Army was the first team to be offered a bowl game this season, and accepted an invitation to the Independence Bowl against a PAC-12 opponent. No opponent could be found, though, as many college football teams have decided to forego bowl appearances this year, and the Independence Bowl was cancelled. Maybe there were teams out there afraid of Army's option offense.
Army, at 9-2, seemed out of bowl contention.
Then, 3-7 Tennessee (seriously! 3-7!) bowed out of the Liberty Bowl:
The Army West Point Black Knights have accepted a bid to the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl to play against West Virginia of the Big 12 Conference on December 31 at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
After the 9-2 Black Knights' had their original bowl game cancelled due to opt-outs and not enough opponents available to fill the slot in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, the opportunity became available for the Black Knights to fill an open slot in the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl, it was announced this evening.
"The men on our football team deserved this opportunity and we were not going to rest until we exhausted every potential pathway to a bowl game," said Army Director of Athletics Mike Buddie. "We are thrilled our guys will get to suit up one more time to represent Army West Point in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl."
The Black Knights were invited to participate in the bowl after the University of Tennessee was unable to compete in the 62nd AutoZone Liberty Bowl due to its pause in team activities.
"Our young men are so deserving of this and I am excited that this special team and this senior class will get an opportunity to play together one more time. Sometimes things turn out even better than you thought they would and we are so thankful to everyone who supported our program and worked to make this happen. A big thank you to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and we can't wait to get to Memphis to play an outstanding Power Five opponent in West Virginia," said head coach Jeff Monken.
The Black Knights are headed to their fourth bowl game under seventh-year head coach Jeff Monken. They are 3-0 in three previous bowl appearances under Monken.
"The AutoZone Liberty Bowl was founded on the principles of liberty, freedom and patriotism, so it is with great pride we host Army for the first time in our 62-year history. We have great respect for the Black Knights and congratulate head coach Jeff Monken and his team on extending their season and celebrating their 2020 accomplishments in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl," said Steve Ehrhart, Executive Director of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Overall, the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl will be the ninth bowl game in program history. The Black Knights are 6-2 in bowl games.
The Black Knights and Mountaineers have met three times previously, with the Black Knights leading the all-time series, 2-1. The first meeting was a 7-6 victory in 1941, the second a 19-0 win in 1946 and the last meeting in 1961 was a 7-3 win by the Mountaineers.
This should be a tough game for Army. Fix bayonets!
1 comment:
I was very disappointed my alma mater, SMU, had to bow out of their bowl bid due to COVID. Just sad.
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