Army to play in Liberty Bowl against WestVirginia
After their scheduled Independence Bowl game was canceled, the Black Knights will take on West Virgina
Just when it looked like Army would be denied a bowl game, the Black Knights found a new place to play.
It was announced Monday night that Army will face West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 31, at 4 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.
The news comes a day after the Independence Bowl, which Army had been scheduled to play in, was canceled because no Pac-12 opponent agreed to play.
“WE’RE BOWL BOUND #GoARMY,” Army football wrote on Twitter.
Tennessee was scheduled to play in the Liberty Bowl, but the Volunteers pulled out earlier on Monday.
“The test results revealed an increase in positive cases among student-athletes and staff and subsequent contact tracing,” Tennessee said in a statement. “The decision was made in consultation with health officials, the Southeastern Conference and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.”
The change in opponent was no problem for West Virginia, the other original team in the game.
“We’re game! Let’s play ball @ArmyWP_ Football,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown wrote on Twitter.
West Virginia will bring a 5-4 record into the game. Army is 9-2.
Before the Liberty Bowl announcement, Army coach Jeff Monken and his Black Knights were coping with a major letdown.
The Black Knights shut out archrival Navy at Michie Stadium just over a week ago and finished an undefeated eight-game home season on Saturday by beating Air Force to win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. But the good feelings from that accomplishment took a big hit Sunday night with the Independence Bowl cancellation.
“I felt like I had let them down,” Monken said Monday. “I felt like I didn’t follow through on the promise that I’ve given them, that if they earned the opportunity to get in a bowl game that they’re going to get a chance to play.”
Army, one of only seven FBS independents, went from being the first team in the country to land a bowl bid — in late October the Independence Bowl extended an invitation in the locker room after the Black Knights had won their sixth game — to one without a spot before the Liberty Bowl became available.
“It’s hard because we know how much we’ve worked for this season and everything we did,” senior linebacker Jon Rhattigan said. “Certainly, we want to go out with a bowl victory on top of the Commanderin- Chief’s Trophy. For that to be in question is not something we’re too happy about right now.”
More than 20 teams chose not to accept bowl invitations, ending what has been a stressful and at times frustrating season amid the coronavirus pandemic. That led to the unusual situation of postseason games not having enough teams to fill the slots, and the number of bowl cancellations began to rise. The total reached 16 on Monday when the Military Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Annapolis, Maryland, was canceled. Executive Director Steve Beck had tweeted he hoped to bring Army there.
“Essentially, we got stuck without one,” Monken said. “As it turned out, there were more teams than there were bowl games, and by the end of the day some of those teams that opted out, as I understand, may have been offered a chance to play us and said, ‘Hey, we don’t want to do that.’ That’s the way it goes.”
Army has a three-year deal with the Independence Bowl that also includes 2022 and 2024.
“Those are our friends, folks who believe in our program, in our institution, in our United States Army, and want to give us the opportunity to represent all of those people in their bowl game,” Monken said. “And I will tell you that they were crushed themselves. The person that deals with our athletic department was in tears, just wanted this game to happen so bad and they tried, they tried so hard.”
Monken said he wasn’t mad at the system, just disappointed in the teams that had an option to play and chose not to, “and here we’ve got a 9-2 team that I would challenge has gone through more this year than any team.”