STORRS, Conn. — UConn’s defense will spend Saturday chasing one of the few offenses in college football that makes a defender question his own eyes.
The Huskies (4-3) visit Air Force at Falcon Stadium, which sits at roughly 6,600 feet above sea level, to face a triple-option attack that bears little resemblance to what most FBS defenses prepare for in a normal week.
The Falcons (5-2) win by running the clock, punishing missed assignments and wearing opponents down. And the altitude only helps that plan.
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UConn beat Air Force 26-16 last November in the first meeting between the two programs, but that was under a different coaching staff. First-year coach Jason Candle will now have to devise a game plan to show they can stay disciplined for four quarters in conditions they can’t fully simulate in Storrs.
“I think (the triple option) stresses your eye discipline, makes you play assignment football and sound football,” Candle said on Monday. “You got to take on blocks with the correct shoulder. You have to have great hand placement. You got to defeat and destruct blocks at a high level, and then you ultimately have to be a great tackling team, or this piles up on you fast.”
Getting adjusted to the elements of playing in Colorado Springs will only add to the list of priorities UConn will have this week.
“You got to make sure the guys are hydrated correctly, they got to eat and they got to have a good week where they get to sleep,” Candle said. “Sometimes you think you're at a certain level of conditioning, and then all of a sudden, you don't feel that way. So, we got to handle it this week the best we can and just make sure that we handle what we can handle.”
Air Force is coming off a 28-14 loss to Wyoming on the road. The Falcons are learning to adjust without starting quarterback Liam Szarka, who is going to miss the rest of the season with a lower leg injury, but that hasn’t stopped them from being one of the best rushing teams in the country.
Air Force is averaging just over 337 yards per game. The Falcons average 5.3 yards per carry behind quarterback Evan Medders and running backs Owen Allen and Rocco Conti as well as full back Gage LaDue.
Medders left in the third quarter against Wyoming, and his status is unknown for Saturday.
UConn knows it must play disciplined throughout Saturday’s game. Defensive back Jayden Davis, a Fresno State transfer who played Air Force two years ago, knows that best.
“What I'm telling the guys is, they have to be ready for all four quarters,” Davis said. “Every single minute of that game is going to be a hard-fought game. ... I know we got a lot of young guys in the back end and guys in the front, but all I tell them is just we got to be detailed and just know our keys, pay attention to what our assignment is and don't get worried about making big plays.”
UConn’s defense has been playing better after an up-and-down start to the season. In its last two wins against Temple and UMass, UConn has given up a combined 201 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Linebackers K’Von Sherman, John Lista and Hayden Pegg have been key during this stretch, combining for 39 tackles in that span.
“We've done a good job of executing our job,” Lista said. “Sometimes guys want to go above and beyond, and I think our players have done a really good job of just trusting the system, trusting the coaches, trusting each other and going out there and just executing.”
Playing disciplined also means steering clear of penalties. UConn is the ninth most penalized team in the country, a habit that gets more costly against an offense built to control the clock.
“You can't go down 14 or 21 points here because you don't have the possessions on the back end to try to catch up,” Candle said. “I think that's where it becomes really problematic if you get behind, and it limits it on the back end of it.”
The stakes go beyond one trip west. A win Saturday would give UConn its fifth victory of the season and leave it one win short of the six needed for bowl eligibility, with games remaining against North Carolina, James Madison Old Dominion and Wyoming.
A loss would send UConn home at 4-4 and needing two wins from its final four games, with little room for error.
Saturday won’t decide whether the Huskies play in December, but it could decide how stressful the rest of the schedule feels.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: UConn football faces triple-option and altitude at Air Force