Armed Forces Bowl
The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. The 2010 and 2011 editions were instead played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas, when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project. The game features teams from a variety of collegiate football conferences; in addition, the independent United States Military Academy is also eligible to participate. Since 2014, the game has been sponsored by Lockheed Martin and officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Previous sponsors include Bell Helicopter and PlainsCapital Bank.
The contest is one of 14 bowls produced by ESPN Events and has been televised annually on ESPN since its inception. Armed Forces Insurance is the official Insurance Partner of the Armed Forces Bowl and has sponsored the Great American Patriot Award, presented at halftime at the bowl, since 2006.
History
The bowl was first played in December 2003, featuring two ranked teams, No. 18 Boise State and No. 19 TCU. It was the only edition to include a ranked team until No. 22 Army played in December 2018.In 2010 and 2011 when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project, the bowl was moved to Gerald J. Ford Stadium in nearby University Park, Texas.
Through the December 2018 playing, one of the three FBS-playing service academies has appeared in the game ten times. Contractual tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference, the Mountain West Conference and independent Army assures that one of those schools could appear in the game every year, if bowl-eligible and not already committed to another bowl.
The 2018 game, between Army and Houston, was the first sellout in the bowl's 16-year history.
Sponsorship
The bowl game was inaugurated in 2003 as the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, reflecting the sponsorship of PlainsCapital Bank. The bank's sponsorship ended after the 2004 edition, and the 2005 game was staged without corporate sponsorship.In 2006, Fort Worth based Bell Helicopter Textron took over sponsorship, and thus the game became officially known as the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The Bell sponsorship ended after the 2013 edition. During this time, the 2010 and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl were held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in the Dallas enclave of University Park, while Amon G. Carter Stadium was undergoing a major renovation. The game returned to Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth in 2012, after construction on that stadium was completed.
Alltel was to assume the title sponsorship and naming rights to the game beginning in 2014, which would have been titled the Alltel Wireless Bowl to promote its mobile division, but the deal fell through. Instead, Lockheed Martin became the game's sponsor. The company has a major presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: the company's Lockheed Martin Aeronautics division is based in Fort Worth while its Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control division is based in nearby Grand Prairie. In December 2018, Lockheed Martin extended its sponsorship though 2025.
Conference tie-ins
The bowl's partnership with the Big 12 Conference ended with the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Mountain West Conference was signed to provide a team to face either a team from the Pacific-10 Conference or Conference USA. As such, the 2006 and 2008 games featured Conference USA teams Tulsa and Houston, respectively, whereas California represented the Pac-10 in 2007. The Pac-10 was unable to send a representative to the game in 2009, so Conference USA sent Houston to the game for a second consecutive year. In 2010, since the Mountain West did not have enough eligible teams and Army was bowl eligible, they played SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl.Following the 2013 football season, the Armed Forces Bowl signed multi-year agreements with the American Athletic Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Army and Navy to set bowl match-ups for the next six seasons.
Games marked with an asterisk were played in January of the following calendar year.
Game results
Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played.MVPs
An MVP is named from each team.Source:
Most appearances
Updated through the January 2020 edition.;Teams with multiple appearances
;Teams with a single appearance
Won: Boise State, BYU, Cincinnati, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Tulane, Utah
Lost: Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU
Appearances by conference
Updated through the January 2020 edition.- Games marked with an asterisk were played in January of the following calendar year.
- Independent appearances: Army, BYU, Navy.
- Pac-12 record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10.
- The WAC no longer sponsors football.
Game records
| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored | 70, Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Most points scored | 45, Navy vs. Louisiana Tech | 2016 |
| Most points scored | 93, Louisiana Tech vs. Navy | 2016 |
| Fewest points allowed | 6, Navy vs. Middle Tennessee | 2013 |
| Largest margin of victory | 56, Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Total yards | 592, Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Rushing yards | 507, Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Passing yards | 467, California vs. Air Force | 2015 |
| First downs | 31, shared by: Louisiana Tech vs. Navy Army vs. San Diego State | 2016 2017 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 134, Cincinnati vs. Marshall | 2004 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | –3, Cincinnati vs. Marshall | 2004 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 6, San Diego State vs. Army | 2017 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Total yards | ||
| Touchdowns | 5, Kelvin Hopkins Jr., Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Rushing yards | 221, Rashaad Penny, San Diego State vs. Army | 2017 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 5, Kelvin Hopkins Jr., Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Passing yards | 467, Jared Goff, California vs. Air Force | 2015 |
| Passing touchdowns | 6, Jared Goff, California vs. Air Force | 2015 |
| Receiving yards | 233, Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech vs. Navy | 2016 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, most recently: Kenny Lawler, California vs. Air Force | 2015 |
| Tackles | 23, Marcus McGraw, Houston vs. Air Force | 2009 |
| Sacks | 3.5, James Nachtigal, Army vs. Houston | 2018 |
| Interceptions | 3, Anthony Wright, Air Force vs. Houston | 2009 |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 81, Rashaad Penny, San Diego State vs. Army | 2018 |
| Touchdown pass | 64, Zach Abey to Darryl Bonner, Navy vs. Louisiana Tech | 2016 |
| Kickoff return | 100, Jonathan Warzeka, Air Force vs. Houston | 2009 |
| Punt return | 85, Brian Murph, Kansas vs. Houston | 2005 |
| Interception return | 38, Josh Jackson, Army vs. SMU | 2010 |
| Fumble return | 55, Josh McNary, Army vs. SMU | 2010 |
| Punt | 60, most recently: Logan Piper, Houston vs. Pittsburgh | 2014 |
| Field goal | 52, Chris Blewitt, Pittsburgh vs. Houston | 2014 |
Source: