Air Force Falcons defensive end Zach Payne is one tough dude. He played through a torn ACL against the Army Black Knights last week, but his day is over after a knee injury on Saturday. According to Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette, Payne re-injured the knee he hurt back in September while going to practice on Saturday afternoon. This will likely end the senior's football career at the Academy.
While the Falcons are close to becoming bowl eligible (they need seven wins this year since only one of their two wins over an FCS team counts towards eligibility), this knee injury likely won't allow him to play in later December when the Falcons should be in a bowl game.
Payne was going to play through the rest of the season with the ACL injury before this current one occurred.
For more on Saturday's game, check out Mountain West Connection, SB Nation's Mountain West Conference blog, our Wyoming blog Cowboy Altitude and to SB Nation Denver.