South Alabama and Air Force meet in the Arizona Bowl on Friday in Tucson, as the season’s non-New Year’s Six bowl season winds down. The Jaguars and Falcons took different routes to get here, and Air Force is the clear favorite ahead of kickoff.
South Alabama vs. Air Force, 2016 Arizona Bowl: Time, live stream, TV schedule, and 3 things to know
Air Force, perversely, is playing against the USA.
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The Jaguars started the season by winning at Mississippi State, but they struggled in the Sun Belt and finished 6-6, including 2-6 in the league. They ostensibly qualified for a bowl game because their game at LSU on Nov. 19 changed to a home game against FCS Presbyterian, and they won that game. But the Jags have earned their spot.
Air Force has had a strong season. The Falcons outright won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the series between themselves and fellow service academies, Army and Navy. They went 9-3, and they scored a great win in their regular season finale against Boise State. Things have been pretty good, and now they can end well, too.
How to watch, stream and listen
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday
TV: American Sports Network (coverage map here)
Online streaming: Campus Insiders
Radio: South Alabama and Air Force
Spread: Air Force is favored by about two touchdowns.
Make friends: SB Nation’s Mountain West Connection covers Air Force and the Mountain West, and Underdog Dynasty covers South Alabama and the Sun Belt.
Three big things to know
1. South Alabama should be wary of the middle of the game. For whatever reason, the Jaguars have been really bad in the second and third quarter this season. They’re 127th in the country in S&P+ in the second, 118th in the third. They’ve been outscored a combined 162-124 in the middle quarters, while they’ve won the first and fourth frames by a combined 178-131. The Jags start strong and finish strong, but they’re not, for whatever reason, strong in the middle of games. Air Force, on the other hand, has beaten opponents by a 243-163 margin.
2. Air Force is going to run, and it’ll probably succeed. The Falcons, an option team, run on about 90 percent of all standard downs. It’s what they do, though they’re explosive when quarterbacks Nate Romine and Arion Worthman air it out: They’re No. 1 nationally in Passing IsoPPP, a measurement of big plays. South Alabama doesn’t defend the run especially well, and it’s hard to get ready for option schemes, even on an extended bowl preparation schedule.
3. These teams have never played, which is cool. South Alabama’s still a new program, having started play in 2009 and only jumped to the FBS in 2012. The program’s played two Mountain West teams all-time, and Air Force has played three Sun Belt teams. It’s wholly possible that the Jaguars and Falcons will never play again, so this bowl game will be something of a novelty. That’s something we can all get behind in the Arizona Bowl, isn’t it? It could be fun, and it’ll certainly be unique.
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