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Navy looks for ninth straight win over Army
NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (8-3)
vs. ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS (6-5)
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Kickoff: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Navy -7, Total: 53.5
Army and Navy will meet for the 111th time when the schools square off on Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This venue provides a neutral field in the truest sense, being roughly equidistant from the two academies. Navy is currently working on an eight-game winning streak in the series, the longest ever in the rich history. Overall, the Midshipmen own a 54-49-7 edge all-time.
Although Army is already bowl-bound at 6-5, a victory over Navy would give the Black Knights their first winning season since 1996. Army will play SMU in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 30 in Dallas. Navy (8-3, 6-5 ATS) is also going bowling, and will play in the Poinsettia Bowl bid against San Diego State on Dec. 23.
The pain of not defeating the Midshipmen since 2001 (2-6 ATS) hangs over West Point like an omnipresent cloud. The biggest problem for Army of late has been scoring, as they’ve produced just 9.3 points per game during the losing skid.
The Midshipmen have a slight advantage in this matchup with their offense. Navy averages 31.0 points per game, behind the nation’s third-best rushing attack, averaging 302.6 yards per game. Army isn’t far behind at 28.5 PPG and 260.3 rushing YPG, good for 10th in the nation.
Navy does have a much greater advantage in terms of total yardage, averaging 414.1 total yards per game, compared to 338.2 YPG for Army. Since neither team throws the football very often -– Army ranks last in the nation with 77.9 passing YPG and Navy is the third-lowest at 111.6 passing YPG -– turnovers and sacks allowed are very low for each team. Army leads the nation in fewest sacks allowed per game (0.4) while Navy is ninth in this category (0.8). Navy’s turnover margin is +0.9 per game while Army is slightly better at +1.0 per game.
The star player in the game remains Middies QB Ricky Dobbs, who rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown in last year’s win over Army. Dobbs needs 194 rushing yards in his final two games to post consecutive 1,000/1,000 seasons in terms of rushing yards and passing yards. Sophomore Trent Steelman is Army’s signal caller, who has rushed for 620 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
The FoxSheets give three highly-rated reasons to pick Navy to win, cover and keep the Commander in Chief Trophy:
NAVY is 27-8 ATS (+18.2 Units) versus excellent rushing teams - averaging >=230 rushing yards/game since 1992. The average score was NAVY 20.1, OPPONENT 23.6 - (Rating = 3*).
NAVY is 21-5 ATS (+15.5 Units) in road games vs. mistake free teams - 42 or less penalty yards per game since 1992. The average score was NAVY 25.3, OPPONENT 19.8 - (Rating = 3*).
ARMY is 8-27 ATS (-21.7 Units) after a bye week since 1992. The average score was ARMY 16.1, OPPONENT 30.5 - (Rating = 3*).
The FoxSheets also side with the Under in this game:
Play Under - All teams where the total is between 49.5 and 56 (NAVY) - after a cover as a double-digit favorite, good team, winning 60-80% or more of their games on the season. (64-31 over the last 5 seasons.) (67.4%, +29.9 units. Rating = 2*).
NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (8-3)
vs. ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS (6-5)
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
Kickoff: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Navy -7, Total: 53.5
Army and Navy will meet for the 111th time when the schools square off on Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This venue provides a neutral field in the truest sense, being roughly equidistant from the two academies. Navy is currently working on an eight-game winning streak in the series, the longest ever in the rich history. Overall, the Midshipmen own a 54-49-7 edge all-time.
Although Army is already bowl-bound at 6-5, a victory over Navy would give the Black Knights their first winning season since 1996. Army will play SMU in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 30 in Dallas. Navy (8-3, 6-5 ATS) is also going bowling, and will play in the Poinsettia Bowl bid against San Diego State on Dec. 23.
The pain of not defeating the Midshipmen since 2001 (2-6 ATS) hangs over West Point like an omnipresent cloud. The biggest problem for Army of late has been scoring, as they’ve produced just 9.3 points per game during the losing skid.
The Midshipmen have a slight advantage in this matchup with their offense. Navy averages 31.0 points per game, behind the nation’s third-best rushing attack, averaging 302.6 yards per game. Army isn’t far behind at 28.5 PPG and 260.3 rushing YPG, good for 10th in the nation.
Navy does have a much greater advantage in terms of total yardage, averaging 414.1 total yards per game, compared to 338.2 YPG for Army. Since neither team throws the football very often -– Army ranks last in the nation with 77.9 passing YPG and Navy is the third-lowest at 111.6 passing YPG -– turnovers and sacks allowed are very low for each team. Army leads the nation in fewest sacks allowed per game (0.4) while Navy is ninth in this category (0.8). Navy’s turnover margin is +0.9 per game while Army is slightly better at +1.0 per game.
The star player in the game remains Middies QB Ricky Dobbs, who rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown in last year’s win over Army. Dobbs needs 194 rushing yards in his final two games to post consecutive 1,000/1,000 seasons in terms of rushing yards and passing yards. Sophomore Trent Steelman is Army’s signal caller, who has rushed for 620 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
The FoxSheets give three highly-rated reasons to pick Navy to win, cover and keep the Commander in Chief Trophy:
NAVY is 27-8 ATS (+18.2 Units) versus excellent rushing teams - averaging >=230 rushing yards/game since 1992. The average score was NAVY 20.1, OPPONENT 23.6 - (Rating = 3*).
NAVY is 21-5 ATS (+15.5 Units) in road games vs. mistake free teams - 42 or less penalty yards per game since 1992. The average score was NAVY 25.3, OPPONENT 19.8 - (Rating = 3*).
ARMY is 8-27 ATS (-21.7 Units) after a bye week since 1992. The average score was ARMY 16.1, OPPONENT 30.5 - (Rating = 3*).
The FoxSheets also side with the Under in this game:
Play Under - All teams where the total is between 49.5 and 56 (NAVY) - after a cover as a double-digit favorite, good team, winning 60-80% or more of their games on the season. (64-31 over the last 5 seasons.) (67.4%, +29.9 units. Rating = 2*).
