Game Name: | Armed Forces Bowl |
Subheader: | 18th Armed Forces Bowl |
Title Sponsor: | Lockheed Martin |
Date Game Played: | December 31 |
Year Game Played: | 2020 |
Football Season: | 2020 |
Stadium: | Amon G. Carter Stadium |
City: | Fort Worth, Texas |
Visitor School: | University of Tulsa |
Visitor Name Short: | Tulsa |
Visitor Nickname: | Golden Hurricane |
Visitor Record: | 6–2 |
Visitor Conference: | The American |
Visitor Rank Ap: | 22 |
Visitor Rank Coaches: | 25 |
Visitor Rank Cfp: | 24 |
Visitor Coach: | Philip Montgomery |
Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
Visitor 4Q: | 13 |
Home School: | Mississippi State University |
Home Name Short: | Mississippi State |
Home Nickname: | Bulldogs |
Home Record: | 3–7 |
Home Conference: | SEC |
Home Coach: | Mike Leach |
Home 1Q: | 7 |
Home 2Q: | 0 |
Home 3Q: | 14 |
Home 4Q: | 7 |
Mvp: | Lideatrick Griffin (WR/KR, Miss. State) & Christian Williams (DB, Tulsa) |
Odds: | Mississippi State by 1[1] |
Referee: | Jeff Servinski (Big Ten)[2] |
Attendance: | 9,000 |
Us Network: | ESPN |
Us Announcers: | Chris Cotter (play-by-play) Mark Herzlich (analyst) Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline) |
Intl Network: | ESPN Deportes |
Different Previous: | 2020 (Jan.) |
The 2020 Armed Forces Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2020, with kickoff at noon EST (11:00 a.m. local CST).[3] It was the 18th edition of the Armed Forces Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, the game was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Following the cancellation of the Las Vegas Bowl, it had been announced that the game would feature its tie-ins with the Pac-12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).[4] The presence of a Pac-12 team did not come to fruition, with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane of the American Athletic Conference ("The American") accepting a bid for the Armed Forces Bowl instead.[5] This game was the first matchup between the two programs.[6]
See main article: 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team. Mississippi State of the SEC accepted their bid on December 20, 2020.[7] The Bulldogs entered the bowl with an overall record of 3–7; they were ranked at number 16 in the AP Poll early in the season after defeating the defending national champions, LSU. This marked the second time in program history that Mississippi State had entered a bowl game with a losing record (the prior instance being the 2016 St. Petersburg Bowl). This was the Bulldogs' first appearance in the bowl.
See main article: 2020 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team. Tulsa of The American accepted their bid on December 20, 2020.[8] The Golden Hurricane entered the bowl with an overall record of 6–2 (6–0 in conference play); they were ranked at number 22 in the AP Poll entering the bowl. Tulsa was 0–2 in prior editions of the bowl, having lost in 2006 and 2011.[5]
Following the conclusion of the game, a brawl broke out between the two teams.[11] [12]