Troy Calhoun will not allow the Air Force to sacrifice in the short term for long term gains.

Specifically, he will not make roster changes specifically in an effort to give younger players more experience to prepare for the 2025 season.

“We won’t do it because of that,” Calhoun said. “We will do it because it gives us the best chance this Saturday in terms of match snaps. Now in practice we will do it. It’s just that everything we do this particular week is all geared toward Saturday night.

This topic was covered by The Gazette because Air Force (1-7) finds itself in this rare rough year in large part because it entered the season with little experience — returning only five starters after that an unusually large class graduated that included remnants of additional seniors. COVID-19 pushbacks.

And Calhoun, earlier in his weekly news conference, acknowledged the value of playing experience when talking about emerging sophomore defensive back Lincoln Tuioti-Mariner.

“You just can’t put a price on the value of the utility of having, I don’t know what that number is, seven or eight games under your belt,” Calhoun said of Tuioti-Mariner.

But when presented with an opportunity — with bowl eligibility gone and service academy games over — to create that playing time for those who will populate the 2025 roster, Calhoun repeatedly said that the team wouldn’t do it.

“I think that’s what you do in practice every day,” he said. “What you do in the weight room, what you do in practice. When you get ready to play a game, we’re going to give our guys every optimal opportunity possible to make the team play the best they can. We owe it to our guys and we owe it to each other too.

Of course, Calhoun’s stance on the issue doesn’t mean that more and more young players haven’t already found their way onto the field.

In the season opener, the Falcons started nine seniors, 11 juniors and two sophomores on offense and defense. Last week, in a 20-3 loss to Army, seven seniors, nine juniors and five sophomores were in the lineup. Injuries played a big role in the roster shakeup.

Junior guard Dylan Carson said the team can see some emerging talent that will help next year, even if that’s not the goal.

“First of all, we’re not giving up this year,” Carson said. “We are trying to win the last four games. We’re building a lot right now and all the kids are getting a lot of playing time. We’re really excited about what’s moving forward, but what we’re concerned about right now is first Fresno State and then the rest of the three teams.