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From Mayday to Mission Ready: Air Force’s New Quarterback Challenge
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- From Mayday to Mission Ready: Air Force’s New Quarterback Challenge
Injuries happen in football. It's an unfortunate bi-product of this beautiful yet violent sport. Some teams get stricken harder with injuries than others, on any given season. And then, there are some trends that are equal parts disheartening as they are hard to believe. Staring down that very same Vulcan Cannon once again, the Falcon's are going to feature their third different starting quarterback of the 2026 season.
When you consider how well things were going even after losing for the season, the Mountain West's leading rusher in yards per game, quarterback Liam Szarka, you still felt good about the rest of their season. Air Force was starting to peak at 5-1 (3-1 MW) under the command of Szarka's successor, Evan Medders. The offense actually seemed to have found another gear, until the injury bug reared its nasty head once again, this time in Laramie, sealing a loss in the standings as manpower. With Medders now out for the foreseeable future, OC Mike Thiessen and the offense are going to have to get another pilot acclimated at the controls of jet.
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At Air Force, they seem to find themselves in this situation at one point or another every season; relying on their depth at the most important position on the field. Probably the worst possible spot to face this dilemma, but that has been the reality for Troy Calhoun many times in his long tenure as head coach. It has been especially true in recent years, with what will likely be their eighth different signal caller to start, since the start of the 2024 season.
It should come as no surprise to learn that Air Force has a 14-17 record since the start of the 2024 season (which includes their current season 5-2 contributions) during this volatile time under center. A stark contrast to the consistency this team enjoyed with the stability that Haziq Daniels brought to the table from 2020 through 2022. During his era as the starting quarterback, Air Force flourished with a 23-9 record over that period of time. I don't know if Haziq Daniels gets the appreciation or recognition he deserves for the way he performed over his career. Truly a Falcon great.
The year after Daniels graduated, Senior Zach Larrier seized control of the offense for a majority of the year, leading them to a 9-4 record, with contributions from Jensen Jones and John Busha. It should be noted, this team was 8-0 before Larrier got dinged up and the team hit a four game losing skid.
Even before the three years of stability that Daniels provided the team, there was very consistent quarterback play for the most part across the prior four seasons. Arion Worthman, Nate Romine (remember this name for later), Isaiah Sanders and Donald Hammond III all contributed to a 31-19 record from 2016 through 2019. The last of those was a special one, with an 11-2 record under a dynamic offense behind Donald Hammond III's control.
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On Saturday UCONN comes to Falcon Stadium, and if Air Force wants to pay the Huskies back for the beating they handed them last November, it will very likely come under the command of a Freshman.
Calling on the Freshman
If you were paying close attention early in the season, when Liam Szarka was perfectly healthy; Mike Thiessen and Troy Calhoun found ways to work Evan Medders into the offense. Not just in clean-up duty, but in sequences of plays of real consequence. This was due to the anticipated attrition we are seeing play out, but also because of the skillsets that Medders exhibits.
If you were one of those who noticed Medders seeing the field earlier in the year, perhaps you noticed the same thing with Howard Fisher IV in more recent weeks? The expectations may very well be that you'll see a whole lot more of him going forward— at least until Evan Medders has been cleared to return. And we know that is not going to be this week, and availability beyond is murky at best.
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It's Fisher IV's time to shine.
No official statement has come out anointing him the full-time starter for the game against UCONN, so lets get that out of the way first. However, based on what we know about the available quarterback play, and the staff's confidence in the Freshman from Dallas, I'd be shocked if he is not collecting a majority of the snaps on Saturday.
It's always unfortunate when an injury is needed to provide an opportunity, but it's also a reminder of the good that can result from something bad. Fisher IV may have been down the depth chart and out of view to start the year, but the fact that he got a jersey every week as a Freshman, and was worked into game action says a lot.
Prior to attending the Prep School, Fisher IV put together a stellar high school career in Dallas, Texas. He was a unanimous all district selection twice, as well as a track-and-field athlete. He can move.
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Again, he is just a freshman, but there is a lot to like about Fisher IV's potential. I would certainly expect to see Kemper Hodges under center to compliment the workload a bit. Maybe Josh Johnson works his way onto the field again as well. But don't be surprised to see a Freshman operating the Air Force offense this Saturday.
Historical Significance
Assuming Howard Fisher IV gets the start on Saturday, he would be the fifth freshman to start a game for Air Force since the mid-1980's. Nate Romine is the only Freshman to start a game under Troy Calhoun's 20-year tenure as head coach. It's not something that happens often at any of the Academies.
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Dee Dowis (1986), Shaun Carney (2004), Tim Jefferson (2008) and the aforementioned Nate Romine, who got his first start (2013) against Notre Dame. These are the four previous freshman to start a game for Air Force. This is an incredibly distinguished list of athletes. Not just all-time greats at Air Force, but Dowis, Carney and Jefferson were Conference (WAC and MWC) All-Timers as well. If your curious just how good any of these guys were, look at any number of statistics for Air Force All-Time leaders; you'll stumble over Dowis, Carney and Jefferson's name at every turn. I want to be very careful not to short change Nate Romine here either; were it not for injuries (plural) you would see his name etched in multiple categories also.
The intent isn't to heape Hall-of-Fame hype upon the shoulders of Howard Fisher IV here. It's to recognize that be it by injury or athletic distinction, the opportunity for a Freshman to start at Air Force is a rare one. But when it's happened, the body of work for the cadets career has more often than not been spectacular. For Fisher IV, any win would result in Bowl eligibility. I don't need to remind Air Force fans about that drought. Much less that one still drying up in West Point.
