Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction Game Preview

Baylor vs Air Force game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday, December 22

Baylor vs Air Force prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Thursday, December 22


Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction Game Preview

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Baylor vs Air Force How To Watch

Date: Thursday, December 22
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Venue: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Baylor (6-6), Air Force (9-3)
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Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl 5 Things To Know

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

Baylor wasn’t able to repeat as the Big 12 champion, and it lost its last three games, but it was an entertaining season with lots of offense, a decent defense, and enough on both sides to come this close to beating TCU.

But that’s the problem. Beating Oklahoma and Texas Tech was good, but it couldn’t come through in several close losses. Beating Air Force wouldn’t make up for the misfires, but getting this done and finishing with a winning season would be nice.

Air Force was rolling along with a 4-1 start, and it closed with four straight wins. In between it lost two of three games to keep it out of the Mountain West title hunt. Even so, it was a terrific season as it went full Air Force. It led the nation in rushing, time of possession, and in total defense. It’s got the ability to take down the Big 12 team and come up with a ten-win season.

For years Air Force was a sure-thing bowl L, going 4-10 from 1987 to 2009. Troy Calhoun was responsible for two of the losses, and then he and the Falcons kicked it in going 6-3 in the last nine bowls. Win this, and it’ll be four straight bowl victories and five ten-win seasons since 2014. Last year the Falcons beat Louisville 31-28 in the First Responder.

– Baylor has been great at this bowl thing, too. It won four of the last five going back to the end of the Art Briles era in 2015, and Dave Aranda won in his first try in last year’s Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss.

– Around since 2003, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl always seems to deliver. The matchups might not always be the sexiest on the board, but in the 19 games, ten have been close, last year’s Army win over Missouri was thrilling. The late Mike Leach’s Mississippi State team’s win over Tulsa was – let’s just say – intense at the end, and in 2018 Army cranked up 70 in a win over Houston. This should be entertaining, too.

CFN Bowl Expert Picks: Dec 16-19 | Dec 20-27

Why Baylor Will Win The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

It’s one of the few teams that can control the clock as well as Air Force.

It might not quite be able to gear down and hold the ball for 36 minutes, but it could – it hasn’t been terribly far off this year. There’s a good offensive balance, the attack is great on third downs, and things go well when the ground game works.

Baylor is 4-0 when running for over 235 yards and 5-1 when coming up with over 170 yards – the one loss was the last second loss to TCU. The Air Force defensive front might be strong, but the whole machine gets wobbly when teams are able to run against it.

The Falcons are 8-0 when allowing fewer than 115 rushing yards and 1-3 – the one win coming against Northern Iowa from the FCS – when they give up more. Baylor is 0-3 when not getting to 115 yards, but that’s it – just three times.

However …

Why Air Force Will Win The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

The Air Force offense got some rest.

The team was just fine over the finishing kick off the season, but it was banged up throughout key parts of the season and it mattered. It’s a team that needs everyone in place and working to be that half-click faster with how it operates.

Baylor might be solid on defense, and it’s great at holding up against the run, but it doesn’t do much to get into the backfield – it’s not going to stop the Falcon O before it gets moving.

The Bears are 1-4 when giving up 150 yards or more, and it’s Air Force – it comes up with that before breakfast. It hasn’t rushed for fewer than 171 yards and is 9-1 when getting to 200.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Baylor vs Air Force Prediction, Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl History

Despite struggles, ESPN sees Oklahoma as a bowl team in latest projections

Even during their worst stretch of play in years, ESPN has Oklahoma bowling in their latest postseason projections.

Oklahoma’s struggled mightily over the last three weeks. It doesn’t feel like it can get much worse after being shut out in their most anticipated game of the season against their rivals, the Texas Longhorns.

Some key pieces are hurt right now, and with their return, we should see a slightly better product than what we are witnessing right now. Any hope for a Big 12 title went out the window on Saturday afternoon in Dallas. Instead, the Sooners will look to improve, regain some sense of pride, and try to resemble a traditional Oklahoma Sooners football team for the remaining part of the season.

If they can do that, they’ll be playing in a bowl game. And for a team with no championship to play for, that’s the next best thing.

ESPN has taken the liberty every Monday during the college football season to update their bowl projections (ESPN+) as we gather new information and insights about each team.

Even with three consecutive losses, the pundits at ESPN still believes Oklahoma will figure things out and become bowl eligible.

Kyle Bonagura projects Oklahoma to play in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference.

Memphis touts an explosive offense led by Seth Henigan, a former high school teammate of current Sooner Billy Bowman.

Mark Schlabach sees Oklahoma taking on Oregon State of the Pac-12. in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Oregon State is a sneaky tough opponent that plays solid defense and leans on the run game to wear teams down. A date with them would make it back-to-back years the Sooners faced off against a Pac-12 team in a bowl game. Last year, they ended their season with a Valero Alamo Bowl win against Oregon.

Oklahoma has a long way to go before playing in a bowl becomes a reality. Their focus right now should be getting healthy and playing competitive football. They have a tough test ahead of them with the Kansas Jayhawks coming to town.

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Missouri vs Army: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction, Game Preview

Missouri vs Army: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch, lines, and why each team might or might not win.

Missouri vs Army: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl prediction, game preview, how to watch 


Missouri vs Army: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl How To Watch

Date: Wednesday, December 22
Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
Venue: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
How To Watch: ESPN, Live stream on ESPN+
Records: Army (8-4), Missouri (6-6)

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Missouri vs Army Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Preview

Normally in bowl games you always assume the SEC team will take out the non-Power Five team just on talent, resources, depth, the lines, and all the things that come with being an SEC team.

Army and its style erases all of that.

The Black Knights once again proved they can be dangerous against just about anyone. They ran on Wake Forest, they ran on Wisconsin – at least enough to keep that close late – and they ran all over everyone else with the option ground attack that owns the time of possession battle, keeps the chains moving, and frustrates every strong defense that thinks it can hit the curveball.

However, there’s no letdown happening from a Missouri team that had to scratch and claw to get here and improved as the season went on.

For the first two months of the season the Tigers beat the teams they were supposed to beat, lost to the teams they were supposed lose to, and then came the back-to-back home wins over South Carolina and Florida to finally get something positive under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz.

Statistically, the Missouri run defense was the worst in the SEC, but it rose up in November and was far, far better. Now it’s dealing with something completely different.

Why Missouri, Army Will Win
Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History
Armed Forces Bowl Top Players To Know

NEXT: Why Missouri Will Win, Why Army Will Win, Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction

Watch: Huge brawl breaks out between Mississippi State and Tulsa in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

After the game a giant brawl broke out between the two teams, including both coaches and players from both sides. Watch here.

Tensions were high in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl that featured Mississippi State versus No. 24 Tulsa.

After the Bulldogs from Starkville secured the 28-26 win, a giant brawl broke out between the two teams, including both coaches and players from both sides.

It’s hard to tell what started the fight for sure, but this next video shows an undressed Mississippi State player punching a Tulsa player, which looks to have sparked the brawl.

Here’s what Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach said following the fight.

Leach said, “There was some before the game too, we’ve never had any problem with that the entire season.”

Watch: Huge brawl breaks out between Mississippi State and Tulsa in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

After the game a giant brawl broke out between the two teams, including both coaches and players from both sides. Watch here.

Tensions were high in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl that featured Mississippi State versus No. 24 Tulsa.

After the Bulldogs from Starkville secured the 28-26 win, a giant brawl broke out between the two teams, including both coaches and players from both sides.

It’s hard to tell what started the fight for sure, but this next video shows an undressed Mississippi State player punching a Tulsa player, which looks to have sparked the brawl.

Here’s what Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach said following the fight.

Leach said, “There was some before the game too, we’ve never had any problem with that the entire season.”