Who: Navy Midshipmen vs. USF Bulls
What: American Athletic Conference Football Game
When: Friday, October 28th, 2016
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Why: Conference Championship Implications
The University of South Florida Bulls host the Navy Midshipmen on Friday night in just the second matchup between these two teams. The only win in this series went to the Naval Academy in 2015.
The #22 Midshipmen will put their 5-1 (4-0) record on the line in Tampa against the 6-2 (3-1) Bulls. Each team leads their own division of the American Athletic Conference, with USF sharing the East Division lead with Temple. The only blemish on the Navy record comes from friendly fire, a 28-14 loss to the 4-3 Air Force Academy. USF has a loss to #12 FSU and 5-3 Temple in their last outing.
USF Offense
USF has a high scoring offense, ranked 11th nationally in points scored per game. That offense is powered by the 12th ranked rushing offense in the country, led by quarterback, Quinton Flowers. Averaging 93 yards rushing per game, he is ranked 37th, nationally. Flowers has rushed for 745 yards and eight touchdowns on the season. As a passer, Flowers has amassed 1,722 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. In the loss to Temple, he sustained a hamstring injury near the end of the game. He has been listed as probable for the Navy game.
Running back, Marlon Mack, leads the team in rushing touchdowns with ten. He has piled up 659 total rushing yards on the season and sits just one spot above Flowers in the national rankings of yards per game at 36th, with 94 yards per game. His ten rushing touchdowns ties him for ninth, nationally.
The receiving touchdowns have been split three ways by the Bulls offense. Receiver, Rodney Adams, leads the team in receiving yards with 502 and receiving touchdowns, with four. Running back, D’Ernest Johnson, also has four receiving touchdowns and is second on the team in receptions, with 18. Second on the team in total receiving yardage, is receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has 278 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Bulls rank just 65th in passing offense, averaging just 231 yards through the air.
Navy Defense
Navy’s defense has limited opponents to 25 points per game, ranking them the 48th best scoring defense in the nation. Because of the USF emphasis on the run, it will be important for the Midshipmen’s 50th rank rushing defense to find a way to contain Flowers and Mack. On average, they allow 148 yards rushing per game.
Linebacker, Micah Thomas leads Navy with 46 total tackles. Fellow linebacker, D.J. Palmore, has five of the team’s twelve sacks. The Midshipmen have only three interceptions this season, but two of the three were caught by linebacker, Josiah Powell.
Navy Offense
Navy’s offense is one of the toughest in the country to face, not because they have great weapons or put up big numbers, but because of their nearly exclusive use a triple option offense. Their style of play is a throwback to the old days of football, something few teams attempt to do. The lack of familiarity with the option offense can be tricky for opposing team defenses to effectively stop them. They rank 40th nationally, in scoring offense, averaging nearly 34 points per game.
Navy quarterback, Will Worth has gotten the majority of snaps, but has accumulated just 688 yards passing with five passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also rushed for 489 yards and nine touchdowns. Running back, Chris High is second on the team in rushing, with 392 yards and five touchdowns.
USF Defense
The Bulls have been struggling on defense this season. Currently ranked, 72nd in the nation, allowing 28 points per game, they allowed Temple to rack up 46 points last week. Temple had averaged 32 points per game prior to beating USF. The Bulls, who have given their defensive schemes the name “Bull Sharks”, have been particularly poor against the run, ranking 100th in the nation in yardage allowed, an average of 205 yards per game. Against the pass, they don’t fare much better, giving up 241 yards per game, on average, ranking them 82nd, nationally.
Auggie Sanchez, linebacker, continues to lead the team in tackles, with 71. He also has leads the team in sacks, with six of the team’s 21. Fellow linebacker, Nigel Harris, is second on the team with tackles and leads the team with two interceptions. Harris is also third on the team in sacks, with a pair.
Expectations
This opponent represents a confluence of negatives for USF. They have not been able to stop a strong running game, and that’s nearly all the Midshipmen do. Also, with the Navy run strategy comes clock control, reducing the likelihood of a high scoring game, which would favor the USF offense. Navy’s offense is methodical and their ability to run should keep the game score close and low.
Summary
The Bulls are six point favorites in the game at home in Raymond James Stadium. The game is televised nationally, on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.
