There was no sense of panic for Air Force following Saturday night’s loss at Utah State but also no delusion that what it showed would prove adequate moving forward.

The Falcons turned the ball over three times, gave up four plays of 30-plus yards and lost 49-30 in the Mountain West opener.

Afterward, the focus immediately turned inward for this team breaking in seven new starters on defense and still playing two quarterbacks.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, to be completely honest,” linebacker Blake Fletcher said. “It wasn’t necessarily what (Utah State) did, it was what we did wrong.”

The Falcons, who were playing just their second game after drawing an off week following their opening victory over FCS opponent Bucknell on Aug. 30, struggled immediately in the game that kicked off at 8 p.m.

The first drive ended when starting quarterback Josh Johnson dropped the ball as he went to make a pitch. Utah State recovered and scored soon after with a five-play, 27-yard scoring drive.

The Falcons then saw their second drive stall after picking up one first down.

“Some mistakes early on hurt us and put us in a mode of offense that we felt we had to play catchup the whole game,” said fullback Owen Allen, who ran for 53 of Air Force’s 266 rushing yards and one of its four touchdowns. “I think that ultimately led to those other mistakes you saw later down the line.

“We’re going to have to take a long look at ourselves before next week, but obviously 430 (total) yards, you’ve got to be happy with that, but those turnovers, that’s going to be the difference between winning and losing.”

Air Force was still very much in the game despite the start, trailing 14-10 at halftime. But then the defense grew leaky, with Utah State scoring on all three third-quarter possessions with long, quick drives that all went at least 74 yards on six or fewer plays.

“We’ve got to be more effective on early downs,” said defensive end Jackson Adams, who had one of two first-half sacks for the Falcons. “Stop some of that momentum early and then they can’t really get going like that.”

There were positives to take from the game.

The Falcons were never lifeless on offense. The turnovers were costly, but there were also four touchdown-scoring drives of 75-plus yards. Drives amassed 13 and 12 plays and resulted in points and the visitors had nearly a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession (though some of that can be credited to Utah State scoring so quickly).

It’s not a dire situation, as was often the case early last year when the Falcons were breaking in an almost entirely new roster and spent weeks searching for an offensive identity as they lost seven consecutive games.

“I think we showed heart, especially when we got down a few scores,” slot receiver Cade Harris said. “Guys still made plays, which was good to see. I think we just shot ourselves in the foot too early and had too many turnovers.”

Finding the answers on defense might be a bit more complex, as Utah State largely moved the ball with ease. The Aggies averaged 8.4 yards per play and quarterback Bryson Barnes completed 17-of-22 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.

“Credit to them, they made some good plays,” coach Troy Calhoun said. “I think the quarterback is a really good player. He’s a guy you have to account for in the run game and at the same time he gets the ball well to the outside. We do need to tackle better and we’ve got to be a lot stronger with the ball offensively.”

The Falcons host Boise State on Saturday, the last visit from the Broncos as a member of the Mountain West and now a critical game if the Falcons hope to remain in the conference hunt before the calendar officially flips to fall.

“We’ll be alright,” Adams said. “We’re ready to go. We’ve got some guys who are young, some veteran leadership that needs to step up, too. So we’ll be fine. We’ve got a lot of games ahead and still high aspirations and goals for the year. Get back to work this week and get ready for Boise.”