Photo Courtesy: John Pellino
By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Game Info
Navy Midshipmen vs Army Black Knights
Saturday – December 10 – 2:00 p.m.
TV: CBS
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Records Before the Game
Navy Midshipmen (4-7)
Army Black Knights (5-6)
Well, the regular season for college football is almost over! We have one last game to play. The Army-Navy is being played Saturday. After this game is played, the regular season is over, and the bowl games begins. The first game played between these two teams happened in 1890. Last year the Black Knights shut out the Midshipmen 15-0. The Midshipmen hold a 62-53-7 edge over the Black Knights in the series of 121 games. Let’s take a close look at this year’s military matchup.
FBS Independents Standings
Here’s a division of the NCAA that no one really pays attention to. There are 7 teams in this division:
Liberty, Notre Dame, BYU, New Mexico State, UConn, Army and UMass. Navy is the American Athletic Conference and is currently in 6th place. Every year these two teams play in a knock down, drag out game where both teams run the ball for the whole game. This game will be very interesting. Expects lots of hard hits and extra effort.
Navy Midshipmen
This Navy offense is led by Junior quarterback Tai Lavatai. He has 787 passing yards with 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He averages 10 carries a game. They don’t throw the ball much because of their dedication to the run. Running back Daba Fofana has 175 rushing attempts with 6 touchdowns. The x-factor for this team will be passing the ball. The leading receiver for Navy is Junior Jayden Umbarger. He has 16 receptions for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Army Black Knights
Army can find themselves in a bowl game if they can pull off a win on Saturday. They are currently 5-6 and beating a tough Navy team would be the highlight of the season. Army is led by quarterback Cade Ballard. Ballard has passed for 355 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Running back Tyhier Tyler has 601 yards on the ground with 12 touchdowns this season. The x-factor for the Black Knights will be the defense and stopping the run.
Prediction
ESPN has the Black Knights with a 51.2% chance of winning Saturday. Keep in mind if you like smash mouth football well this is the game for you. Both teams are playing for bragging rights and for the Commanders Cup! I’m taking Navy by 6!
Final Score
Navy – 21
Army – 15
