2015 Armed Forces Bowl (January)

2015 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
12th Armed Forces Bowl
Houston Cougars Pittsburgh Panthers (7–5) (6–6) The American ACC 35 34 Head coach:  David Gibbs (interim) Head coach:  Joe Rudolph (interim)
1 2 3 4 Total Houston 0 6 0 29 35 Pittsburgh 0 17 7 10 34
Date	January 2, 2015
Season	2014
Stadium	Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location	Fort Worth, Texas
MVP	Houston RB Kenneth Farrow [1]
Favorite	Pittsburgh by 5.5 [2]
Referee	Brad Rogers (C-USA) [3]
Attendance	37,888 [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.

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

See also: 2014 Houston Cougars football team

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

See also: 2014 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

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

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP HOU PITT 2 14:02 15 92 7:07 PITT James Conner 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good 0 7 2 5:40 15 76 6:03 HOU Kenneth Farrow 2-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bullard kick blocked 6 7 2 1:27 9 70 4:06 PITT Isaac Bennett 12-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good 6 14 2 0:00 5 29 0:23 PITT 52-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt 6 17 3 5:10 13 91 6:35 PITT J. P. Holtz 16-yard touchdown reception from Chad Voytik, Chris Blewitt kick good 6 24 4 13:58 11 62 5:12 PITT James Conner 5-yard touchdown run, Chris Blewitt kick good 6 31 4 10:43 9 86 3:06 HOU Kenneth Farrow 8-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bullard kick good 13 31 4 6:14 9 60 4:21 PITT 29-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt 13 34 4 3:41 6 83 2:26 HOU Deontay Greenberry 8-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., Kyle Bullard kick good 20 34 4 1:58 6 52 1:39 HOU Demarcus Ayers 29-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., Kyle Bullard kick good 27 34 4 0:59 4 57 0:56 HOU Deontay Greenberry 25-yard touchdown reception from Greg Ward Jr., 2-point pass good 35 34 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 34

Source: ^[3]

Statistics

Statistics [3]	HOU	PITT
First downs	23	28
Plays–yards	65–486	77–449
Rushes–yards	40–212	41–227
Passing yards	274	222
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	15–25–0	18–36–0
Time of possession	26:17	33:43

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. "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.