The 2021 Armed Forces Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 22, 2021, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. local CST) on ESPN. It was the 19th edition of the Armed Forces Bowl, and was one of the 2021âÂÂ22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. The game was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl after its corporate sponsor Lockheed Martin.
While the bowl had tie-ins with the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and Conference USA (C-USA), the actual matchup featured a team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and an FBS independent.
This was the fifth meeting between Missouri and Army; entering the bowl, the Tigers led the all-time series, 3âÂÂ2.
Missouri entered the bowl with a 6âÂÂ6 record (3âÂÂ5 in SEC play). The Tigers played three ranked teams during the seasonâÂÂTexas A&M, Georgia, and ArkansasâÂÂlosing each contest. Five of the Tigers' six wins came in their home stadium.
Army entered the bowl with an 8âÂÂ4 overall record. After winning their first four games, the Knights fell to 4âÂÂ3, then rallied to an 8âÂÂ3 record before losing their final regular-season contest to Navy. Army lost to the only ranked team they faced, Wake Forest.
The officials for the game came from the Big 12 Conference.<blockquote>Referee: Derek Anderson
Umpire: Sheldon Davis
Head Linesman: Al Green
Line Judge: Quentin Givens
Side Judge: Mario Seneca
Field Judge: Scott Gaines
Back Judge: Lyndon Nixon
Center Judge: Darren Winkley
Replay Official: Mark Marsden
Communicator: Buddy Gingras
Alternate Official: Marvel July</blockquote>