BYU and Air Force will meet in the middle Saturday, as the two football teams Mountain West Conference opponents and fans find the most satisfying to apply jabs.

The Cougars' ages are too high, the Falcons hit too low.

Criticizing BYU for extending players' careers, thus supposedly gaining strength and maturity through delaying athletic feats by a couple of years, is an age-old missionary argument.

What feels newer -- at least because of some fresh barbs -- is taking shots at Air Force. Reverence for the service academy still reigns, as it should, but there's been some cackling lately that Troy Calhoun's team plays dirty pool.

That would apparently be an extension of the Fisher DeBerry regime, which to many would often blur the line between legal blocks and vicious, illegal ones.

Wow, criticize the academy? Maybe it should be taken as a compliment. Bad teams don't make enemies.

Speaking of bad teams, UNLV coach Mike Sanford called out the Falcons' tactics last weekend. A Colorado Springs Gazette writer pointed out the comments, which were printed in a Las Vegas newspaper after being spoken by Sanford on his post-game show.

The Gazette painted the picture of a man who was "desperate" -- a word used twice -- and there's some truth in that. Sanford, fired shortly after losing at Air Force and not exactly accepting a lot of the blame, had nothing to lose by spouting off after a 45-17 outcome.

But what about the Cougars, in this case the other end of the opinion spectrum? A longtime assistant coach who's had enough success against the academy lambasted some of its methods. Jan Jorgensen, a senior defensive end, has never lost to the school and blurred the line of criticism by calling Calhoun's men "legal, but dirty."

There are a million punch lines that come to mind on Jorgensen's comments, but this being a family newspaper we'll skip ahead to the not-so-funny business of blocking.

Sanford, according to the other media outlets, said Air Force does "a lot of things that are dangerous and unsafe" and that are "not within the rules of football."

It's legal, but with ethical gray area, to block below the waist.

Where there's a lot of howling about foul play is when a player is already being blocked at eye level -- and another player hits below. "Posting" is downright nasty.

Does the academy resort to it?

Depends on who you ask. But let's just say one head coach (Sanford) who gets his butt kicked by the Falcons accuses them of playing unfair. And then there's Barry Lamb -- who's entering his 16th game against Air Force as a BYU linebackers coach, and is 10-5.

Like other Cougars, Lamb starts cautiously. Like other Cougars, he also genuinely appreciates the academy -- their service and devotion, and of course their on-field traits of toughness and never giving in.

"You can't do the same thing year in and year out. They do a great job in preparation," Lamb said. "Different positions, we put pressure on at different times and you cannot miss an assignment. If things don't go well, and when that happens ... when they get us, they get us good. If you don't stop the bleeding, it gets bad pretty quick."

But tell him Jorgensen called Air Force L.B.D. and that tight end Dennis Pitta says, "I'm certainly not going to say that they're a dirty team. I think they play hard and they're well disciplined" ... and Lamb turns from admiring to a little angry:

"The only thing about the Air Force game is they cut so much. They block low on your ankles and knees. It's not legal."

Lamb says that last part three times before elaborating: "But they're good at it. They post and chop a half-dozen, a dozen, maybe 15 times a game. But as long as the officials don't call it, it's legal. So we don't worry about it. It's part of the game."

Good thing we've got good people like Air Force graduates protecting our freedoms. There can be disagreement on the issue and the media serving as the intermediary.

Calhoun, asked by the local paper, said "Show me specifically what one play," when told of Sanford's comments. And when asked if people misidentify legal cut blocks as chop blocks, Calhoun told the Gazette, "That's pretty evident."

What's really evident is this should be the most competitive game since the Falcons confirmed Lamb's fears in 2002 and the following year -- got going and became impossible to stop. The Falcons have to be feeling strong at 7-4, winners of three in a row.

BYU (8-2) has won the last five by an average of 19 points.

Late last year, with the 14-point game in hand, Pitta had his knee injured when a much-smaller defensive back tagged him on what Pitta said "wasn't a cheap play by any means. I can't complain."

All the Cougars want to talk about is two things: Put on a good showing the final two games, especially after last week's odd squeaker against New Mexico, and start by being focused and assignment-sound against the Falcons. It's mandatory to survive with a win.

Will it mean a healthy BYU team escapes? Possibly not. Heads must be on swivels, as they say in the sport's lingo, and there's a little vibe coming from the team that there's a fair chance someone gets their season ended on a low block -- dirty or not.

Call it Air Force roulette.