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2002 Air Force

8–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Mountain West Conference), coached by Fisher DeBerry.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 2002, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 52–3; won vs. New Mexico 38–31; won at No. 23 California 23–21; won at Utah 30–26; won vs. Navy 48–7; won vs. BYU 52–9; lost vs. No. 7 Notre Dame 14–21; lost at Wyoming 26–34; lost vs. No. 24 Colorado State 12–31; won at Army 49–30; won at UNLV 49–32; lost vs. San Diego State 34–38; lost vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech 13–20+49−19Won 52–3 vs. Northwestern+49NorthwesternWon 38–31 vs. New Mexico+7New MexicoWon 23–21 at No. 23 California+2No. 23 CaliforniaWon 30–26 at Utah+4UtahWon 48–7 vs. Navy+41NavyWon 52–9 vs. BYU+43BYULost 14–21 vs. No. 7 Notre Dame-7No. 7 Notre DameLost 26–34 at Wyoming-8WyomingLost 12–31 vs. No. 24 Colorado State-19No. 24 Colorado StateWon 49–30 at Army+19ArmyWon 49–32 at UNLV+17UNLVLost 34–38 vs. San Diego State-4San Diego StateLost 13–20 vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech-7No. 18 Virginia Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsNorthwesternW 52–⁠360%
Sep 7vsNew MexicoW 38–⁠3159%
Sep 21at23CaliforniaW 23–⁠2145%
Sep 28atUtahW 30–⁠2636%
Oct 5vsNavyW 48–⁠787%
Oct 12vsBYUW 52–⁠954%
Oct 19vs7Notre DameL 14–⁠2149%
Oct 26atWyomingL 26–⁠3479%
Oct 31vs24Colorado StateL 12–⁠3144%
Nov 9atArmyW 49–⁠3079%
Nov 16atUNLVW 49–⁠3254%
Nov 23vsSan Diego StateL 34–⁠3879%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs18Virginia TechSan Francisco BowlL 13–⁠2032%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Virginia Tech 20–⁠13 in the San Francisco Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 21
  2. Wk 9: 18
  3. Wk 10: 22
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
440–⁠303
Coach
Fisher DeBerry
Elo
1506 +35 this season
SP+ rating
2.6 No. 60 of 117; offense No. 44, defense No. 67
SRS
4.5 No. 48 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 110
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Captains
Bryan Blew, Leotis Palmer, Tom Heier, Jeff Overstreet, Trevor Hightower and Anthony Schlegel
Offense
Wishbone triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 30— allowed
Defense0.0own 37— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Kyle Faulk WR★★No. 898

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers12.00.767

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

2002 Mountain West Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado State6–⁠110–⁠4
New Mexico5–⁠27–⁠7
Air Force4–⁠38–⁠5
San Diego State4–⁠34–⁠9
Utah3–⁠45–⁠6
UNLV3–⁠45–⁠7
BYU2–⁠55–⁠7
Wyoming1–⁠62–⁠10

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