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1983 Air Force

10–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 1983, game by game: won at Colorado State 34–13; won vs. Texas Tech 28–13; lost at Wyoming 7–14; lost vs. BYU 28–46; won at Navy 44–17; won vs. UTEP 37–25; won vs. Utah 33–31; won vs. Army 41–20; won vs. Hawai’i 45–10; won at Notre Dame 23–22; won at San Diego State 38–7; won vs. Ole Miss 9–3+35−18Won 34–13 at Colorado State+21Colorado StateWon 28–13 vs. Texas Tech+15Texas TechLost 7–14 at Wyoming-7WyomingLost 28–46 vs. BYU-18BYUWon 44–17 at Navy+27NavyWon 37–25 vs. UTEP+12UTEPWon 33–31 vs. Utah+2UtahWon 41–20 vs. Army+21ArmyWon 45–10 vs. Hawai’i+35Hawai’iWon 23–22 at Notre Dame+1Notre DameWon 38–7 at San Diego State+31San Diego StateWon 9–3 vs. Ole Miss+6Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atColorado StateW 34–⁠1358%
Sep 10vsTexas TechW 28–⁠1372%
Sep 17atWyomingL 7–⁠1454%
Sep 24vsBYUL 28–⁠4645%
Oct 8atNavyW 44–⁠1746%
Oct 15vsUTEPW 37–⁠2585%
Oct 22vsUtahW 33–⁠3160%
Oct 29vsArmyW 41–⁠2080%
Nov 5vsHawai’iW 45–⁠1060%
Nov 19atNotre DameW 23–⁠2238%
Nov 26atSan Diego StateW 38–⁠770%
Dec 10Bowls & playoffvsOle MissIndependence BowlW 9–⁠368%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ole Miss 9–⁠3 in the Independence Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 13: 18
  2. Wk 14: 17
  3. Wk 15: 16
  4. Final: 13

Led the nationMike Brown: yards per carry (8.5)

Bobby Dodd Coach of the YearKen Hatfield, coach

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 2nd in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 13
Points
367–⁠221
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1636 +121 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 38 of 108; offense No. 25, defense No. 64
SRS
8.0 No. 35 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fisher DeBerry
Defensive coordinator
Fred Goldsmith
Captain
All seniors
Offense
Wishbone triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

1983 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU7–⁠011–⁠17
Air Force5–⁠210–⁠213
Wyoming5–⁠37–⁠5
New Mexico4–⁠36–⁠6
Utah4–⁠45–⁠6
Colorado State4–⁠45–⁠7
Hawai’i3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
San Diego State1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠9–⁠1
UTEP0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.