The biggest game of the season for Navy is finally upon us. We’re just 10 days away from seeing one of the most unique and incredible games of the college football season take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. Two teams that are 5-6 meeting a week after bowls have already been decided would normally not warrant any excitement. That is, if those two teams aren’t named Army and Navy.
A bowl game is likely out of the equation for either school. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is out of the equation for Navy. Bragging rights are all that remain to be played for. But ask anyone in the Navy program and that will be more than enough.
This game is about as evenly matched as you can get. It will undoubtedly be another heavyweight fight full of big hits, disciplined play, and whichever team can make that one extra big play having the chance to sing their alma matter second.
What to Know about Army
This is a new look offense for Army. They’ve brought in new additions to this staff to help modernize the offense and adapt. More specifically, they want to adapt to be more prolific at offense in this game. You likely won’t see near as much traditional flexion triple option in this game. While Army can still run it, they have started using more shotgun and pistol formations to space the defense out more. They’ve added in wrinkles to get to the same triple option concepts in interesting ways.
Defensively, Army still runs a 3-4 defense which utilizes a lot of heavy bodies in the box. They can disguise blitzes and have been very strong in pass coverage all year. They’re only allowing 188 passing YPG this season. The flip side of that is that they are allowing 180 rushing YPG on the season. That includes an average of 5 yards per carry by opposing offenses. However, this Army team defended the triple option incredibly against Air Force, holding them to just 155 rushing yards on the game.
Expectations Heading into the Game
This game pits two very evenly matched teams built to beat each other up head to head. It will likely be decided by whichever team can make the most big plays. For Navy, the key is going to be staying incredibly disciplined, not trying to do too much, and capitalizing on opportunities when the present themselves. For four hours, both teams are going to be one missed tackle, one missed read, one missed block away from a game changing play. Both teams have a great chance to win and just about anything could happen. The one thing that is guaranteed is that this will be an amazing game.
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