Day game (73°, sunny and no wind) at Cougar Stadium, Provo (65,899)
A combination of returning home, confidence going into the league race and the jelling at some key positions resulted in a big change in BYU's fortunes.
Unbeaten Air Force went into the game averaging just over 330 yards on the ground and BYU held the Falcons to just 270 yards in total offense.
BYU went into the game averaging just 30 yards rushing and 217 yards a game passing. It finished with 529 yards in total offense as Ty Detmer connected on 20 of 30 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cougars also rolled for 189 yards on the ground as Peter Tuipulotu gathered 79 of those yards on 14 carries.
After a score by Tuipulotu, Detmer threw six yards to Otis Sterling for a 14-0 lead.
Just before halftime, Detmer engineered an 84-yard drive which ended with an 11-yard scoring strike to Sterling.
BYU did not score in the second half as penalties and turnovers plagued the BYU offense.
BYU ended the game with 11 penalties for 116 yards.
Air Force finally scored with 3:34 left in the game as Antoine Banks took a pitch from Rob Perez and scampered around right end. BYU is now 1-3 (1-0).