Article Written by: Justin Pollock
When: Dec. 30, 11:45 a.m. ET
Where: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Tx
Watch: ESPN
Over/Under: 56.5 points
Spread:Navy (-6.5)
Matchup
| MTU | NAVY | |
|---|---|---|
| W-L | 8-4 | 8-4 |
| Avg Points | 30.9 | 34.3 |
| Avg Points Allowed | 26.4 | 25.9 |
| Home Record | 5-1 | 6-0 |
| Road Record | 3-3 | 2-4 |
| Division Record | 5-1 | 1-1 |
| Conference Record | 6-2 | 0-0 |
The Armed Forces bowl this season is between the (8-4) Navy Midshipmen and the (8-4, 6-2 C-USA) Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
History
The Midshipmen started the season off on a 2 game winning steak, gathering wins over Indiana and Delaware, but that winning streak ended when they faced Western Kentucky in week 4. On October 19, Navy almost won at Toledo, but loss in OT 45-44. They would eventually finish the season with a 5-1 record, only losing at Notre Dame in a close game 38-34. During that 5-1 record, they went into San Jose State and left with a 58-52 3OT win over the Spartans.
Navy’s Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo has been coaching at Navy since 2007 and has an overall record of 48-30(.615) with the team. Ken is not as great in bowl games as he is in the regular season. He stands at 1-4 in bowl games as head coach of Navy, losing the last two including the huge blowout last season against Arizona State in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, losing 62-28.
The Blue Raiders are going to try and keep that losing streak of Navy going. The Mid Tennessee Blue Raiders are coming of a very good season, only losing 4 games and finishing the season on a 5 game winning streak. This is the second season that the Blue Raiders have gone 8-4 since the ugly 2-10 season in 2011.
Blue Raiders Head Coach Rick Stockstill has been with the Blue Raiders for the last 8 season, winning the Sun Belt Coach of the Year Award in 2006 and 2009 with a combined regular season record of 50-46(.520) and a bowl record of 1-2, almost as bad as Navy’s head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
This bowl game is going to be the first time these programs play each other.
Impact Players
For Middle Tennessee, keep a eye out for draft prospect, Senior QB Logan Kilgore. As for Navy, watch for Sophomore QB Keenan Reynolds to have a big game rushing as he leads the No. 3 rushing offense in the nation.
QB Logan kilgore is coming off of a pretty solid season with 2,289 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, despite throwing 11 interceptions.
Sophomore QB Keenan Reynolds is the leader of the No. 3 rushing offense in the nation, like mentioned above. As a QB, he has rushed for more than half of the RB’s in the nation with 1,260 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns on the ground. He is also getting it done in the air passing for 1,038 and 8 touchdowns.
Prediction
This game is going to be very close, as these teams are even on paper and in play styles. The Blue Raiders are going to keep close, but I still have Navy winning the game by less than 5 points.
Navy: 42-38
video by: Sports Gaming Universe