Hokies to face Cincinnati in the Military Bowl

By: Chris Coleman | Lead Analyst and Columnist

military-bowl-logoVirginia Tech is heading to Annapolis to face Cincinnati in the Military Bowl.  The game will be played on Saturday, December 27, and it will be televised by ESPN at 1pm.  The bowl will be held in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, which seats 34,000 people.

The game is being dubbed the Babcock Bowl, because Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock left Cincinnati for Blacksburg back in February. The Bearcats are coached by Tommy Tuberville, who Babcock hired at Cincinnati.  Frank Beamer and Tuberville faced each other in the 2005 Sugar Bowl, which was won 16-13 by the undefeated Auburn Tigers.

The Bearcats went 9-3 this season.  They had a three-game losing streak against Ohio State, Memphis and Miami back in late September and early October, but overall they are a good team that won a lot of games this year.  They defeated East Carolina, who beat the Hokies, 54-46 in a Thursday night game in November.  They earned a share of the AAC Championship thanks to their win over Houston this weekend.

Cincinnati is led by Notre Dame transfer quarterback Gunner Kiel, who put up big numbers this season: 219-of-364 (60.2%) for 3,010 yards, with 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.  They also averaged 157 yards per game on the ground.  Here’s a quick look at the Bearcats’ efficiency numbers…

FEI Offense: #38
S&P Offense: #26
FEI Defense: #89
S&P Defense: #69

As you can see, Cincinnati has a very efficient offense, but a very questionable defense.  We’ll have more on this game in the coming days.

Military Bowl official web site

 

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23 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Valid point. I will be curious to see how many people will attend Rutgers vs. North Carolina. I certainly am not going to waste my day off work to see that game. My guess is that it will be a few less than the Detroit Lions routine sell outs.

  2. Yes. We are 6-6. Well understood. We do not get to “pick” our bowl. Again, well understood. I am just a bit frustrated by the Military Bowl director’s infatuation with a VT vs. Cinci (“Babcock Bowl”) match-up. He called Cinci one of the “hottest” teams in America. It’s hard to respect a statement like that. Honestly, I thought Whit would kinda schenagle us into a better bowl against the likes of Florida or PSU (both of whom essentially have our same record, but didn’t happen to beat the #4 team in the CFB).

    1. He’s the director of the bowl. What do you want him to say? “It’s kind of a blah game between an underperforming Hokie squad and the conference champ for a conference no one cares about”. He wouldn’t be director of that bowl for very long. Unless he’s the director of the Rose or Sugar, he’s going to need to know how to polish excrement.

    2. Think this is the best match up for us, unless we could have gotten bumped up to a Tier 1 bowl, which was not happening. I hope we can win, that is my biggest concern now.

    3. Here’s the list of teams that have won more games in a row than Cincy (7):
      #3 FSU (29)
      #4 Ohio St (11)
      #2 Oregon (8)
      #1 Alabama (8)
      #20 Boise St (8)

      Thats some pretty good company, I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say they are one of the hottest teams in America.

    2. Me too! I never thought I’d cheer for the Hokies making it to the Military Bowl but I’m looking forward to being able to save some money while taking the whole family to a game 20 min from my house. Think it will be the same set up for parking? First come first serve in the grass?

  4. FWIW, Gunner Kiel de-committed from Notre Dame in favor of Indiana. So he is transferring from IU.
    Got to watch him live a few times at Columbus East HS. A man against boys (as you’d expect), but haven’t followed his college career.
    Hope we can beat ’em… 7-6 *is* a lot better than 6-7.

  5. We shouldn’t complain about who or where. Thankful we squeaked into a bowl game primarily for the 15 extra practices. But since we are going bowling – Just win, baby!

  6. Thirty minutes from where I live, good. That sounds like a no-brainer but I wouldn’t have minded going somewhere sunny. The season has tired me out and I’m just not … Anyway, go watch the game, hang out in Annapolis, wake up the next morning in my own bed. That works for me.

    1. Could beat us??? Are you serious. Based on our season and recent bowl record, it’s a safe bet they will beat us.

    1. You were hoping for, maybe a January 1st Game?…with a 6-6 record? I actually LIKE the place (Annapolis) and the Naval Academy…

      We want a better bowl, we win more games..For this year, all things considered, I’m pretty happy that’s where we wound up….although, let’s face it, we were ALL bitterly disappointed not to be going to Detroit the day after Christmas…..lol

      1. I have to like this smallish bowl better than Det riot the DAY after Christmas.Also plenty to do and go in Annapolis.This will be my first VT bowl game ever.BTW I’m an American University alum.

          1. Well, you do kinda need to have a population to have a riot, right? What’s a riot if only 20 people attend?

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