LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL
HOUSTON COUGARS
vs.
PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
Friday, Jan. 2 • Noon
Amon G. Carter Stadium (45,000/Natural Grass)
Fort Worth, Texas
Television - ESPN
Tom Hart, Matt Stinchcomb and Heather Mitts
Houston Radio
KBME-AM 790 (flagship)
THE GAME
The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl was inaugurated in 2003 as the Fort Worth Bowl and became the Armed Forces Bowl in 2006 … It is the only bowl game that has had all three service academies participate … The current version of the bowl trophy, which was introduced in 2010, has actual battle-used metal forged into it … Current members of the American Athletic Conference have made a combined seven appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl … Houston will make its fourth appearance in the game, while Pittsburgh plays in it for the first time … Houston and Pittsburgh have met twice previously, splitting a home-and-home series in 1996 and 1997.
ARMED FORCES BOWL HISTORY
12-23-03 Boise State 34, TCU 13
12-23-04 Cincinnati 32, Marshall 14
12-23-05 Kansas 42, Houston 13
12-23-06 Utah 25, Tulsa 13
12-31-07 California 42, Air Force 36
12-31-08 Houston 34, Air Force 28
12-31-09 Air Force 47, Houston 20
12-30-10 Army 16, SMU 14
12-30-11 Brigham Young 24, Tulsa 21
12-29-12 Rice 33, Air Force 14
12-30-13 Navy 24, Middle Tennessee 6
HOUSTON (7-5)
Interim Head Coach
David Gibbs (Colorado ’90)
0-0, first season
NOTES
Houston is making its 33rd bowl appearance — the most of any American Athletic Conference team … The Cougars have gone 9-12-1 all-time in postseason play and 0-1 as a member of The American … Houston fell to Vanderbilt, 41-20, in last year’s BBVA Compass Bowl … Houston’s last postseason win was a 30-14 decision against Penn State in the 2011-12 Ticket City Bowl … The Cougars have named defensive coordinator David Gibbs the interim head coach for the Armed Forces Bowl … Tom Herman, the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, will take over as head coach … Houston alternated wins and losses through the first five games of the season before the Cougars closed the regular season with five wins in their last seven games … Houston went 5-3 in conference play with all three wins coming by seven points or fewer … The Cougars’ late run coincided with a move to QB Greg Ward Jr. as the starting quarterback … Ward completed 67.5 percent of his passes (160 of 237) for 1,645 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions in the regular season … Ward has rushed for 477 yards and six touchdowns as well … RB Kenneth Farrow has rushed for 934 yards and a league-leading 12 touchdowns … WR Deontay Greenberry has team highs of 68 catches, 756 yards and four touchdown receptions … The defense is paced by LB Efrem Oliphant, who has a league-leading 131 tackles to go with 3.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles … S Adrian McDonald is responsible for eight takeaways (five interceptions, three fumble recoveries) … OG Rowdy Harper and DE Joey Mbu were both first-team all-conference selections
2014 RESULTS
August
29 Texas-San Antonio L 7-27
September
6 Grambling State W 47-0
11 at Brigham Young L 25-33
20 UNLV W 47-14
October
2 UCF * L 12-17
11 at Memphis * W 28-24
17 Temple * W 31-10
November
1 at USF * W 27-3
8 Tulane * L 24-31
22 Tulsa * W 38-28
28 at SMU * W 35-9
December
6 at Cincinnati * L 31-38
January
2 vs. Pittsburgh Noon
* American Athletic Conference game
PITTSBURGH (6-6)
Interim Head Coach
Joe Rudolph (Wisconsin ’95)
0-0, first season
NOTES
Pittsburgh will make its 31st bowl appearance, while the Panthers play in the postseason for the seventh straight year …Pitt began the 2014 season with three straight wins, then went 1-6 in its next seven games before winning back-to-back contests to secure bowl eligibility … The Panther roster lists 81 underclassmen, with 53 freshmen and 28 sophomores … Pitt has more underclassmen than any other FBS team … Head coach Paul Chryst stepped down after the regular season to take the same position at Wisconsin … A win against Houston would give Pittsburgh a second consecutive winning season and would give Pitt a three-game winning streak to close the season for the first time since 2001 … The player to watch for the Panthers is RB James Conner, who earned AFCA first-team All-America honors after he rushed for 1,675 yards and 24 touchdowns on 277 carries in the regular season … Conner was chosen as the ACC Player of the Year by the league’s media and coaches — a feat that is especially notable since the previous year’s Heisman Trophy winner was in the same conference … Conner’s rushing total ranks sixth on Pitt’s single-season chart, while his 24 touchdowns broke Tony Dorsett’s school record, which had been in place since 1976 … WR Tyler Boyd was an All-ACC choice as both a wide receiver and a return specialist … Boyd has 69 catches for 1,149 yards and eight touchdowns … QB Chad Voytik has completed 158 of 252 passes for 2,011 yards and 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions … The defense is led by LB Anthony Gonzalez, who has a team-high 74 tackles, while LB Todd Thomas has 71 stops.
2014 RESULTS
August
30 Delaware W 62-0
September
5 at Boston College * W 30-20
13 at Florida International W 42-25
20 Iowa L 20-24
27 Akron L 10-21
October
4 at Virginia * L 19-24
16 Virginia Tech * W 21-16
25 Georgia Tech * L 28-56
November
1 Duke * ot L 48-51
15 at North Carolina * L 35-40
22 Syracuse * W 30-7
29 at Miami (Fla.) W 35-23
January
2 vs. Houston Noon
* Atlantic Coast Conference games in CAPS