Battling frigid and windy conditions as the temperature fell well below freezing, Air Force defeated Baylor 30-15 in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday night at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.
“I thought we played really complete football in all phases,” said Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun at the postgame press conference. “We encountered a good team in Baylor, but I can’t say enough about our guys about the will and fight, the dedication. It is what you want for your seniors to graduate in May from the Air Force Academy.”
The Air Force defense was impressive as it held Baylor to 230 total yards and 0-for-11 on third downs. Baylor came into the game with the 34th-best rushing offense (out of 131 Football Bowl Subdivision teams), yet only accumulated 42 yards on the ground.
“I was disappointed on a whole offensively,” Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. “In previous games, there was more juice and excitement. I was way disappointed in the lack of that. I think it really starts with the run game. That is the identity of our offense, and you can argue our team. A lot of credit goes to Air Force. We didn’t hold up to our side of the bargain.”
The Air Force ground attack was steady throughout the game, even though open gaps and big plays were rare in the first half.
The run game got going late in the third quarter when DeAndre Hughes and John Lee Eldridge III took outside pitches and gained big chunks of yardage to set up a 15-yard play-action touchdown pass from quarterback Haaziq Daniels to Caleb Rillos that made it 23-7.
Air Force leading rusher Brad Roberts had also been held in check as the team tried to run him up the middle. However, he broke through in the fourth quarter, punching in a 1-yard touchdown that made it 30-7.
Roberts finished with 116 yards and two touchdowns in the game, with a long run of only 11 yards.
WHAT TO KNOW
Daniels was named the Offensive Most Outstanding Player in this game after throwing for 103 yards with a touchdown and adding 81 yards and another score as a runner. Baylor linebacker Dillon Doyle won the award on defense.
The temperature at kickoff was 13 degrees with a windchill of -1, making this year’s Armed Forces Bowl one of the coldest bowl games in history.
“It was cold,” Daniels remarked after the win. “My hands were freezing. All of the staff did a great job of making sure we had clothes on. On the sidelines, we had those heated seats, and I think that helped a lot, but it was cold regardless. It was definitely tough.”
While Baylor and Air Force had played each other three times previously, this was the first time these schools had met in a bowl game.
Air Force appeared in the Armed Forces Bowl for a sixth time — more than any other school. The Falcons were playing in their 12th bowl game under Calhoun and 29th in program history.
After firing defensive coordinator Ron Roberts earlier this month, Aranda also served as defensive coordinator in this game. While he made his name as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin and LSU, his team gave up 379 yards and 30 points.
Baylor’s defense was playing without cornerback Mark Milton and defensive tackle Siaki Ika, who both opted out of the bowl to focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Air Force win means that 11 of the last 12 teams to win the opening coin toss have won the Armed Forces Bowl.
The win also gives Air Force 10 wins for the third consecutive season.
“This senior class has won 10 games in three different times, it is the only time it has happened (for service academies),” Calhoun told reporters. “Will we ever see that again? We may not. To be real about it, they are going to say to be easy here, but it may be an anomaly to be candid. We realize we are at a place where if we get to six wins in a season, and get to a bowl game, that is darn hard to do. We want to be competitive, and we will do everything that we can to make that possible.”
Roberts added to the Air Force single-season rushing yards record, which he set in the regular season finale against San Diego State. With 116 yards, he eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the 11th time in 13 games.
Baylor’s loss means Texas schools are now 0-5 this bowl season. UT-San Antonio, North Texas, SMU, and Rice all lost their bowl games, while Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and Houston have yet to play theirs.
NEXT UP
Both teams enter the offseason. Baylor will concentrate on recruiting and hiring a new defensive coordinator following a 12-2 season conference championship-winning season a year ago with a 6-7 record this season.
“This year could really be looked at as a lesson. I just see us getting better,” said Aranda. “For the guys that are returning to see the work, they are going to see the work, and the adversity, and how to handle it and be better for it.”
Air Force will prepare to go after a fourth consecutive 10-win season.
