Armed Forces Bowl chooses Air Force and Houston

by Todd E. Jones of College Football Top Ten

Game will feature Air Force place-kicker Ryan Harrison, a senior from Keller.

www.ArmedForcesBowl.com

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will be played December 31, 2008 in Fort Worth, TX.

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth announced Sunday that the Air Force Academy from the Mountain West Conference will take on the University of Houston Cougars from the Conference USA on Wednesday, December 31 at 11 a.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium televised live on ESPN. The bowl game will be a rematch of the regular season game played September 13 in Dallas at Gerald J. Ford Stadium when Air Force won 31-28. That game was played in Dallas instead of the originally scheduled location of Houston because of the effects of Hurricane Ike.

The match-up will pit two of the most prolific offenses in the country. Led by sophomore quarterback Case Keenum from Abilene, TX, Houston is the number two ranked passing offense in the nation. Keenum averages 416 yards passing per game. Air Force is number six in the nation rushing the football averaging 268.9 yards per game. The game will also feature one of the nation’s best place-kickers in Air Force’s Ryan Harrison who is a senior from Keller. Harrison has scored 100 points two years in a row and has only missed one extra point during that time.

Tickets for the game can be paid for by contacting the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces office at 817-810-0012 or by visiting the website at ArmedForcesBowl.com. Ticket prices are $50 for sideline seats, $40 for upper deck seats, and $20 for end-zone seats. Military veterans can receive a 50% discount on the sideline and upper decks while active-duty personnel may attend free through a bowl ticket underwriting program. A portion of the ticket proceeds will benefit the USO and the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund .

The bowl game, formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl, is sponsored by Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter who provides military helicopters for various branches of service.