LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL
TULANE vs. SOUTHERN MISS
Saturday, Jan. 4 • 11:30 a.m. • ESPN
Amon G. Carter Stadium (45,000/Natural Grass)
Fort Worth, Texas
Television
ESPN
Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich and Kelsey Riggs
National Radio
SiriusXM 84
Tulane Radio
WMTI-FM 106.1 (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 … This year’s game is the 17th edition of the Armed Forces Bowl … The Armed Forces Bowl 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 10 appearances in the Armed Forces Bowl … The last win in the game by an American Athletic Conference team was Houston’s 35-34 victory against Pitt in the 2015 season … Both Tulane and Southern Miss will play in the bowl for the first time … Tulane and Southern Miss have met 30 times previously as the Golden Eagles hold a 23-7 series lead.
TULANE
6-6, 3-5 American
Head Coach
Willie Fritz (Pittsburg State ’83)
22-26, fourth season at Tulane
176-95, 23rd season as collegiate head coach
Notes
Tulane is playing bowl games in consecutive seasons for the second time in program history as the Green Wave secured bowl eligibility by winning six of its first nine games in 2019 … The Green Wave will make its 13th bowl appearance … Tulane is 5-7 in its previous bowl games following last year’s 41-24 win against Louisiana in the Cure Bowl … The Green Wave’s bowl history includes an appearance in the 1932 Rose Bowl as well as two Sugar Bowl appearances … Tulane opened the 2019 season with five wins in its first six games and narrowly missed out on a top-25 national ranking, but the Green Wave closed the regular season by dropping five of its last six contests … Tulane averaged 39.2 points in its first six games, but was held to 27.5 ppg in its final six … The six teams to have defeated Tulane this season are all playing in bowl games … Tulane ranks second in The American in rushing at 249.8 yards per game and has rushed for at least 100 yards in 52 consecutive games … QB Justin McMillan has thrown for 2,229 yards and 14 touchdowns and is the leading rusher with 701 yards and 12 TDs … The Green Wave has four running backs with at least 300 rushing yards this season, led by RB Corey Dauphine, who has 569 yards and seven touchdowns on 70 carries (8.1 avg.) … RB Darius Bradwell was limited by injury to nine games and has 448 rushing yards with two TDs… RB Amare Jones has rushed for 353 yards and four touchdowns and has 29 catches for 310 yards and a TD … WR Darnell Mooney is the leading receiver with 45 catches for 670 yards and five touchdowns … WR Jalen McCleskey, a transfer from Oklahoma State, has 35 catches for 494 yards and three TDs … The defense is led by LB Patrick Johnson, a two-time all-conference selection who has 33 tackles with 3.0 sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss … The leading tackler is LB Chase Kuerschen, who has 69 stops … S Larry Brooks leads the team with three interceptions … Tulane has scored three defensive touchdowns, with two pick-six scores and a fumble return for a TD … K Merek Glover has hit 10 of his 14 field goal attempts, while P Ryan Wright, a 6-3, 255-pound punter, has averaged 40.6 yards on 46 punts.
SOUTHERN MISS
7-5, 5-3 Conference USA
Head Coach
Jay Hopson (Ole Miss ’92)
28-21, fourth season at Southern Miss
60-38, eighth season as collegiate head coach
Notes
Southern Miss will make its 26th bowl appearance as the Golden Eagles return to postseason play after a one-year absence … Southern Miss is 11-14 all-time in bowls after a 45-13 loss to Florida State in the 2017 Independence Bowl … The last bowl win for Southern Miss was a 28-21 decision against Louisiana in the 2016 New Orleans Bowl … Head coach Jay Hopson has had a winning season in each of his four years with Southern Miss, leading the Golden Eagles to 28 wins since 2016 … Southern Miss had won 13 games in the four years immediately preceding Hopson’s tenure … Southern Miss has 23 winning seasons in the last 26 years … The Golden Eagles finished third in the Conference USA West Division, a game behind UAB and Louisiana Tech … Southern Miss clinched bowl eligibility in early November with a win against UAB and improved to 7-3 the following week with a win at UTSA, but the Golden Eagles closed the season with back-to-back losses … The Golden Eagles had a chance to claim the West Division title entering the final week of the regular season, but Southern Miss fell 34-17 at Florida Atlantic, which went on to win the C-USA title … Southern Miss had five home games and seven road games in the 2019 regular season … Southern Miss averages 27.8 points and 411.0 yards per game … The top player on offense is WR Quez Watkins, a two-time first-team All-Conference USA selection … Watkins has 55 receptions for 1,024 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games, becoming the eighth Southern Miss player to register a 1,000-yard season … Watkins has 152 career receptions, good for third on Southern Miss’ all-time list … QB Jack Abraham has completed 258 of 382 passes for 3,329 yards and 18 touchdowns against 15 interceptions … The leading rusher is RB Kevin Perkins, who has 548 yards with three touchdowns, while RB De’Michael Harris has 541 yards and five TDs … WR Tim Jones leads the team with 66 catches for 840 yards and three TDs … The defense features All-C-USA First Team S DQ Thomas, who has 68 tackles to go with 5.0 sacks and 14.0 tackles for loss … DE Terry Whittington leads the team with 7.5 sacks, while CB Ty Williams has 13 pass breakups.