View source for 2009 Armed Forces Bowl

{{refimprove|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox NCAA football yearly game
| Game Name          = Armed Forces Bowl
| Optional Subheader = Bowl Game
| Title Sponsor      = [[Bell Helicopter]]
| Image              = 
| Date Game Played   = December 31
| Year Game Played   = 2009
| Football Season    = 2009
| Stadium            = [[Amon G. Carter Stadium]]
| City               = [[Fort Worth, Texas]]
| Visitor School     = University of Houston
| Visitor Name Short = Houston
| Visitor Nickname   = Cougars
| Visitor Record     = 10-3
| Visitor AP         = NR
| Visitor Coaches    = 25
| Visitor BCS        = NR
| Visitor Coach      = [[Kevin Sumlin]]
| Visitor1           = 0
| Visitor2           = 6
| Visitor3           = 14
| Visitor4           = 0
| Home School        = United State Air Force Academy
| Home Name Short    = Air Force
| Home Nickname      = Falcons
| Home Record        = 7-5
| Home AP            = NR
| Home Coaches       = NR
| Home BCS           = NR
| Home Coach         = [[Troy Calhoun]]
| Home1              = 14
| Home2              = 10
| Home3              = 10
| Home4              = 13
| MVP                = Asher Clark (Air Force)<br />Tyron Carrier (Houston)
| Anthem             =
| Referee            = Scott McElwee ([[Mid-American Conference|MAC]])
| Halftime           =
| Attendance         = 41,414
| Payout             = 750,000 <small> per team</small>
| US Network         = [[ESPN]]
| US Announcers      = [[Dave Lamont]]<br> [[J.C. Pearson]]<br> [[Cara Capuano]]
| Ratings            =
| Intl Network       =
| Intl Announcers    =
}}

The '''2009 [[Armed Forces Bowl]]''' was the seventh edition of the [[college football]] [[bowl game]], and was played at [[Amon G. Carter Stadium]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]].  The game started at 12:00 PM [[North American Eastern Time Zone|US EST]] on Thursday, December 31, [[2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season|2009]]. The game was telecast on [[ESPN]] and matched the [[2009 Houston Cougars football team|Houston Cougars]] of [[Conference USA]] and the [[2009 Air Force Falcons football team|Air Force Falcons]] of the [[Mountain West Conference]].  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 [[Texas Christian University|TCU]] campus. The Cougars, the [[Conference USA]] runner-up after losing to [[2009 East Carolina Pirates football team|East Carolina]] in the championship game, beat Air Force 34-28 [[2008 Armed Forces Bowl|last year]] for their first bowl victory since 1980. Air Force played in the Armed Forces Bowl for the third straight season. The Falcons lost 42-36 to [[2007 California Golden Bears football team|California]] in the [[2007 Armed Forces Bowl|2007 game]], which was then their first bowl appearance since 2002. Each team also made their third appearance in the bowl game. The only other meeting between the two schools was in 2008 when the Falcons defeated Houston 31-28 in a game played in front of just 2,546 people at [[Gerald J. Ford Stadium]] on the campus of [[Southern Methodist University|SMU]] in [[Dallas, Texas]]. The game was originally to be a home game for the Cougars but due to [[Hurricane Ike]] 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.<ref name="NCAA2009RULES">Rogers Redding, Secretary-Rules Editor, NCAA Football Rules Committee - [http://www.ncaapublications.com/ProductsDetailView.aspx?sku=FR09 NCAA Football 2009-10 Rules and Interpretations]. THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION May 2009</ref>

The Falcons ground out 402 yards of rushing offense on their way to their first bowl victory since 2000.  Air Force was led by [[Halfback (American football)|tailback]]s, Jared Tew who had 173 yards and two [[touchdown]]s and Asher Clark who carried 17 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns.  Clark was named the game's MVP.  Air Force's defense was just as impressive as the top ranked pass defense in the country held 2009 [[NCAA]] 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, Tyron Carrier returned the opening [[Kickoff (American football)|kickoff]] of the [[second]] [[half]] 79 yards for his fourth TD the season. He took the ball near the left sideline, then ran to the middle of the field before shooting through a gap and running untouched to get the Cougars within 24-13.  Air Force immediately responded with its first kickoff return for a touchdown since 1985. Jonathan Warzeka fielded the ball and stepped back into the end zone before running 100 yards. Five Houston players got their hands on him, but couldn't get him down.  According to STATS, it was only the sixth major college game since 1996 with [[kickoff return]]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]].
[[File:Handoff to Jared Tew at 2009 Armed Forces Bowl.JPG|thumb|Jared Tew takes a handoff from Tim Jefferson]]
[[File:Cougars on offense at 2009 Armed Forces Bowl.JPG|thumb|Houston on offense]]

===Scoring summary===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Scoring Play
! Score
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"| '''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
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"| '''2nd Quarter'''
|-
| HU — Matt Hogen 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 Hogen 33 yard field goal, 1:21
| AF 21-6
|-
| AF — Erik Soderberg 27 yard field goal, 0:00
| AF 24-6
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"| '''3rd Quarter'''
|-
| HU — Tyron Carrier 79 yard kickoff return (Matt Hogen 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 Hogen kick), 12:48
| AF 31-20
|-
| AF — Erik Soderberg 27 yard field goal, 7:27
| AF 34-20
|-
|colspan="4" align="center"| '''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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|2009 Armed Forces Bowl}}
*[http://www.armedforcesbowl.com/ Official Web site of the Armed Forces Bowl]

{{2009 bowl game navbox}}
{{Armed Forces Bowl navbox}}
{{Air Force Falcons bowl game navbox}}
{{Houston Cougars bowl game navbox}}

[[Category:2009–10 NCAA football bowl games|Armed Forces Bowl]]
[[Category:Armed Forces Bowl]]
[[Category:Air Force Falcons football bowl games]]
[[Category:Houston Cougars football bowl games]]