2021 Armed Forces Bowl Preview: Army vs. Missouri

The Army Black Knights lost to Navy in their regular-season finale. The Missouri Tigers survived a rugged SEC East. They meet in a pre-Christmas bowl game, with a key point being that Army has played its last game much more recently than Missouri has.

Army Black Knights vs. Missouri Tigers
Date: Wednesday, December 22nd, 8:00 PM ET

Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX

CFB Odds: Army -4

Army Black Knights

The triple-option attack of Army is really hard to stop. As a general rule, most teams don’t prepare for the triple-option until either a bowl game like this or the one time a year they’re facing a school running the offense, which is also often in a bowl. It’s not an offensive system a lot of schools use, but Army isn’t like other schools. Recruiting for Army football is literally recruiting for the Army – a military academy – more than a football team. Therefore, using a system they can go with year-in, year-out without having to worry about who they’re recruiting is optimal. This system might be the reason Army is 4-1 in its five bowl games since 2010. The Black Knights haven’t rushed for fewer than 182 yards in any of those bowl games. This is a team that’s going to run and run a lot. The Black Knights are also going to get after the run on defense. Mizzou will have to keep Army’s rushing attack from getting rolling in this game. Nothing in Mizzou’s bag of tricks suggests the Tigers have the ability to do this. Even when the Tigers have the ball, Mizzou’s one strength, the run game, is the thing Army is best at stopping.

Missouri Tigers

Similar to Army, Mizzou is eligible for a bowl for the fifth straight year. Many observers might be amazed to find out that their last bowl appearance was in 2018. How can both be true? A mix of COVID-19 and deciding to sit out a bowl game a couple years ago seem to be how this unusual turn of events came about. Missouri enters this game against Army having not won a bowl game since 2014. Can the Tigers get a win against a team that prevents opponents from doing the one thing Mizzou wants to do?

The Tigers will have to establish the run – their strength – in this game if they’re to have any hope of beating Army. They’re also going to have to stop the run. If Mizzou allows Army to have a 300-yard rushing day, you can stick a fork in the Tigers for this game. They won’t have enough on offense to keep up with that kind of performance. If they can stop the run, however, they have a chance to outdo Army at the Black Knights’ own game. The problem is that nothing on Mizzou’s 2021 schedule suggests they’re capable of churning out a performance like that, but that’s why they play the game. Mizzou will know exactly what it needs to do in this game. The Tigers will even know that Army will run the ball on nearly every down. Can they do anything about it, though?

Outlook

The SEC East wasn’t necessarily soft this year, but it didn’t have a lot of top teams since Florida underperformed and Kentucky was injured. Army has been tested just as much as Missouri has. The Black Knights won’t be underprepared for this game, and that will probably give them the edge.

Black Knights vs. Tigers Prediction:

Black Knights 27, Tigers 20