Air Force vs Lafayette 9/4/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Air Force Falcons meet the Lafayette Leopards Saturday in week 1 college football action at Falcon Stadium. Lafayette finished 2-1 last season and that included one road loss. Air Force is coming off a 3-3 season and enter the 15th year under coach Troy Calhoun.

The Lafayette Leopards averaged 19 points and 231.6 yards per game last season. Lafayette allowed an average of 20.3 points and 272 yards per game last season. Lafayette enters this season with serious question marks at the quarterback position. Jaden Sutton returns after leading Lafayette with 104 rushing yards and a touchdown. Steven Stillianos and Joe Gillette is a returning wide receiver duo that combined for 200 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, Major Jordan returns after leading Lafayette with 21 tackles, Damon Washington had four sacks and DaRon Gilbert had one interception. Lafayette has playmakers on both offense and defense, but this season will be decided if a quarterback can emerge. It’s been a while since Lafayette has had a season worth writing home about.

The Air Force Falcons averaged 24.3 points and 389.3 yards per game last season. Air Force allowed an average of 15 points and 303.3 yards per game last season. Haaziq Daniels returns at quarterback after throwing for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Brad Roberts returns after leading Air Force with over 400 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Kyle Patterson and Brandon Lewis is a receiving duo that combined for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Air Force lost its top-two tacklers, but Corvan Taylor returns after 33 tackles, Brandon Gooding had two sacks and Caleb Humphrey had one forced fumble. Air Force has potential with a young quarterback slowly improving and returning production from one of the better defenses in the country last season. The MWC has become a deeper and more competitive confidence, but Air Force will have a say in who wins this season.

Air Force should be big favorites and should win this game, but 42.5 points is a ton to lay. The Air Force Falcons usually don’t blow teams out with their playing style and this is a lookahead spot with Navy on deck next week. The Lafayette Leopards don’t have much recent success and need to find a quarterback, but they have solid players at other key positions and that could be enough to hang around in this contest. I’ll take my chances with Lafayette and the boatload of points.