Midnite Madness - The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

The rising sun in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, January 2, bared her for all Horned Frogs and football fans nationwide to see.

TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Adorned not in her usual glistening Horned Frog Purple, but awash in America's colors. Red, white, and blue! From end zone to end zone, and from sea to shining sea, saluting this year’s 250th anniversary of America, and her bravery and freedom.

A Texas-on-Texas Bowl at Amon G. Carter

The Grand Dame of Cowtown perhaps had never looked more beautiful, patriotic, or inspiring than on this glorious day of the 2026 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, with its 23rd edition featuring the Rice Owls (5-7) and the Texas State Bobcats (6-6), both of whom have deep ties to Fort Worth and the TCU football program.

Rice, which is a private university located in Houston, Texas, is no stranger to Amon G. Carter
Stadium. TCU and the Owls began playing football games against each other in 1914. Both were together as members of the Southwest Conference (SWC), from 1923 to 1995.

TCU and Rice have played each other in football 75 times. TCU leads the series with 41 wins, 33
losses and one tie. The last time the two teams met was on October 28, 2000. TCU won 37-0.

Notably, a 28-21 victory by TCU over Rice in Fort Worth, on November 22, 1975, in the last game of the ’75 regular season, ended an agonizing 20-game losing streak by the Frogs. TCU defeated UT Arlington 12-3 on September 14, 1974, then lost the next 10 games of that season and the first 10 games of the 1975 season before the victory over the Owls.

That ugly, historic losing streak, under head coach Jim Shofner, included five shutout losses, a 49-0 loss to Arkansas, 41-3 and 45-0 losses to Alabama, an 81-16 loss to the University of Texas, a 56-14 loss to Nebraska and a 34-0 loss to Texas Tech.

Familiar Ties Between TCU, Rice, and Texas State

There are other connections between Rice and TCU, as well as connections between TCU and Texas State, which is located in San Marcos, Texas, and was, until 2013, known as Southwest Texas State.

Todd Graham was the head football coach at Rice in 2006. In 2024, he joined TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes’ staff as an analyst.

David Bailiff was Rice’s head football coach from 2007 to 2017. From 2001 to 2003, Bailiff was on TCU football head coach Gary Patterson’s staff. He was the Frogs’ defensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003.

Jeremy Modkins, who was a safety at TCU from 2001 to 2005 and coached cornerbacks at TCU from 2018 to 2021, is now a cornerbacks coach at Rice. It’s a position he has held since 2023.

Bailiff also has ties to Texas State. Bailiff was the Bobcats’ head coach from 2004 through the 2006 season.

Former TCU head football coaches Jim Wacker and Dennis Franchione were also head football coaches at Texas State during their careers.

Wacker was Southwest Texas State’s head coach from 1979 to 1982. He left the Bobcats to accept
TCU’s head football coaching position after the 1982 season. Wacker was the Frogs’ head coach
through 1991. He returned to Southwest Texas State in 1998 and served as its athletics director until 2001. He passed away from cancer in 2003. He is honored at Texas State with the “Jim Wacker Field at UFCU Stadium.”

Franchione served two terms as head coach at Texas State. His first term was from 1990 to 1991. He
left the Bobcats after the 1991 season to become the head football coach at the University of New Mexico, where he coached until becoming TCU’s head football coach in 1998.

On January 7, 2011, Franchione again was named head coach of Texas State's football program. He led Texas State into Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)-level football in 2012, with the Bobcats joining the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Franchione retired from coaching following the 2015 season.

Patriotism Everywhere, TCU Pride Included

The patriotism on display in Amon G. Carter Stadium in connection with the matchup between Rice and Texas State in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl was more than enough to make longtime TCU Horned Frog fans blush with pride, especially remembering that TCU and Fort Worth helped kick off this bowl game in 2023, when the Frogs took on Boise State in what was then the Fort Worth Bowl. Of course, the purple-and-white still are trying to forget the final score, which favored the Broncos 34-31.

The “Bowl for the Brave,” as it is known within bowl circles, has featured the Armed Forces theme since 2006. The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl was the first collegiate football bowl game to host all three U.S. Military Academy football teams: Air Force (2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2022, 2023); Army (2010, 2017, 2018, 2021); and Navy (2013, 2016, 2024). Nine of the last 12 Armed Forces Bowl games have featured a team from a military academy.

Lockheed Martin, a global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technologies company with a major presence in Fort Worth and the surrounding area, joined the bowl as its title sponsor on February 5, 2014. In 2024, the company committed to an extension of its sponsorship through the 2031 game.

Cowtown Hospitality Turns Bowl Week into More Than Football

The Armed Forces Bowl and Cowtown welcomed Rice and Texas State to town with an event at Bill Bob’s in the Stockyards on Monday, December 29. On Tuesday, December 30, the teams gave back to the community and showed that football is bigger than the game on the field by spending time with patients at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. On Wednesday, December 31, the teams made the short trip to Arlington to visit the Medal of Honor Museum, which honors the bravest of the brave.

USMC Cpl Jacob Schick, a third-generation combat Marine, Purple Heart recipient, motivational speaker and actor, was the keynote speaker at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Kickoff Luncheon, held on Thursday, January 1. Schick is also CEO of One Tribe Foundation, which helps veterans and first responders overcome mental health struggles.

Previously, Gen. Patrick Henry Brady, widely recognized as the most highly decorated living veteran, had been announced as the bowl’s 2025 Great American Patriot Award honoree. Presented annually by Armed Forces Insurance at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, the Great American Patriot Award honors a candidate in recognition of their exemplary service to the United States.

Gen. Brady is the only living veteran to hold both the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award, and one of the very few soldiers ever to receive those two honors as well as the Distinguished Service Medal. In all, he earned more than 85 medals during his career, including 65 combat-related and 12 for valor.

Among Gen. Brady’s other awards are the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, six Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with palm and silver star, and 53 Air Medals.

A Powerful Reminder of what Bravery looks like.#WE pic.twitter.com/wAnZXYmcJD
— Rice Football (@RiceFootball) January 1, 2026

Also previously announced was the selection of Levi Moell as the 2025 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Merit Award, which is presented annually to honor an individual or a group with a military background that has an impact within the world of college football. Announced each Veterans Day, the Armed Forces Merit Award recipient is selected by a panel of individuals from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Moell is a U. S. Marine Corps veteran and running back at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Pregame Patriotism Took Over

On the morning of January 2, pre-game activities in the overflowing Tailgate Outpost area brought forth wounded warriors and former and current members of the Armed Services, who mingled with Rice and Texas State fans and plain ol' military and college football enthusiasts.

Within the Veterans Village, military non-profits provide information and services to help veterans.

A trip through the Veterans Village courtesy of the @UTARadioSports crew! #LMAFB #BowlfortheBrave @RiceFootball @TXSTATEFOOTBALL @LockheedMartin pic.twitter.com/hXPIqydD7z
— LM Armed Forces Bowl (@ArmedForcesBowl) January 2, 2026

The bowl also features its Wall of Heroes annually, which honors past and present armed forces members whose pictures have been submitted by themselves, family members, or friends. This year, there were more than 4,000 submissions.

A Brief Jolt of Tension Before the Roar of the Flyover

Enthusiasm, patriotism, and anticipation were at fever pitch by the time five members of an all-veteran parachute team were brought high over the stadium in a Texas Air National Guard C-
130, thanks to the local 136th Airlift Wing. Shortly thereafter, concern gripped the crowd when one of the parachutists crash-landed as he neared his landing in the stadium. He reportedly suffered no serious injuries.

Here's the video of a paratrooper hitting the wire at the Armed Forces Bowl and falling.
I hope he's okay... pic.twitter.com/aATKFTzLi0
— DFWStormChasers (@DFWStormChasing) January 2, 2026

A few minutes later, as the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner was concluding, the crowd erupted into a thunderous applause for a Lockheed-Martin F-35 flyover from the 301st Fighter Wing based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth.

All of the services were recognized during the game, with the United States Air Force Band of the West performing the songs of the respective military branch. Receiving special recognition were Purple Heart recipients, who were seated in the stadium’s South Endzone Club, thanks to the generosity of the Airpower Foundation.

And Yes, There Was Still a Football Game to be Played

Lest we forget, there also was a football game. After all, that's typically what has happened inside Amon G. Carter Stadium since 1930.

In the first-ever Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl that featured two Texas-based teams, Texas State
manhandled Rice 41-10.

Unfortunately, Rice safety Daveon Hook suffered an apparent head/neck injury in the third quarter of the game. He was in a neck brace and conscious when placed on a stretcher. As he was being carted off the field to be taken to a local medical facility, Hook showed an ability to move his arms. An update on Hook’s condition had not been announced by the end of the game.

The GJ Kinne-led Bobcats finished their season at 7-6. Texas State improved to 2-0 against Rice in bowl games (this Armed Forces Bowl was a rematch of the 2023 First Responder Bowl, in which the Bobcats defeated the Owls 45-21).

Rice, under the direction of first-year head coach Scott Abell, fell to 5-8 (the Owls initially didn’t qualify for a bowl game after going 5-7 in the regular season, but Rice was selected as a replacement team based on Academic Progress Rate.

So, while the Bobcats took home the coveted Armed Forces Bowl trophy from San Marcos, which includes decommissioned pieces of Lockheed Martin aircraft, spacecraft, and weapons, this Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl will be particularly remembered for its many interconnected aspects and a whole host of patriotic reasons. After all, this is much more than a bowl game.