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2009 Armed Forces Bowl – Houston vs Air Force Spread

Written December 28, 2009 by Hector Garza

The Armed Forces Bowl is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31 at 12:00 p.m. ET, where there will be a replay from last year’s bowl between Houston (10-3) and Air Force (7-5). The Cougars got the 34-28 win last year, and will pit their top rated passing offense against the Falcons #1 ranked passing defense. Houston will have the home crowd support since the game will be played in nearby Fort Worth, Tx, and they’re also the 4 point favorites according to our college football odds. An advantage for Air Force will be their strong running game, where the Cougars are ranked 112th in stopping the run. Both teams are looking to get the bad taste of season ending losses out of their mouths, with Air Force losing to BYU 21-38 and Houston losing 32-38 to ECU in the Conference USA Championship.

Case Keenum is the man in Houston. He leads the nation in total offense (429.3 ypg), passing (419.2) and touchdown passes (43). He’s thrown five td passes in four different games and is completing a surprising 71% of his throws. Naturally, he has a stable of receivers to choose from, with twelve different ones finding the endzone and recording double digit receptions. The cream of the crop is James Cleveland, a transfer from Iowa, who’s garnered 101 catches for 14 scores and 1182 yards. With such a powerful aerial attack, one wouldn’t think too much of the running game, but Houston has scored 23 times on the ground behind the efforts of Bryce Beall and Charles Sims. They’ve combined for over 1300 yards and 16 scores in helping the offense to a respectable 131.2 ypg. Their Achilles heel has been a defense that’s given up 47 td’s and 442.7 ypg! They’ll have their hands full with stopping an option offense as they’re giving up 213.1 ypg in that category.

SportsInteraction is offering a special Holiday deal through Jan. 8 when betting college football. Act now to get a 100%, that’s %, Match BONUS. While Air Force’s offense isn’t nearly as explosive as the Cougars, their strength matches up perfectly with their opponent’s weakness. They boast the #4 rushing attack in the country at 273.6 ypg behind the triple option. QB Tim Jefferson has only five passing td’s to two int’s, but contributes with another three scores on the ground. The main threats are RB’s Jared Tew and Asher Clark. They’ve hit paydirt 12 times and have over 1,500 rushing yards. Another source of pride has been the play of the defense. They’ve posted two shutouts, albeit to inferior opponents, and played then #10 TCU and #19 Utah to seven points. They rank in the top ten nationally in scoring defense and yards allowed, but their best athletes are in the secondary. Despite the 373 yard melt down against BYU, the Falcons lead the nation against the pass with 148.7 ypg, and are chomping at the bit to put an end to their three game bowl losing streak.

Check out more winning college bowl picks at Betfirms! There’s no stopping Keenum from getting his yardage in the air, the question will be how many mistakes the Falcons can force him to make. In his last outing he threw a season high three interceptions, and has nine on the year. Air Force can further help their cause by playing ball control offense and keeping their D off the field. Houston has only played one ranked opponent, outgunning Oklahoma State 45-35. Their opponent, meanwhile, lost all three games against TCU, Utah and BYU, but will reverse that trend and buck the spread to finish the season. There’s plenty more free game breakdowns and college football picks to choose from before the New Year.