The 2022 Military Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2022, at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The 13th annual Military Bowl featured UCF from the American Athletic Conference and Duke from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game began at 2:00 p.m. EST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by technology company Peraton, the game was officially known as the Military Bowl presented by Peraton.
Teams This was the first time that Duke and UCF have ever played each other.
UCF
The Knights, from the American Athletic Conference, finished the regular season with a record of 9–3 (6–2 in conference play). The team tied with Cincinnati for second in the conference, with their victory over the Bearcats securing the tiebreaker to advance to the AAC Championship Game, in which they lost to Tulane, 45–28. The Knights are led by second-year head coach Gus Malzahn. This is the 14th bowl game for the Knights.
This will be UCF's final game as a member of the AAC, as the Knights are set to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023.
Duke
The Blue Devils, from the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished the regular season with a record of 8–4 (5–3 in conference play). They are led by first-year head coach Mike Elko. This is the 15th bowl game for the Blue Devils.
Game summary
Statistics
+Team statistical comparisonStatisticUCFDukeFirst downs 21 22First downs rushing 10 10First downs passing 11 10First downs penalty 0 2Third down efficiency 5–14 7–14Fourth down efficiency 2–4 0–0Total plays–net yards 71–326 69–350Rushing attempts–net yards 36–128 40–177Yards per rush 3.6 4.4 Yards passing 198 173Pass completions–attempts 22–35 19–29Interceptions thrown 1 0Punt returns–total yards 0–0 0–0Kickoff returns–total yards 3–41 1–22Punts–average yardage 4–47.2 4–42.8Fumbles–lost 3–1 0–0Penalties–yards 3–27 1–5Time of possession 25:32 34:28
+UCF statisticsKnights passing John Rhys Plumlee 21–34 182 0–1 RJ Harvey 1–1 16 0–0Knights rushing Isaiah Bowser 11 39 2 Johnny Richardson 3 30 0 RJ Harvey 6 29 0 John Rhys Plumlee 14 21 0 Xavier Townsend 2 9 0Knights receiving Kobe Hudson 5 63 0 Javon Baker 2 49 0 RJ Harvey 3 25 0 Xavier Townsend 7 25 0 Alec Holler 2 18 0 John Rhys Plumlee 1 16 0 Johnny Richardson 2 2 0
+Duke statisticsBlue Devils passing Riley Leonard 19–28 173 0–0 Team 0–1 0 0–0Blue Devils rushing Riley Leonard 10 63 2 Jaylen Coleman 7 53 0 Jaquez Moore 12 43 1 Terry Moore 6 16 0 Jordan Waters 3 5 0 Team 2 -3 0Blue Devils receiving Jalon Calhoun 6 62 0 Jaquez Moore 1 32 0 Sahmir Hagans 4 32 0 Jordan Moore 3 13 0 Cole Finney 1 12 0 Eli Pancol 2 12 0 Terry Moore 1 8 0 Jaylen Coleman 1 2 0
References