Lots at stake for Falcons in regular-season finale

Plenty of tangible achievements are at stake Saturday for Air Force when it plays at No. 19 BYU in its regular-season football finale.

With a victory, the Falcons would secure, at worst, a third-place finish in the Mountain West Conference. They would put themselves in the running for berths in the league’s top two postseason contests – the Las Vegas and Poinsettia bowls. And they’d post at least eight regular-season victories for the third season in a row – a run unmatched in academy history.

But there’s also something less tangible – yet in many ways far more important for the Air Force program – on the line in this afternoon’s contest. Something junior cornerback Reggie Rembert described as “a respect thing.”

While Air Force is headed to a bowl for the third straight season, it has yet to notch a marquee victory in 2009. The Falcons have held serve by beating all the annual opponents it beat a year ago. But none of those teams currently has a winning record.

Should the Falcons lose this afternoon, “everybody would be like, ‘Oh, they went seven-and-(five), but they didn’t beat anybody worth anything,’” Rembert said. “So to go up and beat a Top 25 team would definitely give us a lot more respect from people around the country.”

And certainly within the league. In Troy Calhoun’s three seasons as coach, the Falcons have established themselves as the top team in the MWC’s second tier. But they’ve had trouble breaking through against the league’s “Big Three” of BYU, TCU and Utah. Air Force is 2-14 against those teams since 2004, including 2-6 in Calhoun’s tenure.

This season, however, the Falcons stayed closer to unbeaten and No. 4 TCU than any of the Horned Frogs’ other nine victims, losing 20-17, and they took No. 23 Utah to overtime in Salt Lake City. A victory over 8-2 BYU, sophomore quarterback Tim Jefferson said, “would give us a chance to make a statement.”

That statement being, “We’re not just ‘The Best of the Rest,’” Jefferson said. “We do belong up there with the top of the conference – BYU, TCU and Utah.”

Added senior tight end Sean Quintana: “I think if we go out there and beat BYU this week it’ll be a big step toward us being talked about with those other teams.”

It won’t be easy, however, as BYU historically has been Air Force’s nemesis. Of the nine teams on this year’s schedule that the Falcons have played 10 or more times, only BYU has an advantage all-time against Air Force. And it’s not even close. The Cougars have won 23 of 29 meetings with the Falcons, including the past five by 14 or more points each.

“I just think it’s a solid program, and maybe they’ve had the mental edge over us, that we’re looking up at, ‘Oh man, BYU,’” senior center Michael Hampton said. “I wouldn’t say intimidated, but just to know that it has been so long might get to some of the players.”

Hampton, however, said he thinks this season’s Air Force squad will not face any mental hurdles when it lines up against the Cougars.

“I think the way that we played TCU and Utah and the performances that we’ve had lately and the momentum that we’re carrying into the game, I don’t think there’s any doubt here,” he said.

“We’ve got a pretty solid football team, now,” Calhoun said. “As the year’s gone on we’ve made some strides. We’re going to have to play our best game of the year.”