Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
12 of 13 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (92.3%). 8 of the team's 30 inside-the-5 carries (26.7%).
Did not play in Air Force’s last 4 games.
Howard Fisher IV started the last one, W 35-26 vs UConn, Oct 31.
Air Force’s next game: at Army, Sat Nov 7, 7:30 p.m. ET · CBS
Northern Illinois · W 28-7
No pass attempts.
UNLV · W 41-31
No pass attempts.
Wyoming · L 14-28
No pass attempts.
UConn · W 35-26
No pass attempts.
Szarka has pass attempts in 4 of Air Force’s 8 games: none in the other 4.
Dashed line: 300 yards.
“Medders is such a good runner. I'm a big fan of Szarka but Medders is awesome.”
11 stories in the last 60 days, from 9 outlets.
Air Force QB Liam Szarka out for season: What’s next
Mountain West Connection +1 Oct 5
Liam Szarka
Two seasons in the Air Force quarterback room to date. First career honor, 2025: All-Mountain West. On tape: 103 passing yards and 88 rushing yards against North Dakota State, Week 2, 2026.
296 passing yards · 1 passing TD · 391 rushing yards
Play style
Runs when the pocket breaks down.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
12 of 13 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (92.3%). 8 of the team's 30 inside-the-5 carries (26.7%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
from 9 outlets
Air Force QB Liam Szarka out for season: What’s next
Mountain West Connection +1 Oct 5 · 2 outlets
from 11 outlets
Air Force QB Liam Szarka out for season: What’s next
Mountain West Connection +1 Oct 5 · 2 outlets
Each week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | Grade | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | SK | RUSH | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-0vs Duquesne | 3/5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | — | 0 | 51 | ||
| Wk 2 | L 32-38vs North Dakota State | 5/10 | 103 | 0 | 1 | 10.3 | — | 1 | 88 | Season-high 103 yds | |
| Wk 4 | W 36-33@ Nevada | Solid | 5/12 | 92 | 1 | 1 | 7.7 | 73.2 | 1 | 171 | |
| Wk 5 | W 14-9vs Navy | 6/11 | 82 | 0 | 2 | 7.5 | 36.7 | 0 | 81 | ||
| Total | 19/38 | 296 | 1 | 4 | 7.8 | — | 2 | 391 |
Week 4 · 2026
W 36-33
at Nevada
171 rush yds (33 car) · 2 TD · 92 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 73.2
Edged out Nevada on the road in a shootout.
With W. Duncan — 45.3 yards per punt · 3 punts · 2 inside the 20 · C. Cremascoli — 12 points · 43 long · 100 percent on field goals
The plays that mattered most
Tied for 10th in the nation in rushing touchdowns.
| Stat | His | Nation | Mountain West |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing yards | 296 | T-181st of 370 | 10th of 26 |
| Yards an attempt | 7.8 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Touchdown passes | 1 | T-202nd of 370 | T-13th of 26 |
| Passer rating | 103.1 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Completion percentage | 50.0 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Rushing yards | 391 | 20th of 370 | 4th of 26 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 7 | T-10th of 370 | 1st of 26 |
Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game. He has 38 attempts of the 80 needed after 8 games, so the rates are not ranked.
| Rk | Quarterback | Yards | TD | INT | Att | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Micah Alejado | 2,186 | 9 | 6 | 337 | 6.5 |
| 2 | Luke Weaver | 1,810 | 11 | 8 | 242 | 7.5 |
| 3 | Nathan Hayes | 1,710 | 13 | 8 | 228 | 7.5 |
| 4 | Jackson Arnold | 1,660 | 13 | 4 | 212 | 7.8 |
| 5 | Taron Dickens | 1,617 | 8 | 6 | 247 | 6.5 |
| 6 | Toa Faavae | 888 | 5 | 7 | 101 | 8.8 |
| 7 | EJ Colson | 687 | 7 | 5 | 99 | 6.9 |
| 8 | Carter Jones | 654 | 3 | 2 | 89 | 7.3 |
| 9 | AJ Bianco | 397 | 2 | 3 | 71 | 5.6 |
| 10 | Liam Szarka | 296 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 7.8 |
| 11 | Luke Duncan | 265 | 2 | 5 | 55 | 4.8 |
| 12 | Luke Moga | 248 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 6.5 |
| 13 | Daniel Rolovich | 193 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 7.4 |
| 14 | Evan Medders | 92 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6.6 |
| 15 | Robert McDaniel | 48 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3.7 |
| 16 | Trey Drake | 35 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8.8 |
| 17 | Brady Davidson | 27 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4.5 |
| 18 | Braesen Leon | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22.0 |
| 19 | Jalen Macon | 20 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1.5 |
| 20 | Josh Johnson | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5.0 |
| 21 | Bjorn Jurgensen | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1.6 |
| 22 | Alex Orji | 9 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1.8 |
| 23 | Preston Brown | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.0 |
| 24 | Reeve Slone | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1.0 |
| 25 | James Laubstein | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| 26 | Kemper Hodges | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.
Ratings of the games shown run from -3 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Kibbee and Hrynciw saw 11 of the 39 charted throws.
| Receiver | Targets, caught | Targets | Catches | Yards | Throw depth | After catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Kibbee | 6 | 5 | 89 | 9.0 | 7.8 | |
| Adam Hrynciw | 5 | 2 | 41 | 20.6 | 1.0 | |
| Sylas Maiava-Alaimalo | 5 | 2 | 34 | 14.2 | 3.0 | |
| Matt Long | 4 | 3 | 60 | 14.5 | 4.3 | |
| Jonah Dawson | 4 | 3 | 39 | 12.5 | 2.3 | |
| 6 others | 10 | 4 | 33 | 9.2 | 4.8 | |
| No receiver charted | 5 | All four interceptions are among these | ||||
Play by play: 39 passes, 19 caught, 296 yards; the box score counts 38 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.
2 seasons under Troy Calhoun, all run-heavy offenses — 10-10 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 68.0 | 0.0 | 7.2 | 1.0 |
| Road1g | 92.0 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 74.0 | 0.2 | 7.3 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Troy Calhoun
Pass share
11.7%
68 pass / 515 run
Plays / game
72.9
8 games
Scheme: Run-heavy.
| Liam Szarka | Threw in 4 of 8 games · 19 of 38, 296 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT · 7.8 yards an attempt on 38 attempts · ran for 391 yds, 7 TD |
| Evan Medders | Threw in 5 of 8 games · 8 of 14, 92 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · 6.6 yards an attempt on 14 attempts · ran for 490 yds, 6 TD |
| Josh Johnson | Threw in 1 of 8 games · 2 of 4, 20 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 5.0 yards an attempt on 4 attempts · ran for -3 yds, 0 TD |
| Kemper Hodges | Threw in 2 of 8 games · 0 of 2, 0 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 0.0 yards an attempt on 2 attempts · ran for 401 yds, 6 TD |
Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.
Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Liam Szarka. Gray: Evan Medders, Kemper Hodges, Josh Johnson. From the play by play.
Player standing · 2025
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #36 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-Mountain West
Based on 2025: #2 of 14 Mountain West QBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 49% of returning players who ranked #1–3 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 43–54%).
2026 is in progress.
Honored in a first season.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
All-Mountain West mention (2025)