Television
ESPN
Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey and Kris Burden
 
National Radio
RedVoice Radio
SiriusXM 81
 
Navy Radio
WBAL-AM 1090 (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 … The Armed Forces Bowl is one of 13 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events … 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 eight appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl … Navy will make its second appearance in the game, while Louisiana Tech plays in it for the first time.
 
ARMED FORCES BOWL RESULTS (1-0)
12-23-03         Boise State 34, TCU 31
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         BYU 24, Tulsa 21
12-29-12         Rice 33, Air Force 14
12-30-13         Navy 24, Middle Tennessee 6
1-2-15           Houston 35, Pittsburgh 34
12-29-15         California 55, Air Force 36
 
 
 
 
rv/rv NAVY
9-4, 7-1 American
 
Head Coach
Ken Niumatalolo (Hawaii ’89)
77-41, eighth season
 
 
NOTES
Navy will make its 13th bowl appearance in the last 14 years when the Midshipmen play in the Armed Forces Bowl … The game will be the 22nd bowl game in Navy’s history … The Midshipmen have gone 10-10-1 in their previous bowl matchups … Navy last played in the Armed Forces Bowl in 2013, when the Midshipmen were 24-6 winners against Middle Tennessee … Navy won The American’s West Division title, but fell to Temple in the conference championship game … Navy looks to bounce back from a regular-season-ending loss to Army, which the Mids’ first setback to their storied rival since 2001 … Navy had won a school-record 15 straight home games before Temple ended the streak in The American Championship … Navy, which played as an independent for its first 134 years, has gone a combined 14-2 in American Athletic Conference regular-season games in the last two years … Head coach Ken Niumatalolo was named as The American’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season … The Midshipmen have averaged 327.5 yards per game, ranking third nationally … QB Zach Abey is expected to make his second career start after QB Will Worth was lost for the season with an injury against Temple in the conference championship game … Worth himself stepped in after a season-ending injury to QB Tago Smith in the season-opener … Worth led the nation with 25 rushing TDs prior to his injury … FB Shawn White has scored seven rushing touchdowns, while RB Dishan Romine (9.2 yards per carry) has been explosive as well … WR Jamir Tillman is the primary receiving threat with 38 catches for 615 yards and two touchdowns … OG Adam West was the Midshipmen’s lone player on the American Athletic Conference First Team … The defense is led by LB Micah Thomas, who has 98 tackles, while LB D.J. Palmore has 5.0 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss … S Alohi Gilman has stepped in as a freshman to register 70 tackles with a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries … K Bennett Moehring has made 7 of 9 field goal attempts and has not missed since the Oct. 22 game against Memphis … P Alex Barta, who was called upon only twice in four November games, and was the only player in uniform not so see action in the Nov. 26 win against SMU, has averaged 42.0 yards per punt.
 

 
LOUISIANA TECH
8-5, 6-2 Conference USA
 
Head Coach
Skip Holtz (Notre Dame ’88)
30-22, fourth season at Louisiana Tech
118-93, 17th season as collegiate head coach

 
NOTES
Louisiana Tech will play in a bowl game for the third consecutive season under fourth-year head coach Skip Holtz … It will be the first time in program history the Bulldogs will have played in three straight bowl games …  Louisiana Tech won the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl and the 2015 New Orleans Bowl … The Bulldogs are 4-3-1 all-time in bowl games … Louisiana Tech went 8-5 overall and won the West Division in Conference USA, but fell to Western Kentucky in the league championship game … The Bulldogs opened the year at 1-3 and have dropped two straight entering the bowl season, but enjoyed a seven-game winning streak through October and November … The Bulldogs feature a prolific passing offense that ranks third in the NCAA in passing yards (359.8 ypg), fifth in scoring (44.0 ppg) and eighth in total offense (516.1 ypg) … Holtz, who has coached at two current members of the American Athletic Conference (East Carolina and USF) was named as the Conference USA Coach of the Year … QB Ryan Higgins was tabbed as the Conference USA Most Valuable Player … Higgins ranks third nationally with 350.7 passing yards per game and is the conference leader in completions (300), attempts (456), passing yards (4,208) and touchdown passes (37) … Higgins has completed 65.8 percent of his passes … WR Carlos Henderson was named as both the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year and the Special Teams Player of the Year … Henderson has 72 receptions for 1,406 yards and is averaging a league-leading 19.5 yards per reception … He has 22 kickoff returns for 668 yards, averaging 30.4 yards per return, and has 21 total touchdowns in 2016 (17 receiving, two rushing, two kickoff returns) … RB Jarred Craft is the leading rusher with 1,011 yards on 174 carries with nine touchdowns … WR Trent Taylor leads the team with 124 receptions for 1,570 yards and 10 TDs … The defense is led by LB Jordan Harris, who has a team-high 94 tackles … DE Jaylon Ferguson has 14.5 sacks and 16.0 tackles for loss to go with four forced fumbles … K Jonathan Barnes has hit 20 of 25 field goal attempts, while P Gerald Shouse has averaged 43.0 yards on 32 punts.