Army looks to run the ball all over the field on Wednesday in the 2021 Armed Forces Bowl betting matchup. The Black Knights run nearly 60 times a game, and they’ll be up against a Missouri squad that has one of the six worst rush defenses in the country.
Mizzu has their work cut out for them, but they’ve also had extra time to prepare for the unique Black Knights triple option offense. The Tigers are also battle tested playing in the SEC, with each of their six losses (6-6) coming to a team playing in a bowl game. Missouri got robbed of an extra game last year when the Music City Bowl was cancelled, and now they’ll get a chance to make up for that on Wednesday in Ft. Worth.
Missouri Overmatched Here?
The Tigers won three of five down the stretch to get to a second straight bowl under second year head coach Elia Drinkwitz. Missouri made the 2020 Music City Bowl in the coach’s inaugural season (5-5), but the meeting with Iowa was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
2021 Armed Forces Bowl betting will be the first postseason appearance for Mizzu since a 38-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2018 Liberty Bowl. Mizzu had kind of a tough go of it at just 3-5 in the SEC East, but they did post a nice 24-23 win over Florida in OT as +9.5 underdogs.
Missouri will be without their biggest offensive asset on Wednesday with RB Tyler Badie sitting out as he plans to declare for the NFL draft. Badie was a second team All-American that amassed over 1,600 rushing yards with 14 TDs. Mizzu will also be without QB Connor Bazelak (2,540 yards, 16 TD/11 INT) as he’s opted to rest a sore leg that has bothered him for the last part of the season. Redshirt freshman Brady Cook, who has thrown just 23 passes all season, gets the start.
Good Spot for Army
It’s not Georgia or Alabama, but Army would love a win over an SEC opponent as they meet up with a team from the conference for the first time in a decade. The Black Knights get a break with Mizzu’s Badie not playing in this matchup, but it’s also a really good matchup for Army.
The Black Knights run the ball 58.4 times per game, and they’re up against a Missouri defense that ranked 124th out of 130 FBS schools in rush yards allowed per game (229.3 ypg). The Tigers did do a good job of holding Florida to 93 yards rushing on 38 attempts in their week 12 win, but Army is a whole different animal.
Missouri isn’t just missing players on offense, as leading tackler S Martez Manuel sprained his ankle during bowl practices and CB Akayleb Evans is opting out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft. Army is deep too, with four players rushing for over 400 yards this season led by Tyrell Robinson’s 603 yards. The Black Knights also have nobody on the injury report.
Free 2021 Armed Forces Bowl Betting Pick
It’s just hard to see how Missouri contends in this game. It was going to be a tough matchup even with Badie and Bazelak, but now the Tigers are really up against it.
Army 34 – Missouri 20
Free Pick: Army -6.5
