2019 Navy Football: Navy (8-2, 6-1 AAC) at Houston (4-7, 2-5 AAC)
When	Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 | 7:00 pm (ET) / 6:00 pm (CT)
Location	Houston, Texas | TDECU Stadium | Fan Guide
Television	ESPN2 (Mike Morgan, Andre Ware, Taylor Davis)
Live Video Stream	WatchESPN
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | WJXL 1010 AM, 92.5 FM (Jacksonville) | WXTG 102.1 FM / 1490 AM (Norfolk, Va.) | W270DA 101.9 FM (Norfolk, Va.) | WQBK 107.9 FM (Williamsburg / Yorktown, Va.) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego, Calif.) | WFED 1500 AM | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WBQH 1050 AM, 93.5 FM (Washington, DC / No. Virginia) | Sirius Ch. 105 / XM Ch. 201 / Internet Ch. 964
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | Houston | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | Houston | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Setting the Stage
•    No. 24 Navy and Houston will meet for the sixth time on the gridiron when they square off on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium (40,000) in Houston.
•    A win on Saturday by Navy or a loss by Memphis on Friday against Cincinnati will guarantee Navy at least a share of the American Athletic Conference West Division crown. It would be the third time (shared in 2015, won it outright in 2016) since joining the league in 2015 that Navy earned at least a share of the AAC West Division title.
•    If Navy defeats Houston AND Memphis loses at home to Cincinnati on Friday, Navy will play at Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec. 7 in the AAC Championship Game. Navy has made one championship game appearance (2016, losing to Temple).
•     Navy is 8-2 for the first time since 2016 when the Mids started 9-2 and won the AAC West before injuries hit and Navy lost its final three games to finish 9-5.
•     Navy is guaranteed at least three more games this season - at Houston (11/30), vs. Army (12/14) and a bowl game (TBA). If the Mids can win all three, they would tie the school record for wins with 11 (2015). Navy could still get to 12 wins if it wins the AAC West and wins the AAC Championship Game.
•    Houston enters Saturday's game coming off a gutty 24-14 win at Tulsa on Saturday night. Five of Houston's seven losses have come to teams ranked in the top 25 at the time it played them: #4 Oklahoma, #20 Washington State, #25 Cincinnati, #16 SMU and #18 Memphis.
•     This year marks the fourth time in the last five years that Navy has cracked the top 25 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), which also coincides with Navy joining the American Athletic Conference. Prior to joining the American, Navy hadn't been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 since the final poll of the 2004 season when the Mids were ranked 24th after a 10-2 season.
•     Ken Niumatalolo has led Navy to five top-25 wins during his tenure, which is the second most in school history. Eddie Erdelatz beat 10 top-25 teams from 1950-58.
•    ESPN2 will televise Saturday's game with Mike Morgan, Andre Ware and Taylor Davis on the call.
•    The Navy Football Tailgate Show on WNAV Radio 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will air from 5:00-6:00 pm with Wylie Baker and Bill Lusby serving as the hosts.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills and Scott Wykoff will get underway at 6:00 pm on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 7:00 pm with Medhurst, Miller and Mills on the call.   
•    Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will recap the day's events in a 30-minute postgame show.

Scouting Houston
•    No team has given Navy more trouble than Houston since the Mids joined the American Athletic Conference in 2015. Navy lost at Houston in 2015 (52-31) and 2017 (24-14) and at home to Houston last year (49-36). Navy's only win over the Cougars was a memorable one as the Mids stunned #6 Houston, 46-40, in Annapolis in 2016.
•    Houston has 13 FBS transfers on its roster from schools such as Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech and UCLA.
•    Quarterback Clayton Tune has played very well in place of D'Eriq King, who elected to take a redshirt year after playing the first four games. Tune has completed 83 of his 144 pass attempts for 1,140 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
•    Tune's favorite target is Marquez Stevenson, who has 44 catches for 774 yards and seven touchdowns. Jeremy Singleton has 23 catches for 361 yards and three touchdowns.
•    Stevenson is also one of the most dangerous kickoff return men in the country, averaging 27.8 yards per kickoff return (14th in the country) with two touchdowns (most in the country). His 94-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter against Tulsa put the Cougars up 10 after Tulsa had just cut the lead to three with 13:58 left. Cole McGowan and Bryson Smith each have a punt return for a touchdown.
•    Kyle Porter leads the Houston rushing attack with 605 yards and three touchdowns on 124 carries. Mulbah Car and Patrick Carr have three rushing touchdowns each.   
•  Houston is 23rd in the country in fourth down conversions (.643).
•  The Houston defense is led by Grant Stuard, who has 87 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, a sack and three passes broken up. David Anenih has recorded 26 tackles, seven tackles for a loss and five sacks.
•  Houston has blocked a nation's-best six kicks this year. Five of those blocks came off punts, also the best in the country. The Cougars are also 23rd in the country in kickoff return defense (18.17) and second in net punting (43.59). Keith Corbin and Gervarrius Owens have two blocked kicks each, tied for the most in the country. Punter Dane Roy is seventh in the nation in punting average (46.9).
•  Kicker Dalton Witherspoon is 16th in the country in field goal percentage (.857) and 12th in field goals per game (1.64).
•  The Cougars are 21st in the country in fewest penalties per game (5.09).  

Most Improved Teams In FBS History
•    Navy has improved by 6.5 games in 2019 compared to 2018 with at least three games remaining. The Mids were 3-10 in 2018 and have put together an 8-2 record this fall.  
•    The 6.5 game improvement is tied with Central Michigan for the biggest improvement in the country
•     The FBS record for biggest improvement from one year to the next is 8.5 games by Hawai'i in 1999.  
•     If Navy wins its final three games it would finish with an eight game improvement. If Navy also makes the AAC Championship game and win, it would tie Hawai'i with an 8.5 game improvement.

AAC Conference Record Since 2015
•    Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2015, Navy has compiled an overall conference record of 26-13 (.667), shared a West Division title in 2015 and won the West Division outright in 2016.
•     Navy's 26-13 cumulative record is the third-best record within the league since the Mids joined in 2015.

Creating Turnovers
•    The Navy defense has forced 14 turnovers in its 10 games this season (7 fumble recoveries and 7 interceptions) with two of those turnovers resulting in touchdowns (Tony Brown fumble return vs. Air Force and Diego Fagot interception return against Tulane).  
•    The defense has come up with at least one turnover in every game except two (Tulsa and Notre Dame): 1 vs. Holy Cross, 2 vs. East Carolina, 1 vs. Memphis, 3 vs. Air Force, 1 vs. USF, 1 vs. Tulane, 3 vs. UConn and 1 vs. SMU.