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Local players to compete in Armed Forces Bowl
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Coaches from SMU and Army met in Fort Worth on Tuesday for a media gathering as the “official” activities for the 2010 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl began later in the afternoon with a kickoff function at the sponsor’s Customer Center at Alliance Airport.
SMU’s June Jones and Army’s Rich Ellerson will lead the Mustangs and Black Knights into the first-ever postseason bowl game between the two schools on Dec. 30 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas where a sellout crowd will on hand for the contest to be aired live by ESPN with an 11 a.m. kickoff.
A number of area players will compete in the game for SMU, which is seeking its second bowl win in as many seasons. Suiting up for the Mustangs will be Kyle Padron, Ryan Walker, Pete Fleps and Clay McMillian of Southlake Carroll; Blake McJunkin and Ryan Foster of Plano; Cole Beasley of Little Elm; Taylor Thompson of Prosper; Chris Castro of Allen; Randall Joyner of Carrollton Newman Smith; and Jordan Favreau of Coppell.
As the official bowl game that honors all branches of the United States armed forces, the 2010 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will be the third meeting on the football field between the two schools with Army defeating SMU at home in 1928 (14-13) and in Dallas in 1967 (24-6).
Army concluded the regular season with a 6-6 record after dropping a 31-17 decision to Navy this past Saturday in Philadelphia. SMU faced Navy earlier this season with the Midshipmen posting a 28-21 win over the Mustangs in Annapolis after scoring all of their points in the second half after trailing 14-0 at the intermission.
“We are extremely fortunate to have both the SMU Mustangs and the Army Black Knights in the eighth annual Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl,” said Brant Ringler, the executive director of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. “Both programs are on the rise with very contrasting styles of play and we expect a great game at Ford Stadium. We are also very fortunate to have one of our military academies in our game for the fourth consecutive year as we honor along with the tremendous assistance of Bell Helicopter all of our service men and women.”
With the Black Knights bowl-eligible for the first-time since 1996, all three service academies will be playing in the postseason in the coming month for the first time with Navy and Air Force competing in the Poinsettia (Dec. 23) and Independence (Dec. 27) Bowls, respectively.
SMU, which will be competing in the NCAA postseason for the second straight year after posting a 45-10 win over Nevada at the 2009 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl to improve its bowl record to 5-6-1, finished the regular season with a 7-5 record. The Mustangs started the postseason by dropping a 17-7 decision to 25th-ranked UCF in the Conference USA championship game Dec. 4 in Orlando. SMU captured the C-USA West Division with a 6-2 record as seven of the Mustangs’ opponents this season earned bowl bids.
In addition to playing in its home stadium, SMU will be the home team as the Conference USA representative where teams of that league have won two of their previous six appearances. Army will be the visiting team as the Black Knights enter this year’s Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl with a 2-2 postseason record with their last appearance being in 1996 at the Independence Bowl.
“Army football and the West Point community are thrilled to once again be participating in the bowl experience,” Ellerson said. “We have fought ourselves onto this stage and now we must prove ourselves at this level. This game validates some things we’re doing and is a great source of pride and celebration for all of us involved in Army football. And what a great honor it is to not only be playing in a bowl game, but in particular the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowl that pays tribute to all of our dedicated military personnel around the world.”
With both schools finishing final exams this week and after a brief time off for Christmas, both will arrive in Fort Worth Dec. 26 to begin their final preparations for the game.
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