Cal accepts bid to Armed Forces Bowl

The California Golden Bears have accepted a bid to the 2008 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth on December 31st where they will face the Air Force Falcons. The game will be held at Amon G. Carter Stadium, located on the campus of Texas Christian University, and will be broadcast by ESPN starting at 9:30 a.m. PST.

Coming off a 20-13 Big Game loss, the Bears had to wait on numerous scenarios, including whether or not Arizona would beat Arizona State, and whether Arizona State would get an at-large BCS bid.  With USC going to the Rose Bowl but Arizona State being shut out of the BCS, that sent the Sun Devils to the Holiday Bowl, pushing Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA to the Sun, Emerald and Las Vegas Bowls.  The Armed Forces Bowl, where Utah defeated Tulsa 25-13 last year, has agreements with the Pac-10, Conference USA, and the Mountain West Conference..

Although the Bears have lost five of their last six games, it gives the team a chance to finish on an up note, and begin laying the foundation for next season. The game also marks a homecoming for the two Golden Bears from the Dallas area, Justin Forsett and Brock Mansion.  At Sunday night's football awards banquet, Mansion was given the Freshman Lifter of the Year award, while Forsett won three awards - Stub Allison Award (most inspirational), Most Valuable Back Award, and the Bear Backer Award (most valuable player - offense).

Cal's opponent will be the Air Force Falcons. Air Force finished tied for second in the Mountain West Conference, with a 6-2 conference record and a 9-3 record overall.   Air Force's three losses were all on the road; to Brigham Young (31-6), Navy (31-20), and New Mexico (34-31).  The two bowl games that the Falcons beat were in their own conference, Utah (20-12) and TCU (20-17).

Air Force is quarterbacked by 5-10 senior Shaun Carney, who made his college debut as a freshman against Cal back in 2004, in a 56-14 Golden Bear victory.  While the Falcons' triple-option offense isn't as dependent on quarterback running yards as they were when Fisher DeBerry was the head coach, Carney threw for 1,423 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in 193 pass attempts, while running for 529 yards and five touchdowns. The Falcons primary offensive weapon is 5-8, 188-pound senior running back Chad Hall, who ran for 1,415 yards and 14 touchdowns and led the team with 46 catches for 488 yards. They have also gotten good production from 5-11 senior Jim Ollis who's run for 581 yards and 5 touchdowns. One cause for concern will be the big play capacity of Air Force's runners as Hall, Ollis, and Carney have had runs of 58, 71, and 71 yards this season for a rushing attack that has averaged nearly 300 yards a game, while three other running backs have had runs of 45 yards or longer.

While Air Force has won six of its last seven games, the game they lost, 34-31 to New Mexico, was the only team of the bunch to finish the season with a winning record.   Going back even farther, the last win Air Force had over a winning team was on September 13th, when they beat Texas Christian, 20-17.

In addition to the bowl game, there are a whole range of civic and community events that both teams will participate in.  During Bowl Week, teams will visit both a childrens hospital and a veterans hospital.  Because of the nature of the bowl game, thousands of tickets of distributed to active duty military and their families, and last year, part of ticket revenus were donated to the USO and the Children of Fallen Soldiers fund.  For more information about not just the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, but also this year's events, watch the Armed Forces Bowl's official website for details. Information about the kickoff luncheon can be found here.

The Armed Forces Bowl is sponsored by Bell Helicopter, which is headquartered in Fort Worth. To learn more about Bell Helicopter, or see images of the 429, which is a fairly sharp looking as far as helicopters go, visit http://www.bellhelicopter.com.

Ticket information for Cal donors and season ticket holders can be found here at the Calbears.com website, as well as a letter describing the process.

Note...Although the game takes place in 2007, the bowl organizers are referring to this year's bowl as the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl. The Bear Insider will follow their convention.

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