Air Force is the designated home team in the 2016 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl.
The Falcons might feel like they’re at home when they visit Tucson later this month.
Arizona Stadium — where Air Force will face South Alabama on Dec. 30 – is about 11 miles northwest of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The proximity of the base had Falcons coach Troy Calhoun beaming when he spoke with reporters after the bowl announcement Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t think you could pick a better match,” Calhoun said via conference call. “We absolutely love it. That’s who we are. You think of the soul, the fabric, everything we’re made of … those are our real teammates. It’s so darn cool. We’re elated.”
Air Force could become something akin to Tucson’s adopted team during the week leading up to the game. Arizona Bowl executive board member Ali Farhang flew to Laramie, Wyoming, for the Mountain West Championship Game on Saturday to stump for Air Force’s participation.
Asked how big it is to have Air Force in the game, Arizona Bowl executive director Mike Feder said: “Huge. Capital H, capital U, capital G, capital E.”
Arizona Bowl officials hope that the game’s earlier start time (3:30 p.m.) and Air Force’s involvement will boost local interest and attendance. Last year’s game between Colorado State and Nevada, which kicked off at 5:30, drew 20,425 fans.
Air Force also happens to be a really good team. The Falcons finished the regular season 9-3, including victories over Navy and Boise State. Both were ranked at various points this season.
Air Force enters the Arizona Bowl on a five-game winning streak. Calhoun credited the Falcons’ “resistance” and “persistence.”
“That’s just the makeup of our football team,” he said. “We’ve been in a bunch of close games.”
Air Force won its final three games — over Colorado State, San Jose State and Boise State — by a combined 13 points.
Air Force is expected to be favored over South Alabama, which finished 6-6. But the Jaguars are used to playing the underdog role — and thriving in it.
South Alabama — which plays in Alabama’s shadow and has been an FBS program for five years — notched two significant upsets this season.
On the opening Saturday of the season, South Alabama stunned Mississippi State 21-20 in Starkville. The Jaguars — who were 28-point underdogs — rallied from a 20-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.
Four weeks later, South Alabama drubbed then-No. 19 San Diego State 42-24 in Mobile. The Aztecs won the aforementioned Mountain West title game.
“It brought some credibility to South Alabama,” said Jaguars coach Joey Jones, the only coach in the program’s history. “It was another steppingstone to where we need to get to.”
This is the Jaguars’ second bowl appearance; South Alabama lost to Bowling Green in the 2014 Camellia Bowl.
Jones noted that for some of his players, the trip to Tucson will be the first time they have been west of the Mississippi River.
“It’s a great opportunity for our student-athletes to experience something new,” Jones said. “That’s exciting for our players.”
