Bowl Info:
- Game will be held at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas
- Game will start at 3:30 PM ET on 12/22
- Houston is 11-14-1 in their bowl games
- Army is 5-2 in their bowl games
- Houston leads series 5-2
Offensive Players to Watch:
Houston: Marquez Stevenson is part of a great group of receivers in Houston this fall. His ability to speed down the field and make himself open is uncanny to many of his counterparts on the other teams. Stevenson has allotted 947 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns this season for the Cougars and would like to push for more Saturday night. It will be important for Stevenson to find himself open against the Black Knights to help his team get big plays deep. Watch out for Houston to try to use the most out of a talented speed-receiver in Marquez Stevenson.
Army: Kelvin Hopkins Jr. does the most for an explosive triple option package at Army. Not only does he run majority of the plays under the gun, but is somewhat expected to pass in some situations (a QB passing, what a shock). However, his rushing ability has helped this Army team later in this season. Hopkins Jr. has amounted 847 yards rushing with 12 rushing touchdowns and, also, 956 passing yards and passing touchdowns. It’ll be a sure thing for Army to use Hopkins to run their offense again with a tough Houston team coming in.
Defensive Players to Watch:
Houston: With a triple option threat on the approach, it really comes down to how your corners react. With this being said, Isaiah Johnson for the Cougars needs to be on point. Johnson has recorded 66 total tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, and 2 interceptions this season. It is important that Johnson implement himself as a rover more than anything to drop down the amount of big plays for Army. Watch for Houston to set up Isaiah Johnson to have a great game in his final college game.
Army: Houston is known to pass a lot and make big plays out of thin air. This means the man way back, Jaylon McClinton, needs to create some big plays for the Army defense. McClinton has moved up stat-wise this year with 49 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, and 2 interceptions. Watch for him to make a big play for Army in this game, regardless of the final outcome of the game. Also, if Army wants to keep Houston’s big offense under wraps, giving different looks may be on the rise.
The Basics
Points win games at the end of the day. As much as people like to look at the record of Army and use that as a reason to pick them over Houston, it isn’t the full truth. Houston will be able to score when they get the ball, which leaves little to no room for Army to mess up. Look for Houston to win by a decent amount and end off strong.
Score Prediction
34-24 Houston
Photo Credits: https://www.fortworth.com/events/annual-events/lockheed-martin-armed-forces-bowl/
