The Air Force Falcons are heading into an extremely difficult month as they travel to play the Navy Midshipmen and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They then host the San Diego St. Aztecs and travel to take on the Boise St. Broncos. Now it will get even more difficult as the Falcons will be without four defensive starters.
Two injuries were suffered in the Tennessee State win. Cornerback Chris Miller suffered a leg injury and will be out at least a month while defensive end Zach Payne is possibly going to miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
The other two players who are going to be out through November and possibly longer are linebacker Patrick Hennessey, who suffered a thumb injury, and nose guard Ryan Gardner, who is out with a knee injury.
Plus there is safety Brian Lindsay. He suffered a groin injury and was held out against Tennessee State for precautionary reasons, leaving his playing status for Saturday against Navy as uncertain. Air Force is also most likely going to be without linebacker Ken Lamendola who suffered a hamstring injury for the Navy game.
The injury bug hit Air Force hard, but the team is still confident the defense will perform:
"It is tough when you see, ‘Dang, our best defensive lineman just went down,' or ‘Our cornerback just went down,'" safety Jon Davis said. "But we've got guys coming in off the bench that can make plays, too."
Air Force will definitely need their backups to step up through their brutal October schedule.