Air Force Falcons @ Wyoming Cowboys Football Preview

The Air Force Falcons have already scored one significant victory in their attempt to move up the ladder in the Mountain West Conference. Now, they need to make sure that they can sustain momentum within the conference. This Saturday, they will need to show that they can overcome a team which isn't afraid at all to take on the very best programs in all of college football.

Say this for the Wyoming Cowboys, the opponent for the Air Force Academy this upcoming weekend: The boys from Laramie don't run away from a fight. Coach Dave Christensen's club - which dug out enough wins to make and then win the New Mexico Bowl last season (with a stirring late-stage rally against Fresno State in Albuquerque) - just finished a two-year home-and-home series with Texas. In each contest, Wyoming stood within just one score of the lead after 28 minutes of play. One year ago, Wyoming trailed by a slight 13-10 margin at halftime before Texas found its stride in the third quarter. Just two weekends ago - on September 11 - Wyoming trailed the mighty Longhorns by a 13-7 score with two minutes left in the first half, but then lost touch with Texas, which scored late in the first half and initiated the second-half steamroller once again, en route to a 34-7 win. Wyoming competed as well as it reasonably could; the depth on the Texas side of the ledger was simply too much for the Cowboys to overcome.

Having endured a number of body blows from Texas, Wyoming followed that game with a cupcake against Boise State.

Wait a minute, that's not right - Texas and Boise State back-to-back? Couldn't Wyoming have scheduled an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision in between Texas and Boise? Call that a masochistic way of being, but give Wyoming credit for taking on the elites in college football instead of going the cushy route. Wyoming has certainly been toughened and tested over the past two weekends, so as Air Force pays a visit to Laramie for a conference clash, the Falcons have to be on guard against an upset.

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Yes, Air Force dusted off BYU, 35-14, in week two of the season. Yes, the Falcons sent a major message to the rest of the conference and served notice that they're a threat to be taken seriously. Yes, there's a very strong chance that the Academy can challenge Utah for the number two spot in the league, though probably not big, bad TCU for first place. When you roll up 409 rushing yards against BYU's defense and make Bronco Mendenhall look very helpless on the Cougars' sideline, you know you have a high ceiling in terms of talent and capability. Air Force, on the raw merits, should beat Wyoming.

However, one must also realize that Air Force just completed a draining, grueling game at Oklahoma. The Falcons have also been unafraid to play people out of conference, so the seeds exist for a Falcon letdown - a post-Oklahoma hangover, in the Mountain West's most remote location. If the Falcons aren't mentally refreshed and holistically focused for this tilt, they definitely will be ambushed by the Cowboys.

Time to see who's vigilant after playing one of college football's big boys, and who wearily goes through the motions. Game on in Laramie.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer