Setting the Stage
•    Navy and Tulsa meet on the gridiron for the eighth time overall and the sixth time as American Athletic Conference foes when they square off on CBS Sports Network on Saturday afternoon (12:00 pm) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game is presented by Navy Federal Credit Union. Due to current Anne Arundel County and Maryland state rules, the only fans in attendance will be the Brigade of Midshipmen.
•    Navy leads the all-time series 6-1, including a 5-0 mark in AAC games. Its only setback in the series was a 24-23 overtime loss to the Golden Hurricane in 2006. It was also the Mids' first overtime game in school history. Navy owns a 2-1 record against Tulsa in games played in Annapolis.
•    Since 2015, when Navy joined the American Athletic Conference, the Mids have compiled a 30-15 (.667) conference record which is the third-best mark in the league behind Temple (31-13) and Memphis (31-13).
•    Navy enters the weekend with a 3-2 record in the AAC and tied for fifth place with UCF. The Mids are just one game out of first place behind Cincinnati (3-0) and Tulsa (3-0). The top-two teams will play in the AAC Championship Game on Dec. 12 or Dec. 19. Navy is 0-2 (Houston and SMU) against teams that are tied with or ahead of it.
•    Navy started three different quarterbacks in its first three games of the season for the first time since 1992 - Jim Kubiak (Virginia), Brian Ellis (Boston College), Jason Van Matre (Rutgers). That 1992 team finished 1-10.
•    13th-year Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo earned his 100th-career victory when the Mids defeated Temple in Annapolis on Oct. 10. He is the 24th active coach with 100-career wins and just the sixth active coach to achieve it at one school. Please see page 13 of the notes for charts on where Niumatalolo stands nationally in wins among active coaches.
•    Navy's three wins this fall have been by a total of 9 points (defeated Tulane by 3, Temple by 2 and ECU by 4). It's the first time each of Navy's first three wins of the season were by 4 points or less since 1971 when the Mids defeated Virginia 10-6, Duke 15-14 and Syracuse 17-14. Those three games were the 1971 team's only wins of the season as it finished 3-8.
•    Navy is 42-27 (.609) in the Niumatalolo era in one-score games (8 points or less), including 3-0 in 2020. Forty-two percent of Navy's games in the Niumatalolo era (69 of 165) have been decided by one possession.
•    Navy has had 23 different players make their first-career start this year, which leads the country. Senior defensive end Jackson Perkins is the only player on the Navy defense to start all seven games. The Mids have started four different nose guards and three different quarterbacks.
•    Navy has converted 14-consecutive fourth down opportunities.
•    Opposing kickers are an incredible 15-16 (.938) on the year on field goals and 28-29 (.966) on extra points. The only two misses were blocked by Navy (Tobe Okafor blocked a field goal vs. ECU and J'arius Warren blocked a PAT vs. SMU).

Broadcast Coverage
•    CBS Sports Network will carry Saturday's game with John Sadak, Randy Cross and Sheehan Stanwick Burch on the call.
•    The Navy Football Insider Show with Joe Miller will air on Thursday night from 7:00-8:00 pm on WBAL Radio (1090 AM, 101.5 FM). Pete Medhurst, Keith Mills and Scott Wykoff will contribute to the show.
•    The Navy Football Tailgate Show on WNAV Radio 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will air from 10:00-11:00 am with Wylie Baker and Bill Lusby serving as the hosts.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff will get underway at 11:00 am on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12 noon 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 Tulsa
•    Tulsa is off to a 3-1 start, including a 3-0 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane dropped their opener to then No. 11 Oklahoma State 16-7 before bouncing back and earning wins over then No. 11 UCF (34-26), USF (42-13) and East Carolina (34-30).
•    Tulsa is led by quarterback Zach Smith, who has completed 70 of his 118 passes for 924 yards with 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
•    Smith's favorite target is Keylon Stokes, who has caught 20 passes for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns. Josh Johnson has 17 catches for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns. Stokes is also 24th in the country in punt returns, averaging 5.0 yards per return.
•    The Tulsa ground game is led by Deneric Price (46-279, 2 touchdowns) and T.K. Wilkerson (49-197 3 touchdowns).  Price is 17th in the nation in rushing yards per carry (5.94).
•    The Tulsa offense ranks 19th in the country in red zone offense (.917) and 25th in sacks allowed (1.5 per game).
•    The Tulsa defense has been stout all year and is led by Kendarin Ray (31 tackles and 4 pass breakups) and Zaven Collins (28 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles), who is one of the top linebackers in the country. Ray is 10th in the country in solo tackles per game, while Collins is fifth in tackles for a loss per game, eighth in forced fumbles per game and 10th in interceptions per game.
•    The Tulsa defense ranks fourth in the country in fumbles recovered (7), fourth in tackles for a loss per game (9.3),  17th in turnovers gained (3), 18th in third down defense (.333), 19th in red zone defense (.750), 20th in scoring defense (21.3) and 22nd in turnover margin (+0.75).
•    Kicker Zack Long is 4-4 on field goals.

Navy vs. Tulsa // Last Meeting
Oct. 12, 2019 // Tulsa, Okla. // H.A. Chapman Stadium
•    (AP) Quarterback Malcolm Perry rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lead Navy to a 45-17 victory over Tulsa. It was Perry's fourth career 200-yard rushing day.
•    Jamale Carothers, Nelson Smith and CJ Williams also scored rushing touchdowns for Navy.
•    Navy entered the day leading the nation in rushing with an average of 312 yards per game and added to that total in this one, gaining 388 yards on the ground. Out of 63 overall offensive plays, the Midshipmen ran the ball 58 times.
•    Perry now has 2,946 career rushing yards, which ranks fourth all-time at Navy, as he passed Kyle Eckel and Eddie Meyers. Next up is Chris McCoy, who stands third with 3,401 rushing yards.
•    Zach Smith threw for 254 yards and a touchdown for Tulsa, which lost its fifth straight game to Navy. JuanCarlos Santana had nine receptions for 98 yards.
•    The Navy defense entered the day ranked 13th in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 90.3 yards per contest, and allowed Tulsa just 25 yards on the ground through the first half and 69 overall, 50 of which came on one drive early in the third quarter. Navy also ranked 12th in total defense before the game, allowing an average of 277 yards, and Tulsa gained just 99 in the first half and 174 through the first three quarters before ending up with 323 overall, adding more in the fourth quarter with the game already out of reach.

This Date In Navy Football History
•    Navy is 11-7-1 in games played on Nov. 7 and has won 5 of the last 7 games on this date.
•    Some of Navy's biggest wins coming on Nov. 7 include a 45-20 win at No. 15 Memphis in 2015, Navy's first major win in the American Athletic Conference, and a 23-21 victory over No. 19 Notre Dame in 2009 in South Bend.  

AAC Notebook
•    Cincinnati and Tulsa came out of Week 9 as the only unbeaten teams in American Athletic Conference play, while SMU and Houston are within a game in the loss column in the conference standings.
•     No. 7 Cincinnati continues to look impressive across the board as the Bearcats took a 49-10 win against Memphis Saturday at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats kept Memphis off the scoreboard in the second half and limited a potent Tiger offense to 321 yards and 15 first downs.
•     Cincinnati received another strong performance from QB Desmond Ridder, who accounted for 5 touchdowns. He was 21-of-26 for 271 yards and 3 passing TDs to go with 41 rushing yards with 2 scores on the ground. RB Jerome Ford rushed for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries.
•     The win was Cincinnati's 17th-consecutive victory at Nippert Stadium, extending a home-field winning streak that ranks fourth nationally.
•     Tulsa had become the first team to get to 3-0 in The American after the Golden Hurricane overcame a 20-10 second-half deficit to claim a 34-30 win against East Carolina in its long-awaited home opener at H.A. Chapman Stadium. RB TK Wilkerson delivered 2 second-half touchdown runs, including the game-winning score with 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
•     The win lifted Tulsa to 3-0 in conference play for the first time as a member of the AAC, and it marked the Golden Hurricane's first 3-game winning streak since 2016. Tulsa has won its last 4 conference games, dating to last season.
•     No. 22 SMU improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in The American as the Mustangs pulled away for a 51-37 win against Navy at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, the Mustangs poured on 31 points in the second period on their way to the victory. QB Shane Buechele threw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, while RB Ulysses Bentley IV rushed for 149 yards and 2 TDs.
•     UCF denied Houston's bid to remain unbeaten in conference play as the Knights took a 44-21 win at TDECU Stadium. QB Dillon Gabriel threw for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns, while the Knights finished with 2 100-yard rushers for the first time since 2006. RB Otis Anderson led the ground game with 170 yards and a touchdown, while RB Greg McCrae added 107 yards and a TD.
•     Tulane picked up its first conference win as the Green Wave scored the last 38 points of a 38-3 victory against Temple at Yulman Stadium. Freshman QB Michael Pratt led the way with 205 passing yards and 2 touchdowns to go with 56 rushing yards with a TD on the ground. WR Duece Watts had 5 catches for a career-high 114 yards with 2 touchdowns.
•     The Week 10 schedule is highlighted by a Saturday matinee on ESPN between Cincinnati and Houston (3:30 pm). Tulsa heads to Navy at noon on CBS Sports Network, while ESPN+ has 3 noon games: Tulane at East Carolina, USF at Memphis and SMU at Temple.

Block That Kick
•    Navy has blocked 2 kicks this year (Tobe Okafor a blocked field goal at East Carolina and J'arius Warren blocked an extra point at SMU), which is tied for the eighth most in the country. Army leads the country with five.

Back-To-Back Games Of 200 yards Passing
•    Navy has thrown for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 1994 when the Mids did it against Rice and Army.
•    Navy threw for 206 yards in a 37-21 loss to Houston and 239 yards in a 51-37 loss to SMU.
•    In 1994, Navy threw for 242 yards in a 35-19 win over Rice and threw for 361 yards in a 22-20 loss against Army.
•    The last time Navy threw for over 200 yards in 3-straight games was at the end of the 1993 season and the beginning of the 1994 season when the Mids did it against Army (1993), San Diego State and Virginia.

Big Gains Through The Air
•    Navy has completed 48 passes for 850 yards and 6 touchdowns in 7 games this season.
•    The Mids are averaging 17.71 yards per catch, which is tops in the country.