Air Force coach Troy Calhoun has previously taken exception to the notion that the Falcons are a triple-option offense. He points out how much zone blocking the Falcons use, and how little the team uses the option, at least compared to perception. He was asked about it again today, and said, “We just don’t run that much triple option.”

It’s an interesting topic that I’ll delve into in the upcoming weeks, but I wanted to share Calhoun’s entire thought on the topic. Here was his full answer, which came after today’s scrimmage:

“I remember we were getting back on the plane after playing at West Point, and somebody said ‘Coach, I don’t remember us running any snaps of triple option today,” And I thought about it, and we didn’t. Not a single one. I’m not sure how many times probably in the last 30 years of service academy where a team has won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy without running a snap of triple option. We didn’t.

“Here, you have to be able to run the ball forward and have to be able to utilize the tailback and get in situations where you can execute during 2-minute drills or whatnot, or third downs where you have to use the shotgun.

“I think back to last year, in 2-minute situations, we had a drive right before the half when we were at San Diego, we had a drive right before the half where we completed a touchdown pass to Zack Kauth here at home against New Mexico, and then the bowl game where it’s 7-3 late in the second quarter and about a minute left and we got the ball backed up, and we took it down and kicked a field goal with our 2-minute offense. And pretty much all those snaps we mentioned were out of the shotgun.

“If you’re going to play in a great, great conference – and that’s what we want to do, we want to play in a great conference – then I think you can’t just be a triple-option team.”

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