Armed Forces Bowl: What to Know

In collaboration with M!KEDROPSPORTS

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Army  Knights (10-2) vs Houston Cougars (8-4)

Date/Time: Saturday December 22 at 3:30 ET

Location: Armon G Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas

Bowl history

Originated: 2003

Previous names: Fort Worth Bowl

History of Conferences: AAC 1-1, Big 12 1-0

Last year’s result: Army beat San Diego State 42-35 

Army bowl History

This will be Army’s 8^th bowl game in program history. This is head coach Jeff Monken’s 5^th season at Army and will be the Knights third bowl game. Monken is 2-0 in bowl games.

Army is appearing in their third appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl. Currently, they are 2-0 with wins over SMU in 2010 and a win over San Diego State in 2017.

Houston bowl history

This is Houston’s 7^th straight year making a bowl game.

Series history

The Armed Forces Bowl will be the 8^th meeting all-time between both schools, Houston has a 5-2 edge, including winning the last three games.

Game Notes

Players to Watch

Houston: Marquez Stevenson, WR

Army: Kelvin Hopkins Jr, QB

Houston

Houston started strong at 7-1, but finished the season 8-4 and 5-3 in conference. A loss to Memphis in the final week cost them a spot in the conference title game. They blew out Arizona 45-18 and lost to Texas Tech 63-49. The only win in the last month was against Tulane.

Houston averaged 46 ppg and gave up 34 ppg. 

Army

Army completed a 10 win season, for the second consecutive season. Prior to 2017, they hadn’t won 10 games since 1996. This is the first time in school history they have done so back-to-back years. 

Army is a triple option offense. They average just shy of 80 passing yards a game and just under 300 yards rushing. Army’s defense only allowed 18 ppg. 

The Knights lost their opener at Duke and lost at Oklahoma by 7 points in overtime, giving them one of their toughest challenges all year. 

Final Analysis

This would be one of the more anticipated bowl games if Houston DT Ed Oliver and QB D’Eriq King were playing. Without them, and given Houston’s struggles to end the year, they have lost a lot of momentum. Still, there is plenty of intrigue in the clash of styles and the opportunity for Army to beat a bigger name group of 5 team and win 11 games. 

For more college football talk, you can follow me at M!KEDROPSPORTS, on twitter @msschneid or instagram @mikedropsports