to be the starting tailback and will replace Cody Getz who has graduated. Lee being the starter will provide him a lot of touches and should lead the team in rushing this year. There will be multiple backs who will get yards and touches to keep players fresh, but Lee is the most experienced as he ended 2012 with 545 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry.

Then there is wide receiver Ty MacArthur who could be the real star of the offense. MacArthur was a cog in the offense last year but was not a true stud. He is versatile enough as he had 1,013 all-purpose yards, where he had over 400 yards in the rushing and receiving game, plus a few return yards. MacArthur was to break out last year but he did not reach those lofty expectations, this upcoming year he has the ability to be the face of the offense.

Grade each position group & special teams 

This grading will be based on prior experience and exceptions.

QB — C, Kale Pearson is a junior and has little game experience, however there is upside.

RB — B- , Jon Lee is replacing Cody Getz, but this position always finds a way to get it done.

OL — C, they lose three senior starters, but per usual they should be good to go with their blocking scheme. A ‘C’ is given because it is hard to replace multiple guys.

WR — A, Ty MacAruthur should be a great player in the slot and has the game breaking potential.

Grading the defense is difficult, and they lose five of their seven starters from the front seven and that will be difficult to over come.

DL — B+, They lose one starter from this group of three, but they do return two regular starters and another who has started. This unit has to be better than last year.

LB — D, They need to replace all four starters, and none of the backups were in the top 50 in the Mountain West in tackles.

DB — C+, Mainly because they bring back experience with three starters, however the unit last year was not all that great.

Are there any “surprises” we can expect from this team? 

Well the team went 6-7 last year and that was disappointing, and that was with quarterback Connor Dietz who was with the program for a few years. The defense was the downfall last year, and in 2013 they return just six starters from a poor defense.

Air Force has the type of offense to hang with most teams, but they are breaking in a new starting quarterback, running back and the very important position of fullback.

A bowl game should be expected — as it is every year — as for beyond that they will likely finish with six or seven wins again.

Check out our Air Force 2013 Spring Preview here.

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Jeremy Mauss, the managing editor for the Mountain West Connection provided the information for our Air Force football spring update.  For more Air Force and MWC football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Jeremy on Twitter @MWCConnection.   

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