No. 20 UCF will host the Navy Midshipmen this Saturday bright and early at 11 a.m. from the Bounce House with TV coverage from ESPN2.
For our preview, we caught up with Naval Academy graduate Mike James, who is the publisher of TheMidReport.com on the Rivals.com network.
James, who has covered and intently followed the program for more than 25 years, spoke extensively about this year's Navy team, which enters the game with a 3-7 record.
Navy has faced some injury issues, notably at quarterback. Tai Lavatai suffered a season-ending injury three weeks ago during the 27-20 win against Temple. Xavier Arline was next man up and he started the two following games against Cincinnati (L, 20-10) and Notre Dame (L, 35-32).
Late in the Notre Dame game, Arline suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury and he was replaced by third-stringer Massai Maynor. James said the quarterback situation heading into the UCF game isn't quite clear as Navy coaches are mum on who starts - Arline or Maynor.
"Coaches are being pretty tight lipped on who is going to start at quarterback," James said. "It makes sense because they're stylistically two very different players... Arline is the runner, but he showed a bit of an arm against Notre Dame so I don't want to pigeonhole him. But he's the more dynamic runner and Maynor is more of the passer and more of a north-south guy running the ball. We're not too sure who it is."
The Notre Dame game was remarkable in terms of Navy's second-half domination, limiting the Irish to just 12 yards during that span.
Navy's rush defense has been excellent the entire season. They're limiting offenses to 85.8 yards per game, which is No. 1 in the American and No. 6 nationally. James says it's all about schematics, crediting defensive coordinator Brian Newberry.
"A lot of what he does involves bringing strange run blitzes from places you don't really expect," James said. "It leads to a lot of tackles for loss. Plus good coaching and gap discipline, it's paid off. The flip side is the pass defense hasn't been good at all. A lot of that is due to youth. If you had to pick one for Navy, you stop the run first and foremost but there have been issues in the secondary. The run defense is pretty legit."
We talked about Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, who reached bowl games in 10 of his first 12 seasons but is now in the midst of his third consecutive losing season. Is the fan and alumni base losing patience?
Why the downturn? James believes there are several factors, one of which is a lack of experienced upperclassmen. At Navy, the transfer portal is a one-way street and they've lost some key contributors.
Another big factor is recent NCAA rule changes aimed to limit cut blocking. It's no longer allowed on the perimeter and must be contained inside the tackle box.
How does Navy feel about the future of the AAC? In early 2012, Navy signed up for the Big East which was losing several member schools but adding UCF, Houston, SMU, Boise State and San Diego State and hopes of retaining an automatic BCS bid. The latter two obviously never joined. The league is losing UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to the Big 12 after this season and will be welcoming six new schools: Charlotte, North Texas, FAU, Rice, UAB and UTSA.
The Army-Navy game is one of college football's greatest rivalries and has traditionally been played in the Northeast, rotating between Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. (FedEx Field), Boston (Gillette Stadium) and New York (MetLife). Orlando recently bid for the 2027 game, but Navy and West Point leaders opted to keep the game in the region, mostly for logistical reasons.
Lastly, if Navy is to beat UCF like they did a year ago, what needs to happen?
"They have to run the option," James said. "It sounds like kind of a cliche, but it hasn't been the case they've been able to do that all year. Under (Xavier) Arline they have been able to run some option. If last year's game was played under this year's rules, UCF would have won. A lot of the yards Navy picked up came on the perimeter and that may not be a possibility (this year). If Navy can get the option game going and figure out a way to get those blocks on the perimeter, and hold on to the ball... In last year's game, UCF only ran 56 plays and that's unheard of for a Gus Malzahn team. If they can repeat that formula, Navy has a shot."
