Navy (0-2, 0-0 AAC) at Houston (2-1, 0-0 AAC)
When	Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021 | 7:00 pm (ET) / 6:00 pm (CT)
Location	Houston, Texas | TDECU Stadium
Television	ESPNU (Tiffany Green, 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 1050 AM, 93.5 FM (Washington, DC / No. Virginia) | WJBT 100.3 FM (Jacksonville) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego, Calif.) | WGH 1310 AM, 100.9 FM, 97.3 HD2-3 (Norfolk, Va.) - JIP for the Houston game due to Norfolk Tides baseball | Sirius 133 / XM 207 / SXM App 967
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | Houston | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | Houston | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    Navy and Houston meet for the eighth time, including the seventh as American Athletic Conference foes, when the two square off on Saturday evening (7:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm local time) at TDECU Stadium.  
•    Houston leads the all-time series, 5-2, including a 2-1 mark in games played in Houston.
•    The Houston game starts a brutal stretch for the Mids where they play the AAC preseason No. 4 (at Houston), No. 2 (UCF), No. 3 (SMU), No. 5 (at Memphis) and No. 1 team (Cincinnati).
•    Navy will play the third-toughest schedule in the country based on opponent winning percentage from 2020. The Mids' 12 opponents this fall combined for a 72-42 (.632) record last year. Only Arkansas (.644) and UMass (.644) have tougher slates based on last year's results.
•    Senior safety Kevin Brennan, senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper, senior linebacker Diego Fagot and senior slot back Chance Warren have been selected as team captains for the 2021 season.
•    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 is 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.
•    Fagot was named a Third-Team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele's College Football Magazine, while Fagot (first team), senior corner Michael McMorris (third team), sophomore nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. (fourth team), senior safety Kevin Brennan (fourth team) and junior kicker Bijan Nichols (fourth team) were named to Steele's All-AAC team. Fagot is a two-time All-AAC performer, garnering second-team honors by the league's coaches as a junior and first-team recognition as a sophomore.
•    The Naval Academy Athletic Association will retire Chet Moeller's No. 48 next Saturday (Oct. 2) during the UCF football game. Moeller will be the first defensive player to have his number retired at Navy, joining Joe Bellino (No. 27), Roger Staubach (No. 12), Napoleon McCallum (No. 27) and Keenan Reynolds (No. 19).
•    Head coach Ken 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 at one school.
•    Navy is 42-28 (.600) in the Niumatalolo era (2008-present) in one-score games (8 points or less).

Broadcast Coverage
•    Saturday's game will be televised on ESPNU with Tiffany Green (play-by-play) and Hutson Mason (color) 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 also contribute to the show.
•    The Navy Football Tailgate Show on WNAV Radio 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will air from 5:00-6:00 pm on Saturday with Wylie Baker and Bill Lusby serving as the hosts.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Medhurst, Miller, Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein 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
2-1 Overall  |  0-0 AAC
Head Coach: Dana Holgorsen

•    Houston enters Saturday's game with a 2-1 record. The Cougars lost to Texas Tech 38-21 in the opener, but have bounced back to blow out both Rice (37-8) and Grambling (45-0) in back-to-back weeks.  
•    The Courgars' roster features 16 players that transferred to Houston from a Power 5 school and 18 players from the junior college ranks.   
•    Quarterback Clayton Tune has completed 70.7 percent of his passes (21st in nation) on the year (53-75) for 472 yards with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He is also Houston's second-leading rusher with 69 yards rushing on 24 carries and a touchdown.
•    Tune left the Grambling game in the first quarter with what was reported in the Houston Chronicle as a hamstring injury and did not return. Junior Ike Ogbogu came off the bench to complete 14 of his 22 passes for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
•    Freshman Alton McCaskill is Houston's leading rusher with 159 yards and 4 touchdowns on 34 carries. He also has 5 catches for 51 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield.
•    Houston's top receiver is Nathaniel Dell, who has 22 catches for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dell is averaging 100.3 receiving yards per game (19th nationally) and 7.3 catches per game (11th nationally). He is 19th in the country  in all-purpose yards (134.0 yds/gm) and his 3 touchdown catches are the 16th most.
•    Houston has not lost a fumble in its first three games, while the defense has recovered 3 fumbles, which ranks 18th nationally. The Cougars have kept the ball on average of 34:31 per game, which is 10th best nationally.
•    Donovan Mutin leads the Houston defense with 17 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
•    The Cougars defense is seventh in the nation in third down defense (.243) and has allowed just 33 first downs this fall, which ranks fifth in the country.  
•    The Cougars are also third in the country in pass defense (122.0 yds/gm), seventh in total defense (230.0 yds/gm) and 19th in scoring defense (15.0 pts/gm).  
•    Houston has come up with 6 turnovers this season, which stands 22nd nationally.
•    Mannie Nunnery leads the nation in blocked punts with 2.
•    Punter Laine Wilkins is averaging 47.5 yards per punt, which ranks 12th nationally. As a team, the Cougars are 10th in the country in net punting (44.77).
•    Marcus Jones, a transfer from Troy, has returned a punt for a touchdown and is averaging 12.2 yards per return (15th in nation).

Playing Against The Home State
•    Navy has 22 players from the state of Texas, including seven that are on the current three-deep. The next-most represented state on Navy's roster is Maryland with 16.
•    Starting senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper (San Antonio) is the only offensive player on the depth chart from Texas.
•    Starting sophomore linebacker Will Harbour (Frisco), third team junior defensive tackle John Brand (Flower Mound) and third team sophomore corner Willie Collins V (Mansfield) are the defensive players on the depth chart from Texas.
•    Junior kicker Bijan Nichols (Heath), backup holder Daniel Davies (Richardson) and punter Riley Riethman (Keller) are the special teams players on the depth chart from Texas.

Navy vs. AAC
•    Navy owns a 55-44-1 (.555) all-time record against schools who are current members of the American Athletic Conference.
•    Since joining the AAC in 2015, the Mids have recorded a 30-17 (.638) mark in conference action.

AAC Conference Records Since 2015
•    Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2015, Navy has compiled an overall conference record of 30-17 (.638), shared a West Division title in 2015 and 2019 and won the West Division outright in 2016.
• Navy's 30-17 cumulative record in the AAC is the fourth best within the league during that time span.