The UConn Huskies’ defense played a top-flight game last Saturday in a 35-16 win against UMass, holding the Minutemen to 53 rushing yards on 22 carries.

They had better be ready to duplicate that effort – and multiply it by who knows how much – Saturday afternoon when they meet Air Force at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs, Colo. The kick-off is set for 3:05 pm ET.

The two teams met last year on UConn's home field, with the Huskies winning 26-16.

The run defense for UConn (4-3) has been strong, limiting opponents to 107.6 yards per game, good for 28th among FBS teams. But the defense has not seen a rushing offense like the Falcons’.

Air Force (5-2) employs the flexbone triple offense, which emphasizes the run. The Falcons average 337.4 yards per game on the ground, putting them No. 2 in the nation. That figure sandwiches them between No. 1 Army and No. 3 Navy, which also employ their long-used triple option.

The Falcons have six players who have rushed for at least 200 yards. The list starts with a pair of quarterbacks – Evan Medders and Liam Szarka, who have put up big rushing numbers.

Medders has 73 carries for 490 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and six touchdowns. Szarka has gained 391 yards (4.3 ypc) and scored seven times.

A third quarterback, Kemper Hodges, has run 36 times for 201 yards (5.6 ypc) and two TDs.

UConn head coach Jason Candle is very aware of the operation of the offense run by Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun. Candle called the Falcons a “really quality opponent.”

“Very disciplined football team,” Candle told reporters this week. “You have to go earn everything that you get. Got to do what we can to limit the rushing attack and try to slow that thing down.

“We got to try to somehow, some way get them off schedule and force them into some third-and-long situations because when they're on schedule and doing what they need to do that way, this is a really tough operation to stop.”

UConn has struggled defending the pass, allowing 284.7 yards per game to rank 136th in FBS.

The Air Force passing game is not likely to make a difference. Five Falcons quarterbacks have combined to throw only 65 passes with 32 completions for 444 yards, throwing four touchdowns and four interceptions with five sacks. That works out to 67.6 yards per game.

Huskies quarterback Kalieb Osborne leads an offense that averages 244.6 yards passing, 51st in the nation. He will go against a proficient passing defense that ranks 10th among FBS teams, allowing 163.9 yards.

Candle shared some thoughts on how the Huskies can leave Colorado with a victory, beyond stopping the prolific running game.

It starts with consistency.

“We’ve been able to dictate and control the tempo of the games where we’ve played really, really well,” he said. “And there’s a couple times there and couple quarters where we haven’t, and that’s where we’ve had our struggles. But, for the most part, we’ve been able to dictate the tempo and keep pace and get the playmakers the ball.”

And, UConn must take care of the ball and limit Air Force’s possessions because when the Falcons get the ball, they tend to hold on to it for a long time. Air Force has punted just 15 times on the season, trailing only Southern California

Air Force is the NCAA leader in time of possession – 36 minutes, 34 seconds. UConn averages just under 30 minutes per game.

“They do a good job squeezing the air out of the ball on offense and limiting the other team's possessions,” Candle said. “So, you’ve got to be clean on special teams and then when you get the ball on offense, you’ve got to do a great job maximizing your opportunities there and the possessions that you do get.”