Army vs Navy College Football Spread/Handicapping
Its kind of nice that these two service academies get this game on a Saturday where there is no other FBS football to compete with.
Army Black Knights (3-8) vs. Navy Midshipmen (7-4)
Saturday December 14
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
3:00PM
Moneyline: Navy -500, Army +375
Spread: Navy -13
O/U: 53
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Historically Navy has dominated the annual series and they come into this one with the better record and an invite to the Armed Forces Bowl against Middle Tennessee later this month.
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If you like passing than you should probably change the channel but if you like option based running attacks (and I do) than you are in for a treat as these teams hammer away at each other.
Army
The Black Knights are the second best running team in college football this season averaging 325 yards per game on the ground. That is somewhat balanced by having an anemic passing offense that doesn’t even average 100ypg (80ypg is their average) through the air which seems almost unfathomable in this day and age.
The featured runner in the attack is junior RB Terry Baggett who can handle the pounding at a very solid at 6’1 and 200 pounds. He has had some big games this season including a monster 304 yard effort in a win against Eastern Michigan.
Usually the Black Knights get pushed around on defense because they just don’t have the depth, or size, or talent of a lot of the other schools they play.
When it comes to size this weekend won’t be as much of a challenge as Navy doesn’t have hulks on their offensive line to deal with.
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I am always a fan of the service academies so this one is kind of tough to call, at least in terms of the number.
Navy
Navy has had another very good season with some wins over bowl team like Pittsburgh and near misses against Toledo and Notre Dame – losing by a combined 5 points.
They are just a hair behind Army when it comes to running the ball at 322ypg and find themselves below the 100 yard mark per game throwing the ball too (98 to be exact).
Even though their styles are so similar Navy has more success than Army because their defense is often a lot better. Another difference this season is that the Midshipmen’s most dangerous runner is their quarterback Keenan Reynolds.
Not the biggest guy around at under six feet and just 185 pounds he has mastered their offense to the point of scoring 26 touchdowns on the ground this season.
When he is forced to throw he is not great but at least he doesn’t turn the ball over with just 2 interceptions on the season.
This one should be fun to watch for the purists out there.
Spread Pick: Army +13
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Navy 38 – Army 28
