Wyoming is the reason to doubt Air Force, and Wyoming is also the reason not to overreact. The Falcons came into Laramie having gone 554 plays without a fumble, going back to last season, and then lost 3 of them, with red-zone penalties wiping out more points. Their option offense is built on not giving the ball away, so that game looks a lot more like a fluke than who they are. One thing that should worry them: Tyler Hughes, Wyoming's mobile quarterback, ran for 109 yards, and one of his runs was a 68-yard score on the game's second play. A defense that gets beaten on the ground just as UConn's running game is rolling has a problem.
This is a tough read on paper. Air Force is 5-2 and beat Nevada, Navy, Northern Illinois and UNLV in a row before Wyoming. That includes a 14-9 grinder over Navy and a 41-31 shootout over UNLV, so the Falcons can win low-scoring or high-scoring games. UConn's season has swung more. The Huskies blew out Southern Miss 48-20 and then dropped back-to-back one-score games, 24-21 to Miami (OH) and 42-41 to Syracuse, before handling Temple and UMass.
Look at the injury report before anything else this week. UConn has been without receiver J. Brown since early October with a concussion and no return date, so the Huskies have shifted to running the ball, and against Air Force that suits them fine. On the other side, Medders' status is the most important unknown in this game. Air Force has already lost one quarterback for the year.
Weather won't be an excuse for either team. The forecast calls for 63 degrees, mostly sunny skies and 3 mph wind at Falcon Stadium, which is about as good as late October gets at altitude. Keep an eye on Air Force's quarterback news and on whether UConn's line can keep pushing people around 2,000 miles from home.