PHOENIX — Before we head in to the Cheez-It Bowl tonight, we've done our three keys segment all season for WSU football games.
This bowl game is no different so here are our three keys into Friday night's game.
AIR FORCE'S GROUND RAID
We've talked about this a lot the past few days, and really ever since this game was announced, but WSU's defense must be sound against the Air Force triple option offense on Friday night.
Air Force has the No. 3 rushing offense in the country, averaging 293 yards per game, and they've done this without a single player in the top fifty in the country for rushing yards. This is an offense that is going to grind it out against you.
But here's the key: WSU can't get lulled in to Air Force's rushing attack because the Falcons can make the Cougs pay through the air.
Now, we have to remember Air Force doesn't throw the ball that much, but they do have the most efficient passing offense in the country. Their quarterback DJ Hammond is averaging 13 yards per pass this season. Hammond is throwing for big gains and big gains only.
This is not great for the Cougars as explosive plays have been a huge problem for them this season, the majority of which have been passing plays.
MILITARY DISCIPLINE
Another key for WSU is they are going to have to match Air Force's discipline tonight.
I know, crazy. You're telling me a military academy is disciplined?
Air Force is number one in the country for averaging the fewest amount of penalties this season. They've only been penalized 40 times this year, which pencils out to 3.33 penalties per game.
They're also extremely disciplined in their offense. They're second in the country in third down conversion percentage at 55% and sixth in the country in fourth down conversion percentages at 72%.
As I said before, this team grinds their way down the field for the majority of the game, but boy are they successful at it.
On defense, they're pretty disciplined in the red zone. They are 17th in the country in red zone defense, only allowing their opponents to score once they get within Air Force's 20 74% of the time.
Basically to sum it all up, WSU is going to have match Air Force's discipline if they want to win this one.
AIR FORCE VS. COLORADO
Air Force and WSU only had one common opponent this year: Colorado. That game is what I want to look at for my last key.
Air Force defeated Colorado 30-23 in overtime of that game.
Basically, all the numbers I just rattled off about Air Force are reflected in the stats of this game. Air Force is averaging 293 rushing yards per game, they had 284 against Colorado. They went 58% on third down, they're averaging 55% on third down this season. They had four penalties in the game, they're averaging 3.33 per game this year.
DJ Hammond averaged 12.9 yards per pass in this game, he's averaging 13 yards per pass this season. Basically, the Falcons can definitely hang with an average Pac-12 team. That's what the Cougs have been this year.
Two things that I want to point out here: Colorado let Hammond pass for nearly 50 more yards than his average. That's a big deal in an offense that mostly runs. Seems like a pretty big key there.
The other thing I want to point out is that Colorado was down by 13 points with six and half minutes to go and came back to force OT. The only reason why the Buffs didn't win in regulation was that they had a PAT blocked.
WSU's offense is way more explosive than Colorado's. This is a defense WSU can definitely come back against, so keep that in mind if WSU is trailing in the 4th.
GAME INFO
Air Force and Washington State kick off tonight on ESPN at 7:15 P.T.