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The Navy Midshipmen and the Temple Owls are set to square off in an American Athletic matchup at 3:30 p.m. ET Oct. 29 at Jack Stephens Field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen will be hoping to build upon the 38-14 win they picked up against Temple when they previously played in November of last year.
Navy ended up a good deal behind the Houston Cougars when they played last week, losing 38-20. One thing holding Navy back was the mediocre play of QB Tai Lavatai, who did not have his best game: despite one touchdown, he threw two interceptions with a passing completion percentage of only 46.15%.
Meanwhile, Temple scored first but ultimately less than the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in their matchup last Friday. Temple took a 27-16 hit to the loss column. Temple's defeat came about despite a quality game from WR Amad Anderson Jr., who caught eight passes for one TD and 112 yards. Anderson Jr. had some trouble finding his footing against the UCF Knights two weeks ago, so this was a step in the right direction.
The Owls' defense was a presence as well, as it embarrassed Tulsa's offensive line to sack QB Davis Brin seven times for a total loss of 30 yards. Leading the way was DT Darian Varner and his three sacks. Varner now has five sacks this season.
The Midshipmen are the favorite in this one, with an expected 13.5-point margin of victory. Those burned by picking them against the spread last week might want to keep in mind that the team has not yet dropped back-to-back games against the spread this season.
With both teams hitting sour notes in their previous games, they will no doubt be looking to produce a better outcome in this one. If the Owls want to win on Saturday, they will need to focus on stopping Navy's FB Daba Fofana, who punched in one rushing touchdown, and WR Jayden Umbarger, who caught two passes for one TD and 93 yards. We'll see whether or not they are up to the challenge.
