Taven Birdow: FB · Air Force · #33.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Taven Birdow
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. Third year in the same backfield at Air Force. One game to point at: 124 rushing yards and 2 rushing TD against San José State — Week 5, 2019.
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 14.4% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 6.1% of his carries. 6 carries for 11 yds vs Hawai'i; 25 for 124 vs San José State.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
11 of 13 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (84.6%). 16 of the team's 47 inside-the-5 carries (34.0%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Colorado Springs Gazette Oct 26Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-7vs Colgate | 9 | 80 | 8.9 | 0 | 41 | |
| Wk 3 | W 30-23@ Colorado | 12 | 67 | 5.6 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 4 | L 19-30@ No. 20 Boise State | 18 | 67 | 3.7 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 5 | W 41-24vs San José State | 25 | 124 | 5.0 | 2 | 17 | Season-high 124 yds |
| Wk 6 | L 25-34@ Navy | 15 | 40 | 2.7 | 1 | 6 | |
| Wk 7 | W 43-24vs Fresno State | 18 | 73 | 4.1 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 8 | W 56-26@ Hawai'i | 6 | 11 | 1.8 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-7vs Utah State | 18 | 88 | 4.9 | 1 | 11 | |
| Wk 10 | W 17-13vs Army | 5 | 13 | 2.6 | 0 | 6 | |
| Wk 12 | W 38-21@ Colorado State | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 13 | W 44-22@ New Mexico | 17 | 110 | 6.5 | 1 | 31 | |
| Wk 14 | W 20-6vs Wyoming | 13 | 47 | 3.6 | 0 | 6 | |
 Bowl | W 31-21vs Washington State | 20 | 108 | 5.4 | 1 | 13 | |
| Total | 180 | 839 | 4.7 | 7 | 41 |
Bowl · 2019
W 31-21
vs Washington State · neutral site
108 rush yds (20 car) · 1 TD
With K. Remsberg — 178 rush yds (26 car) · 1 TD · C. Scott — 38 yards per punt · 2 punts · 39 long
The plays that mattered most
Season context: team record and system
3 seasons under Troy Calhoun, all run-heavy offenses — 21-16 over that span.
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
46%160 carriesFumble rate
1.7%3 of 180 carries · 2 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.7 yds/carry on 180 carries · 8% explosive (10+ yds) · 46% success rate.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 70.8 | 4.9 | 0.7 |
| Road6g | 51.0 | 3.9 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 79.9 | 5.1 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 46.7 | 3.7 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Troy Calhoun
Pass share
14.5%
124 pass / 731 run
Plays / game
65.8
13 games
Team sack rate
3.0%
133 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2019
180 carries and 1 catch in 13 games, about as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at Air Force, 1,465 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
1 coachPlayed every college season under Troy Calhoun.
