2009 Armed Forces Bowl

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2009 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Houston Cougars Air Force Falcons (10–3) (7–5) C-USA Mountain West 20 47 Head coach:  Kevin Sumlin Head coach:  Troy Calhoun AP Coaches BCS NR 25 NR AP Coaches BCS NR NR NR
1 2 3 4 Total Houston 0 6 14 0 20 Air Force 14 10 10 13 47
Date	December 31, 2009
Season	J.C. Pearson Cara Capuano
Armed Forces Bowl  < 2008  2010 >

The 2009 Armed Forces Bowl was the seventh edition of the

. The game earned a 1.6 rating.

This was the second year in a row that the two teams finished their seasons against each other in the bowl game played on the

the game was moved.

The game marked the first time that Houston had entered a bowl game with a national ranking in the Coaches' Poll since the 1979 season.

Game summary

Air Force wore blue home jerseys, and Houston wore home red jerseys with contrasting colors. This was the first bowl game in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season where teams wore contrasting color jerseys, allowed by a new rule this season.^[1]

The Falcons ground out 402 yards of rushing offense on their way to their first bowl victory since 2000. Air Force was led by

leading passer, Case Keenum to 222 yards and only one touchdown while intercepting him six times. Keenum only had six interceptions in the first 12 games of the season.

After Houston was held without a touchdown before halftime,

touchdowns on consecutive plays. None of them had been in a bowl game.

The loss for Houston was their ninth of its last 10 bowl games. The Falcons scored a school-record 47 points, the second-most by a service academy in a bowl game. Navy put up 51 in the 2005 Poinsettia Bowl.

Scoring summary

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
AF — Asher Clark 36-yard rush (Erik Soderberg kick), 12:38	AF  7–0
AF — Jared Tew 6-yard rush (Erik Soderberg kick), 8:52	AF 14–0
2nd Quarter
HU — Matt Hogan 33-yard field goal, 14:51	AF 14–3
AF — Asher Clark 22-yard rush (Erik Soderberg kick), 8:55	AF 21–3
HU — Matt Hogan 33-yard field goal, 1:21	AF 21–6
AF — Erik Soderberg 27-yard field goal, 0:00	AF 24–6
3rd Quarter
HU — Tyron Carrier 79-yard kickoff return (Matt Hogan kick), 14:47	AF 24–13
AF — Jonathon Warzeka 100-yard kickoff return (Erik Soderberg kick), 14:29	AF 31–13
HU — Case Keenum 10-yard pass to Patrick Edwards (Matt Hogan kick), 12:48	AF 31–20
AF — Erik Soderberg 27-yard field goal, 7:27	AF 34–20
4th Quarter
AF — Tim Jefferson 1-yard rush (Erik Soderberg kick), 14:04	AF 41–20
AF — Jared Tew 71-yard rush (Erik Soderberg kick missed), 3:32	AF 47–20

References