2020 Armed Forces Bowl (January)

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.

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
1 2 3 4 Total Southern Miss 13 0 0 0 13 Tulane 0 6 24 0 30
Date	January 4, 2020
Season	2019
Stadium	Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location	Fort Worth, Texas
MVP	Justin McMillan (QB, Tulane)[1] & Quez Watkins (WR, Southern Miss)[2]
Favorite	Tulane by 7[3]
Referee	Kevin Mar (Pac-12)[4]
Attendance	38,513
Payout	US$1,350,000[5]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst) and Kelsey Riggs (sideline)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Brasil
Announcers	Ari Aguiar (play-by-play) Weinny Eirado (analyst)

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

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

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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Southern Miss	13	0	0	0	13
Tulane	0	6	24	0	30

at Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas

• Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020
• Game time: 11:30 a.m. EST (10:30 a.m. CST)
• Game attendance: 38,513
• Referee: Kevin Mar
• TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst) and Kelsey Riggs (sideline)
• ESPN game summary

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.

External links

• Official website
• Game statistics at statbroadcast.com