Air Force had four players named to the all-Mountain West football team, according to an announcement from the conference. Senior offensive lineman Costen Cooley was selected for first-team honors, while senior offensive lineman Jack Burnett, senior nose guard Payton Zdroik, and junior inside linebacker Blake Fletcher were named to the second team.
Several other Air Force players received honorable mention recognition. Senior tight end Bruin Fleischmann, senior punter Luke Freer, senior wide receiver Cade Harris, sophomore safety Roger Jones, Jr., and sophomore quarterback Liam Szarka were among those acknowledged.
Cooley and Burnett played key roles on an offensive line that contributed to Air Force finishing fourth in the nation in rushing with a 261.4-yard average per game. This marks the 12th consecutive year that Air Force has ranked in the top 10 nationally for rushing and the 38th time in 39 years. The Falcons also led the country in yards per completion at 17.96 and scored over 30 points in each of their first six games for the first time since 1998. Additionally, they finished fourth nationally in time of possession with an average of 33 minutes and 52 seconds per game.
Zdroik ended his season with 36 total tackles and six tackles for loss totaling 24 yards. He led Air Force and was among Mountain West leaders with nine quarterback hurries. Fletcher topped the Falcons’ defense with 108 tackles—the most by any Falcon since Jordan Pierce recorded 117 in 2014—and is one of only three Air Force players to surpass 100 tackles in a season over the last decade. He led his team in tackles during seven games this season and averaged nine per game, ranking third within the conference and placing him at number twenty-one nationally.
Fleischmann had a standout season as a tight end, making 21 catches for 370 yards and six touchdowns—setting a program record for touchdown receptions by a tight end at Air Force.
Freer averaged 44.5 yards per punt with a long kick of sixty yards; he downed eleven punts inside the twenty-yard line and had eight punts travel fifty or more yards. Despite not having enough attempts to qualify for official rankings, he was recognized as a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.
Harris led all Falcon receivers with thirty-five catches totaling five hundred eighty-four yards and two touchdowns—figures not seen since Jalen Robinette’s thirty-five receptions in 2016 or Brandon Lewis’s six hundred receiving yards in 2021. Harris also contributed three hundred twenty-one rushing yards with four touchdowns, accumulating one thousand sixty-five all-purpose yards across the season.
Jones, Jr., placed second on his team for tackles (seventy-six), including thirty-nine solo stops—a team high—and earned conference defensive player of the week honors after notable performances against Navy and Wyoming.
Szarka led Air Force both on ground (nine hundred twenty-two rushing yards) and through passing (one thousand two hundred ninety-four passing yards). His thirteen rushing touchdowns topped conference rankings; he finished second overall in average rushing yardage per game within Mountain West play. Szarka became Air Force’s first quarterback since two thousand fifteen to exceed two thousand total offense yards over a season.
The Falcons concluded their season with four wins against eight losses overall (three wins out of eight games within Mountain West play). After starting one win to five losses, they secured victories against Wyoming, San Jose State, and Colorado State—winning their final match against Colorado State forty-two to twenty-one—which earned them possession of the Ram-Falcon Trophy for an eighth time over ten years.
