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2009 Air Force

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Mountain West Conference), coached by Troy Calhoun.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 2009, game by game: won vs. Nicholls 72–0; lost at Minnesota 13–20; won at New Mexico 37–13; won vs. San Diego State 26–14; lost at Navy 13–16; lost vs. No. 10 TCU 17–20; won vs. Wyoming 10–0; lost at No. 19 Utah 16–23; won at Colorado State 34–16; won vs. Army 35–7; won vs. UNLV 45–17; lost at No. 19 BYU 21–38; won vs. Houston 47–20+72−17Won 72–0 vs. Nicholls+72NichollsLost 13–20 at Minnesota-7MinnesotaWon 37–13 at New Mexico+24New MexicoWon 26–14 vs. San Diego State+12San Diego StateLost 13–16 at Navy-3NavyLost 17–20 vs. No. 10 TCU-3No. 10 TCUWon 10–0 vs. Wyoming+10WyomingLost 16–23 at No. 19 Utah-7No. 19 UtahWon 34–16 at Colorado State+18Colorado StateWon 35–7 vs. Army+28ArmyWon 45–17 vs. UNLV+28UNLVLost 21–38 at No. 19 BYU-17No. 19 BYUWon 47–20 vs. Houston+27Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsNichollsW 72–⁠085%
Sep 12atMinnesotaL 13–⁠2052%
Sep 19atNew MexicoW 37–⁠1358%
Sep 26vsSan Diego StateW 26–⁠1481%
Oct 3atNavyL 13–⁠1646%
Oct 10vs10TCUL 17–⁠2037%
Oct 17vsWyomingW 10–⁠071%
Oct 24at19UtahL 16–⁠2322%
Oct 31atColorado StateW 34–⁠1657%
Nov 7vsArmyW 35–⁠782%
Nov 14vsUNLVW 45–⁠1778%
Nov 21at19BYUL 21–⁠3835%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsHoustonArmed Forces BowlW 47–⁠2045%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Houston 47–⁠20 in the Armed Forces Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
386–⁠204
Coach
Troy Calhoun
Elo
1603 +74 this season
SP+ rating
4.7 No. 49 of 120; offense No. 95, defense No. 25, special teams No. 33
SRS
8.1 No. 28 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 105
Offensive coordinators
Clay Hendrix, Blane Morgan and Mike Thiessen
Defensive coordinators
Tim DeRuyter, Matt Wallerstedt and Charlton Warren
Offense
Triple option
Defense
Multiple

How good, play by play

  • Offense66th of 120
  • Defense18th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted79th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted15th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0340%0.8466th of 120
Defense-0.0139%0.7918th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.03 off
-0.00 def		40% off
38% def		—79th off
15th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 332% allowed
Defense-0.3own 292% 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.

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for Air Force are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Jake Morin OT★★★No. 1428
Jordan Padgett S★★★No. 1471
James Chambers ILB★★★No. 1530
Dan Zotto WDE★★★No. 1668
Nathan Badger DT★★No. 1693

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.767
Running backs12.00.744
Receivers52.00.758
Offensive line32.30.793
Defensive line42.30.782
Linebackers22.50.789
Defensive backs32.30.761
Athletes and specialists12.00.767
Whole class202.20.772

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.

Roster 95

The 2009 roster

95 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 35 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Mountain West Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
TCU8–⁠012–⁠16
BYU7–⁠111–⁠212
Utah6–⁠210–⁠318
Air Force5–⁠38–⁠5
Wyoming4–⁠47–⁠6
UNLV3–⁠55–⁠7
San Diego State2–⁠64–⁠8
New Mexico1–⁠71–⁠11
Colorado State0–⁠83–⁠9

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