2015 Armed Forces Bowl (January)

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2015 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
12th Armed Forces Bowl
1234Total
Houston0602935
Pittsburgh01771034
DateJanuary 2, 2015
Season 2014
Stadium Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location Fort Worth, Texas
MVPHouston RB Kenneth Farrow [1]
Favorite Pittsburgh by 5.5 [2]
Referee Brad Rogers (C-USA) [3]
Attendance37,888 [3]
Payout US$675,000
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN/RedVoice LLC
Announcers Tom Hart, Matt Stinchcomb, & Heather Mitts (ESPN)
Brian Estridge, John Denton, Rob Best, & Landy Burdine (RedVoice LLC)
Armed Forces Bowl
 < 2013 Dec 2015 > 

The 2015 Armed Forces Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on January 2, 2015, at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. The twelfth annual Armed Forces Bowl, it matched the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference against the Pittsburgh Panthers of the Atlantic Coast Conference. [4] The game began at 11:00 a.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season.

Contents

The bowl was the first to be sponsored by aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin (which has two of its divisions headquartered in the DFW area); as such, for sponsorship purposes the game was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

With less than 11 minutes left on the game clock, Houston trailed Pittsburgh by 25 points, but the Cougars came back to win 35–34. It was the biggest fourth quarter comeback in bowl history. [5]

Teams

The game featured the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference against the Pittsburgh Panthers of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The 2015 Armed Forces Bowl was the third overall meeting between Houston and Pittsburgh, with the series tied 1–1 entering the game. The last time the two teams had met was in 1997.

Houston Cougars

After finishing their regular season with a 7–5 record, the Cougars accepted their invitation to play in the game. [6]

The game was Houston's fourth Armed Forces Bowl, tying them with the Air Force Falcons for the most appearances in the game. The Cougars were 1–2 in the game before 2015, having lost the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl to the Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 42–13, then having won the 2008 game over the 2008 Air Force Falcons by a score of 34–28, and finally having lost the 2009 game once again to Air Force by a score of 47–20.

Pittsburgh Panthers

After finishing their regular season with a 6–6 record, the Panthers accepted their invitation to play in the game. [7]

The game was Pittsburgh's first Armed Forces Bowl.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP HOUPITT
214:0215927:07PITT James Conner 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good07
25:4015766:03HOU Kenneth Farrow 2-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bullard kick blocked67
21:279704:06PITTIsaac Bennett 12-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good614
20:005290:23PITT52-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt617
35:1013916:35PITT J. P. Holtz 16-yard touchdown reception from Chad Voytik, Chris Blewitt kick good624
413:5811625:12PITTJames Conner 5-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good631
410:439863:06HOUKenneth Farrow 8-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bullard kick good1331
46:149604:21PITT29-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt1334
43:416832:26HOU Deontay Greenberry 8-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., Kyle Bullard kick good2034
41:586521:39HOU Demarcus Ayers 29-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., Kyle Bullard kick good2734
40:594570:56HOUDeontay Greenberry 25-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., 2-point pass good3534
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.3534

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics [3] HOUPITT
First downs2328
Plays–yards65–48677–449
Rushes–yards40–21241–227
Passing yards274222
Passing: Comp–Att–Int15–25–018–36–0
Time of possession26:1733:43

References

  1. Glenn, Sarah (January 2, 2015). "Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl – Houston v Pittsburgh". gettyimages.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. "College Football Lines, NCAA College Football Lines At Bovada Online Sportsbook". Bovada. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Official Game Stats". Stat Broadcast.
  4. "Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Features Houston & Pittsburgh". Armed Forces Bowl. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  5. Friedlander, Andy (January 2, 2015). "Houston Shocks Pitt in Fort Worth's Armed Forces Bowl 'Miracle', Scoring Final 22 Points", Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  6. "Houston to Face Pitt in Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl". UHCougars.com. Houston Cougars. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  7. "Football to face Houston in Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl". PittsburghPanthers.com. Pittsburgh Panthers. December 7, 2014. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.