Navy (2-8, 2-5 AAC) at Temple (3-8, 1-6 AAC)
When	Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021 | 12:00 pm (ET)
Location	Philadelphia, Pa. | Lincoln Financial Field
Television	ESPNU (Kevin Brown, Hutson Mason)
Live Video Stream	WatchESPN
Listen	Navy Football Radio Network (Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff) WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore) | WFED 820 AM, 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.) | WFED 1500 AM | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | WBQH 93.5 FM (Washington, DC / No. Virginia) | WJBT 100.3 FM (Jacksonville) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego, Calif.) | Tape delay at 5:05 pm on WGH 1310 AM, 100.9 FM, 97.3 HD2-3 (Norfolk, Va.) | Sirius 103 / XM 205 / SXM App 968
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | Temple | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | Temple | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    Navy and Temple meet for the 16th time in series history and for the fifth time as conference foes when the two square off on Saturday afternoon (12 noon ET) at Lincoln Financial Field (67,594) in Philadelphia.
•    Temple leads the all-time series 8-7, including a 3-1 mark in AAC games (includes a 34-10 win in the 2016 AAC Championship Game). Navy won last year's game 31-29 in Annapolis.
•     Navy's 10 opponents it has faced to date are a combined 70-30 (.700), which is the toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage (does not include games against Navy).
•     If you include Navy's entire 12-game slate, the combined record is 80-41 (.661), which is tied for the third-most difficult schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage.
•     The ELO computer rankings by WarrenNolan.com has Navy's schedule to date as the toughest in the country.
•     The Mids have faced three teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including two in the top 5 - Houston (#19), Cincinnati (#4) and Notre Dame (#5).
•     Nine of Navy's opponents are bowl eligible, while Tulsa (vs. SMU) and Memphis (vs. Tulane) can become bowl eligible this weekend. The 9 bowl-eligible opponents ties for the second most in the country.
•    Navy is 32-22 (.593) in the American Athletic Conference since joining in 2015, which is tied with Temple for the fifth-best mark in the conference during that time. Navy has defeated every team in the conference at least once.
•    Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is the eighth-longest tenured coach in the FBS.
•    Niumatalolo earned his 100th-career victory last fall (Oct. 10) when the Mids defeated Temple in Annapolis. He is the 24th active coach with 100-career wins and just the sixth active coach to achieve it all at one school.
•    Navy is 44-32 (.579) in the Niumatalolo era (2008-present) in one-score games (8 points or less).
•    Navy defeated Tulsa on Oct. 29 without completing a pass (0-4). It was the seventh time in the Niumatalolo era and the first time since 2018 against UCF that Navy went an entire game without completing a pass.
•     Not completing a pass in a game is not necessarily a bad thing for the Mids, as they are 6-1 under Niumatalolo in games they don't complete a pass. In two of those games, 2009 vs. Wake Forest and 2008 against SMU, the Mids did not attempt a pass. Both of those games were played in torrential downpours with Navy beating Wake Forest 13-10 and SMU 34-7.
•    Navy is fielding one of its youngest teams in recent memory. The Mids have two freshmen and 11 sophomores on the offensive depth chart and eight freshmen and 10 sophomores on the defensive depth chart (10 freshmen and 21 sophomores combined). Those numbers do not include a sophomore kickoff specialist, a freshman long snapper, a freshman punter and a freshman kickoff return specialist. Navy starts eight freshmen on the kickoff return team and have started 11 different players along the offensive line.
•    Senior safety Kevin Brennan, senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper, senior linebacker Diego Fagot and senior slot back Chance Warren were selected as team captains for the 2021 season by their teammates. Being selected team captain is the greatest honor a Navy athlete can receive, to be chosen the leader of a group of leaders.
•    Cooper was also chosen to serve as the Captain of the Captains by a vote of the team captains of all 33 of Navy's varsity sports. It's the second time in three years that a football player has been selected. Ford Higgins was the Captain of the Captains for the 2019-20 academic year.
•    Fagot began the season on the "Watch Lists" for the 2021 Chuck Bednarik Award (Maxwell Football Club) and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Football Writers Association of America) which are presented to the top defensive player in college football. He has been invited to play in the East-West Shrine game.
                        
Broadcast Coverage
•    Saturday's game will be televised by ESPNU with Kevin Brown and Hutson Mason on the call.
•    The Navy Football Insider Show with Joe Miller will air on Tuesday night from 7:00-8:00 pm on WBAL Radio (1090 AM, 101.5 FM). Pete Medhurst, Keith Mills and Scott Wykoff will also 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 on Saturday with Wylie Baker and Bill Lusby serving as the hosts.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Medhurst, Miller, Mills and Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 11:00 am on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 12:00 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 Temple
3-8 Overall  |  1-6 AAC
Head Coach: Rod Carey

•    After starting the season 3-2, Temple has lost each of its last six contests.
•    The Owls own wins over Akron (45-24), Wagner (41-7) and Memphis (34-31).
•    Their losses have been to Rutgers (61-14), Boston College (28-3), Cincinnati (52-3), USF (34-14), UCF (49-7), East Carolina (45-3), Houston (37-8) and Tulsa (44-10).
•    Temple has 21 transfers on its roster, including 12 from the Autonomy Five.
•    Temple ranks among the top 25 nationally in the following defensive statistics: 16th in passing yards allowed (187.5), tied for 19th in defensive touchdowns (2) and 25th in fumbles recovered (8).
•    Individuals on the Temple defense rank among the top 25 nationally in the following statistics: junior corner Keyshawn Paul, a transfer from UConn (fumbles recovered - 18th, 2).
•    In last week's 44-10 loss to Tulsa, quarterback Justin Lynch completed 22 of his 37 pass attempts for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Running back Edward Saydee rushed for 58 yards on 15 carries, while Randle Jones caught 6 passes for 42 yards.
•    The defense was led by Amir Tyler (9 tackles) and DaeSean Winston (7 tackles).
•    247Sports reported that Temple's starting quarterback, D'Wan Mathis, entered the transfer portal last week. Mathis had played in 7 games and completed 116 of his 195 passes for 1,225 yards with 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He originally transferred to Temple from Georgia.

Playing Against The Home State
•    Navy has 5 players on its roster from the state of Pennsylvania, including 3 key contributors on offense: starting slot back Carlinos Acie (McKeesport), starting guard Lirion Murtezi (Pittsburgh) and part-time starter at fullback and leading rusher Isaac Ruoss (Mohnton).

Toughest Schedules
•     Navy's 10 opponents it has faced to date are a combined 70-30 (.700), which is the toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage (does not include games against Navy).
•     If you include Navy's entire 12-game slate, the combined record is 80-41 (.661), which is tied for the nation's third-most difficult schedule.
•     The ELO computer rankings by WarrenNolan.com has Navy's schedule to date as the toughest in the country.
•     The Mids have faced three teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including two in the top 5 - Houston (#19), Cincinnati (#4) and Notre Dame (#5).
•     Nine of Navy's opponents are bowl eligible, while Tulsa (vs. SMU) and Memphis (vs. Tulane) can become bowl eligible this weekend. The 9 bowl eligible opponents ties for the second most in the country.

Seniors Receive Service Assignments
•    The 25 seniors on the Navy football team received their service assignments on Nov. 18.
•    14 seniors will be commissioned Ensigns in the Navy, while 11 will be commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps upon graduation in May.

Carlinos Acie: Surface Warfare
Pierce Banbury: Information Professional
Nick Bernacchi: Submarines (Nuclear)
Kevin Brennan: Marine Corps Ground
Mattie Conlon: Surface Warfare
Mychal Cooper: Surface Warfare
Diego Fagot: Marine Corps Ground
Ben Fee: Naval Flight Officer
Marcell Gleaton: Marine Corps Ground
Jamal Glenn: Surface Warfare
Tyger Goslin: Marine Corps Ground
James Harris II: Surface Warfare
Mitchell Johns: Marine Corps Ground
John Kelly III: Marine Corps Ground
Cal Long: Marine Corps Ground
Michael McMorris: Surface Warfare
Chike Otaluka: Surface Warfare
Isaac Ruoss: Marine Corps Pilot
Michael Salisbury: Naval Officer
Daniel Taylor: Navy Pilot
Bryce Texeira: Submarines (Nuclear)
Chance Warren: Navy Pilot
J'arius Warren: Marine Corps Ground
Mitchell West: Marine Corps Ground
Deondrae Williams: Marine Corps Ground

Acie in the Hole
•    Senior slot back Carlinos Acie rushed for a career-high 155 yards on 6 carries in Navy's 38-35 loss to East Carolina.
• The 155 yards rushing were the most by a Navy player since fullback Nelson Smith rushed for 157 yards last year against East Carolina.
• It was the most by a Navy slot back since Shun White rushed for a school-record 348 yards against Towson on Aug. 30, 2008.
• Acie scored his first-career touchdown on a 90-yard run against ECU and tied for the fifth-longest run in school history. It was the longest by a Navy player since Malcolm Perry had a 92-yard run against SMU in 2017.  
• Acie's 90-yard run is tied for the 11th longest run in the country this year.

Maquel Haywood to the House
•    Freshman slot back Maquel Haywood returned an East Carolina kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in Navy's 38-35 loss to the Pirates.
• The 98-yard return tied Reggie Campbell (2007 vs. Army) for the longest kickoff return in school history.
•     It was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by Navy since the 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl when Gee Gee Greene returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD against Arizona State.
• Haywood is averaging a school-record 36.1 yards per return on 9 returns.