2020 Armed Forces Bowl (January)

2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
17th Armed Forces Bowl
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tulane Green Wave
(7–5) (6–6)
C-USA The American
13 30
Head coach: 
Jay Hopson		 Head coach: 
Willie Fritz
1234 Total
Southern Miss 13000 13
Tulane 06240 30
DateJanuary 4, 2020
Season2019
StadiumAmon G. Carter Stadium
LocationFort Worth, Texas
MVPJustin McMillan (QB, Tulane)[1] & Quez Watkins (WR, Southern Miss)[2]
FavoriteTulane by 7[3]
RefereeKevin Mar (Pac-12)[4]
Attendance38,513
PayoutUS$1,350,000[5]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersChris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst) and Kelsey Riggs (sideline)
International TV coverage
NetworkESPN Brasil
AnnouncersAri Aguiar (play-by-play)
Weinny Eirado (analyst)
Armed Forces Bowl
 < 2018 2020 (Dec.) > 

The 2020 Armed Forces Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 4, 2020, with kickoff at 11:30 a.m. EST (10:30 a.m. local CST) on ESPN.[6] It was the 17th edition of the Armed Forces Bowl, and was one of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS football season. Sponsored by aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, the game was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

Teams

The game featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles of Conference USA (C-USA) against the Tulane Green Wave of the American Athletic Conference (The American). This was the 31st all-time meeting between the two programs; the Golden Eagles entered the game leading the all-time series, 23–7.[7] This was the first Armed Forces Bowl appearance for both programs.

From 1996 to 2013, Southern Miss and Tulane were both in C-USA as charter members, before Tulane left to join the American in 2014. Their regular season rivalry is set to resume in 2022.[8] Since 1999, a bell trophy has been awarded to the winner of their rivalry game, making it the Battle for the Bell; the bell was also on the line in this Armed Forces Bowl.[9]

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Main article: 2019 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

Southern Miss entered the game with a 7–5 record (5–3 in conference). They finished in third place in the West Division of C-USA. The Golden Eagles also lost to the only ranked opponent they faced, Alabama. Southern Miss was 7–3 before losing their final two regular season games.

Tulane Green Wave

Main article: 2019 Tulane Green Wave football team

Tulane entered the game with a 6–6 record (3–5 in conference). They finished in fourth place in The American's West Division. The Green Wave lost to the only ranked opponent that they faced, Auburn. After starting their season 5–1, Tulane went 1–5 in the second half of their regular season.

Game summary

2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Southern Miss 13 0 0013
Tulane 0 6 24030

at Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas

Game information
First Quarter
  • (12:07) USM – Jack Abraham 44 yard pass to Quez Watkins, kick failed (Drive: 8 plays, 61 yards, 2:53; Southern Miss 6–0)
  • (5:23) USM – Jack Abraham 3 yard rush, Andrew Stein kick (Drive: 11 plays, 78 yards, 5:31; Southern Miss 13–0)
Second Quarter
  • (12:41) TUL – Merek Glover 31 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards, 3:47; Southern Miss 13–3)
  • (4:37) TUL – Merek Glover 31 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 34 yards, 3:12; Southern Miss 13–6)
Third Quarter
  • (13:20) TUL – Justin McMillan 52 yard pass to Jalen McCleskey, Merek Glover kick (Drive: 5 plays, 77 yards, 1:34; Tied 13–13)
  • (6:16) TUL – Merek Glover 36 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 5:20; Tulane 16–13)
  • (5:37) TUL – Justin McMillan 7 yard pass to Jacob Robertson Jr., Merek Glover kick (Drive: 1 play, 2 yards, 0:05; Tulane 23–13)
  • (1:54) TUL – Justin McMillan 20 yard pass to Amare Jones, Merek Glover kick (Drive: 4 plays, 66 yards, 1:40; Tulane 30–13)
Fourth Quarter
No scoring

Statistics

Statistics USM TUL
First downs 15 19
Plays–yards 68–359 66–379
Rushes–yards 23–58 48–164
Passing yards 301 215
Passing: comp–att–int 26–45–2 13–18–0
Time of possession 26:07 33:53
Team Category Player Statistics
Southern Miss Passing Jack Abraham 17/23, 167 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Trivenskey Mosely 7 carries, 43 yards
Receiving Quez Watkins 8 receptions, 121 yards, 1 TD
Tulane Passing Justin McMillan 13/18, 215 yards, 3 TD
Rushing Cameron Carroll 9 carries, 48 yards
Receiving Jalen McCleskey 2 receptions, 87 yards, 1 TD

References

  1. ^ @ArmedForcesBowl (January 4, 2020). "Congrats to @GreenWaveFB QB Justin McMillan for being named @ArmedForcesBowl MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ @ArmedForcesBowl (January 4, 2020). "The MVP for @SouthernMissFB was WR Quez Watkins" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Southern Mississippi vs. Tulane - Game Summary". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "2019-20 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  5. ^ "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "2019-20 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, times, TV channels". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs. Tulane Green Wave football series history". winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  8. ^ "Tulane, Southern Miss schedule future four-game football series". FBSchedules. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  9. ^ @SouthernMissFB (December 29, 2019). "Just an extra reminder of what's on the line Saturday. #BattlefortheBell" (Tweet). Retrieved January 1, 2020 – via Twitter.