In a world increasingly comfortable with opting out, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl honors those who opt in \u2014 no matter the sacrifice \u2014 to see something through.<\/p>\n
Like, well, the United States Armed Forces, for example.<\/p>\n
Or, perhaps, a full football season \u2013 bowl games and all \u2013 no matter the potential material sacrifice on the way to your next stop in pursuit of college football\u2019s fortune.<\/p>\n
Be the Texas State Bobcats, our new favorite Group of 4 football program, in this upside-down world.<\/p>\n
Texas State drove north from the Hill Country for its third consecutive bowl appearance \u2014 the third in program history \u2014 with something to prove. The Bobcats (7-6) handled their business in a 41\u201310 victory over Rice (5-8) in Friday\u2019s Armed Forces Bowl, earning the third postseason win the program has ever known.<\/p>\n
It all matters to a program still finding its footing at the FBS level, trying to establish an identity in a turbulent era of college football \u2014 one defined increasingly by transactions, transfer portals, and mercenaries hired to win on Saturdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas State football is trending in the right direction. Texas State has achieved three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the early 1980s days of Jim Wacker, who was next lured to TCU. Next year, they\u2019ll join the new Pac-12. (Friday\u2019s game was its last as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.) Bowl victories are pivotal to programs like Texas State, which needs to keep donors interested. Money for football teams doesn\u2019t grow on trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still need help,\u201d says Texas State coach GJ Kinne. \u201cWe still need resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyway, it\u2019s rosters like Texas State\u2019s that many of college football\u2019s fat cat programs come to poach. Kinne says he knows he can\u2019t keep all of his players, though he\u2019s already kept a good nucleus from this year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
“I promise you this: when those kids, if they do decide to leave here, they’re going to regret it because the type of people we have in this building,\u201d Kinne says. “And not everyone has it the way we do.”<\/p>\n
Among those guys are people like Lincoln Pare, who won\u2019t be returning next year because he\u2019s exhausted his eligibility.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces Bowl is uniquely fitting for Pare, who wears No. 7 for Texas State’s offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to play in the Armed Forces Bowl after what we\u2019ve done with the Wounded Warrior Project I think is truly a blessing,\u201d Pare says.<\/p>\n
Pare and his father this summer created 7 Runs for Warriors, an avenue to use his platform to raise money for Wound Warrior Project. The idea initially stemmed from a desire to honor his U.S. Air Force veteran grandfather, Donald Pare, and Larry Pare, his great-uncle and U.S. Marine who served in Korea.<\/p>\n
Every 100-yard game and every touchdown helped raise money to give back to those veterans in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to honor people in my family but also a cause,\u201d says Pare, who is from Germantown, Tennessee. \u201cA lot of fans and alums got behind that. I ended up with a lot of donations today after the bowl game because I got that last hundred-yard game in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pare had a big day with 106 yards on 11 carries, including a 69-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Brad Jackson was the game\u2019s MVP with 244 total yards and four total touchdowns, including three passing. He was 17 for 24 for 173 yards in the air.<\/p>\n
Pare says 7 Runs for Warriors hit its $5,000 goal.<\/p>\n
Each year, Armed Forces Bowl week immerses players from both teams in the discipline and virtue of service. A luncheon on Wednesday honored veterans from World War II, Vietnam, and Afghanistan and Iraq. Both teams also visited The National Medal of Honor Museum<\/a> in Arlington.<\/p>\n Fort Worth City Councilman Charlie Lauersdorf, a Marine and veteran of eight deployments, including five in Afghanistan and Iraq, told the players that they were participating in more \u201cthan just a football game.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are playing for more than just a title sponsor,\u201d says Lauersdorf, whose wife Amanda is in the Army and was set for deployment until a cancer diagnosis for which she is receiving treatment. \u201cTo have Armed Forces Bowl be the one they play in, it’s so much more important than just a single football game. We had a lot of veterans [at the luncheon] that really set the stage for what we’re able to even do here today.”<\/p>\n Kinne said the experience at the luncheon was \u201cemotional.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just so fortunate to be able to represent the people that keep us safe and fight for our county is something special,\u201d Kinne says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t take that for granted today.\u201d<\/p>\n Pare\u2019s 7 Runs for Warriors isn\u2019t merely work on the field. It requires hours on social media promoting the organization and where to donate, which you can still do on X @Lincdog4<\/a>, on Instagram at lincoln.pare<\/a>, or simply go to 7runsforwarriors.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n The visit to the National Medal of Honor Museum \u201creally hit home,\u201d Pare says.<\/p>\n \u201cMan, I really felt good about doing [fundraising platform] this year,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is so worth it. I’m so grateful that me and my dad did that this year. And to be able to play in this bowl game and what it represents means everything. We truly live in the greatest country in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n