NCAAF Game Preview - Navy at Houston
Sat Nov 30, 2019 7:00 PM EST

TxAM
7
LSU
50
F
OSU
56
Mich
27
F
Clem
38
SCar
3
F
UGA
52
GATec
7
F
Bama
45
Aub
48
F
Colo
15
Utah
45
F
Okla
34
OkSt
16
F
FlaSt
17
Fla
40
F
Wisc
38
MIN
17
F
Bayl
61
Kans
6
F
Rut
6
PSU
27
F
OreSt
10
Oreg
24
F
ND
45
Stan
24
F
Cin
24
Mem
34
F
Iowa
27
Neb
24
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Boise
31
ColSt
24
F
App
48
Troy
13
F
VaTec
30
UVA
39
F
Navy
56
Hou
41
F
Ohio
52
Akr
3
F
WestMI
14
NIU
17
F
Miss
20
MissSt
21
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Kent
34
E Mi
26
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Toled
7
C Mi
49
F
BGSU
7
Buff
49
F
MiaOH
27
Ball
41
F
TxTch
24
Tex
49
F
MIZ
24
Ark
14
F
WaSt
13
Wash
31
F
WVU
20
TCU
17
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ArkSt
30
SoAl
34
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SoFL
7
UCF
34
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TxSt
21
CoCar
24
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Tuls
49
ECU
24
F
NW
29
Ill
10
F
Ind
44
Purd
41
F(1OT)
FLInt
27
Marsh
30
F OT
Lou
13
KY
45
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Wake
30
Syr
39
F OT
Wyo
6
AF
20
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MidTN
26
W Ky
31
F
UNCC
38
OD
22
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NMS
28
Lib
49
F
UNLV
33
NEV
30
F OT
Rice
30
UTEP
16
F
UConn
17
Temp
49
F
UTSA
27
LT
41
F
BC
26
Pitt
19
F
MD
16
MSU
19
F
SMiss
17
FlAtl
34
F
MiaFL
17
Duke
27
F
Tul
20
SMU
37
F
UtSt
38
NM
25
F
UAB
26
NorTx
21
F
Vand
10
Tenn
28
F
GASt
10
GaSo
38
F
IASt
17
K St
27
F
UNC
41
NCSt
10
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ULMon
30
ULLaf
31
F
BYU
3
SDSU
13
F
Ariz
14
AzSt
24
F
Cal
28
UCLA
18
F
Fres
16
SJSU
17
F
Army
31
Hawaii
52
F
Navy-Houston Preview
Fri Nov 29, 2019 1:20 PM

HOUSTON (AP) No. 24 Navy has made a remarkable turnaround this season and has a chance to reach the American Athletic Conference title game.

To do that the Midshipmen will have to figure out a way to win in Houston against the Cougars, something they've failed to do in their previous two trips there.

Navy visits the Cougars on Saturday night and a win would earn the team at least a share of the West Division title. The Midshipmen could also earn a share of the title with a loss by Memphis against Cincinnati on Friday night. They would get a spot in the conference title game against Cincinnati on Dec. 7 with a win over Houston and a loss by Memphis.

Navy has already made a five-game improvement from last year's 3-10 finish with two games remaining. The Midshipmen host Army on Dec. 14 in their annual rivalry game.

Houston won 24-14 in 2017 in Navy's last visit and the Cougars got a 52-31 victory in 2015 in the team's other trip to Houston.

"We haven't played well when we've gone down there," coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "So we've got to be ready to play against a team that had a really good game last week and has been playing well."

The Cougars (4-7) have had a tough time in coach Dana Holgorsen's first season in charge and won't make a bowl game for the first time since 2012. They snapped a three-game skid last week with a 24-14 win over Tulsa.

Holgorsen talked about the team's mindset on Monday.

"They understand what the bigger picture is," he said. "We got six days left in 2019. That's just the facts. We are going to put everything we can into these six days and play against Navy. We have the mindset that everything we do for the next six days is about getting better and propelling us into 2020. Our 2020 starts in six days."

TRIPLE OPTION/TRIPLE THE WORK

Navy employs the triple option led by quarterback Malcolm Perry. Since no other team the Cougars face uses this offense it presents a unique challenge this week for Holgorsen and his staff.

"I don't know how you can make my job any harder than it is right now," Holgorsen said. "When you think it can't get harder it does. Obviously, we play them every year, so we better get used to figuring out how to play against these guys. This will be a good experience."

Holgorsen said there's no way the Cougars could prepare for Navy's offense in a week so his team has spent days starting in the spring and into fall camp where his staff introduced some things they hope will help this week.

"Getting things on video and starting to evaluate it," he said. "It's challenging, the quarterback is dynamic. I think he rushed 38 times last game, and he can throw it. They throw it better than we do right now."

PERRY'S PERFORMANCE

Perry's 38 carries last week were a career high and he finished with 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns and threw for 162 yards and another score to lead Navy to a win over SMU.

He's rushed for at least 100 yards in seven straight games, and a 100-yard rushing game on Saturday would tie a school record.

BOUNCING BACK

The Midshipmen rebounded from a 52-20 loss to No. 16 Notre Dame last week with the 35-28 win over SMU. Niumatalolo thought getting that victory against a team which entered the game with just one loss showed his team's toughness, and he hopes that carries over to this week.

"We had a crushing loss to Notre Dame where they got after us," he said. "We didn't play well. We didn't coach well and we got beat. So to come back after that game to play another top-25 team ... and beat them it was definitely a great win for us. Hopefully it will continue to give us some confidence as we finish out this year."

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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