Navy (2-3, 2-1 AAC) at SMU (2-3, 0-1 AAC)
When	Friday, Oct. 14, 2022 | 6:30 pm (CT) / 7:30 pm (ET)
Location	Dallas, Texas | Ford Stadium
Television	ESPN (Roy Philpott, Andre Ware, Paul Carcaterra)
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 (Washington, D.C.) | WFED 104.5 FM (Western Fairfax / Loudon, Va.) | WNAV 1430 AM, 99.9 FM (Annapolis) | KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego) | WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM / 97.3 HD2-3 (Norfolk, Va.) | WJGM 105.7 FM (Jacksonville, Fla.) | Satellite: Sirius 84, SXM App 84 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV) and TuneIn (WBAL)
Live Stats	Navy Athletics
Game Notes	Navy | SMU | AAC
Season Statistics	Navy | SMU | AAC
Social Media	@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram

Opening Kick
•    Navy and SMU meet for the 24th time overall and the eighth time as American Athletic Conference foes when the two square off on Friday night in prime time (7:30 pm ET) on ESPN at Ford Stadium in Dallas (32,000).
•    Navy enters Friday's contest in fifth place in the American Athletic Conference, but just 1/2 game behind first-place Cincinnati and Tulane. The top-two teams will play in the AAC Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the home of the highest seed. The Mids play at Cincinnati on Nov. 5, but do not play Tulane this year. UCF is 1-0 (Navy plays at UCF on Nov. 19) and Memphis is 2-1 (beat Navy on Sept. 10).  
•    Navy leads the all-time series against SMU 13-10, including a 4-3 mark in AAC games. The Mids are 6-5 all-time in Dallas. SMU has won the last two meetings, including a 31-24 victory in Annapolis last year.  Navy has lost two straight at SMU with Navy's last win coming in Dallas on Nov. 26, 2016 (75-31).
•    This is the 142nd year of Navy football. The Mids have produced an all-time record of 731-588-57.
•    The 731 wins are tied with Wisconsin for the 24th most in history among schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
    
Broadcast Coverage
•    ESPN will carry Friday's game with Roy Philpott, 1989 Heisman Trophy winner and former Houston quarterback Andre Ware and 1997 All-American lacrosse player (Syracuse) Paul Carcaterra on the call.
•    The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott Wykoff and special commentary from John Feinstein will get underway at 6:30 pm ET on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 7:30 pm ET 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.

Navy and SMU Battle for Gansz Trophy
•    In 2009, the SMU and Navy athletic departments created the Gansz Trophy to honor the late coaching legend Frank Gansz. Navy is 7-3 in Gansz Trophy games.
•    Considered one of the top special teams coach in the history of the NFL, Frank Gansz spent time at both SMU and the Naval Academy. Gansz was starting his second season as special teams coach on the Hilltop when he passed away on April 27, 2009. As a collegian, Gansz played center and linebacker for the Naval Academy from 1957 to 1959 and graduated in 1960. He also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Navy.
•    In all, Gansz was a veteran of 38 seasons of coaching - 24 in the NFL and 14 in the collegiate ranks.
•    Prior to coming to SMU in 2008, Gansz was the special teams coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2000 and '01). Prior to his time with the Jags, he served as the special teams coach of the St. Louis Rams for three seasons, helping the team to its victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
•    In 1986, Gansz's first year as the assistant head coach/special teams for Kansas City, the Chiefs blocked or deflected an NFL-record 10 kicks and scored 5 touchdowns. Gansz was promoted to head coach of the Chiefs, a role he served from 1987 to 1988.
•    He left the Chiefs to become the special teams coach for the Detroit Lions from 1989 to 1993, a period in which Mel Gray developed into the NFL's all-time leader in combined kick return yardage. In 1989, Gansz was named NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year by his peers. He then spent three years as the assistant head coach/special teams for the Atlanta Falcons from 1994 to 1996.
•    Gansz's NFL career began in 1978 as special teams coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He coached special teams and tight ends for Cincinnati (1979-80), Kansas City (1981-82) and Philadelphia (1983-85).
•    After serving as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for nearly seven years, Gansz began his coaching career at Air Force (1964-66). He also had coaching stints at Colgate (1968), Navy (1969-72), Oklahoma State (1973, 1975), Army (1974) and UCLA (1976-77).

Scouting SMU
2-3 Overall  |  0-1 AAC
Head Coach: Rhett Lashlee

•    SMU enters Friday's game with a 2-3 record and having lost three straight.
•    The Mustangs started the year with wins over North Texas (48-10) and Lamar (45-16) before losing on the road at Maryland (34-27), at home to TCU (42-34) and again on the road to UCF (41-19).
•    SMU is once again led by senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai (transfer from Oklahoma), who has completed 125 of his 211 pass attempts for 1,680 yards with 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. SMU is ranked fourth nationally in passing offense (355 yds/gm) and ninth in total offense (500.2 yds/gm). Mordecai is 13th in the country in completions per game (25.0), fourth in passing yards per game (336.0) and seventh in total offense (338.4).
•    Senior wide receiver Rashee Rice, who is one of the best wide receivers in the country, has 46 catches for 687 yards and 4 touchdowns. Rice is second in the country in receiving yards per game (137.4), second in receptions per game (9.2) and 20th in all-purpose yardage (137.4 yds/gm). Sophomore Kelvontay Dixon, a transfer from Texas, has 13 catches for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.
•    The SMU rushing attack is led by senior Tre Siggers (60 carries / 229 yds / 4 touchdowns), a transfer from North Texas, and junior Velton Gardner (37 carries / 230 yds and 1 touchdown), a transfer from Kansas.
•    Senior linebacker Jimmy Phillips Jr. (34 tackles / 4 tackles for a loss) and senior defensive end Nelson Paul (26 tackles / 5 tackles for a loss / 3 sacks) lead the SMU defense.
•    The Ponies have been very disciplined under first-year head coach Rhett Lashlee, ranking ninth in the country in fewest penalties (4.2) and 17th in fewest penalty yards (39.60).
•    SMU ranks third in the country in kickoff returns, averaging 31.5 yards per return.
•    SMU has 30 transfers from the FBS on its roster, including 23 from autonomy 5 schools.

Offensive Outburst Against Tulsa
•    Navy's 53 points against Tulsa are the most by the Mids since scoring 56 at Houston in 2019.  
•    Navy's 53 points equaled the Mids total points scored in its first four games.
•    Navy's 26 points in the second quarter were more points than Navy had scored in a game this year.
•    Navy's 455 yards rushing are the 25th most in school history and the most since rushing for 484 yards against Lehigh in 2018. It is also the fourth most in the FBS this year.
•    Navy's 490 yards of total offense are the most by Navy since recording 554 yards against Houston in 2019.

Navy's Defense Shuts Down Tulsa
•    The Mids held Tulsa to just 25 yards rushing, which is the fifth fewest in the Niumatalolo era, and marks the second time this year Navy has held the opposition to under 25 yards rushing in a game (Delaware had 13 yards rushing in week 1).  
•    The Navy defense came up with 4 turnovers, including 3 interceptions against the Golden Hurricane. It was the first time Navy picked off 3 or more passes in a game since intercepting 4 Houston passes in 2019 and it was the first time the Mids recorded 4 or more turnovers since that very same Houston game when the Mids came up with 5. Navy entered the game with just 1 interception on the year.
•    Navy also recorded a safety for the first time since 2020 when linebacker Will Harbour forced Tulsa quarterback Davis Brin into an intentional grounding flag in the end zone.

Friday Night Lights
•    The Mids are just 3-6 in non-Saturday games since joining the AAC in 2015, however they are 3-1 in Friday night games (0-3 on Thursday night, 0-2 on Friday afternoon).  
•    Navy won at Tulsa last year on a Friday night 20-17.
•    Navy lost on a Friday night in 2016 at USF (52-45), won at Florida Atlantic on a Friday night in 2017 (42-19) and won at Connecticut on a Friday night in 2019 (56-10).

Navy Defense Tough Against The Run
•    The Navy defense ranks ninth in the country against the run, giving up just 86.8 rushing yards per game.
•    Navy gave up 13 yards on 29 carries to Delaware, 91 yards on 32 carries to Memphis, 103 yards on 28 carries to East Carolina, 200 yards on 47 carries against Air Force (the #1 rushing team in the country, 352.2 yds/gm) and 25 yards on 18 carries against Tulsa.

First Drive For the Defense Is The Key
•    Navy is 2-0 this year when the opposition did not score on its opening drive and 0-4 when it does.  
•     The first quarter has been far and away the worst quarter for the Mids, as the opposition has outscored Navy 37-17.  
• Navy has outscored the opposition 32-10 in the second quarter and is even at 17 in the third quarter. The opposition has outscored Navy 41-40 in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.  

Busic Leads The Navy Sack Exchange
•    Navy has recorded 14 sacks in its 5 games this season after recording just 16 sacks all of last year (12 gms).  
•    Junior defensive end Jacob Busic leads the Mids with 4 sacks, while senior striker John Marshall and sophomore linebacker Tyler Fletcher have 2 each.
•    Nine different Mids have recorded at least a half a sack this season, only two of which are seniors (Marshall and Nicholas Straw).
•    Navy is 30th in the country in sacks, averaging 2.6 per contest, while Busic is 21st in the nation in sacks per game (0.8).  
•    The 4 sacks by Busic are the most by a Navy player since 2019 when Diego Fagot had 5.5 sacks. He has recorded at least a 1/2 sack in every game but one (Tulsa) this year. He also caused a fumble and recovered it against Air Force.

Daba Daba Do!
•    Sophomore fullback Daba Fofana, who entered the Tulsa game with 116 yards rushing and no touchdowns, ran for a 159 yards on 21 carries and scored 3 touchdowns (all career highs).  
•    Fofana is the first Navy player to rush for over 100 yards since slot back Carlinos Acie rushed for 155 yards last year against East Carolina.
•    He is the first Navy fullback to rush for over 100 yards since Jamale Carothers ran for 188 yards against Houston in 2019.
•    Fofana is the first Navy player to score 3 touchdowns in a game since Carothers scored 5 in that same Houston game.
•    Fofana has a 3.84 grade-point average majoring in physics and plays the cello.

Kent Electrifies Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
•    Freshman wide receiver Nathan Kent scored on a 70-yard reverse on the first play of his college career in Navy's 53-21 win over Tulsa.  Kent made a Tulsa player miss in the backfield and then took it to the house untouched.
•    Kent is a two-sport athlete for the Mids, as he was also recruited to run track. Kent set the school record at Rocklin High School in Rocklin, Calif. in the 100, 200 and 400-yard dash. Both of his parents were track standouts at Azusa Pacific, including his dad, Roosevelt Jr., who was a three-time All-American triple jumper.

Hassan's Heroics
•    Sophomore punt returner Amin Hassan had a career-long 57-yard punt return in Navy's 53-21 victory over Tulsa.  
•     The return was the longest punt return by a Navy player since 1996 when Ross Scott returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in Navy's 1996 Homecoming win over Duke (64-27).
•     Hassan is averaging 10.9 yards per punt return, which ranks 13th nationally.

Kickoff Team Doing the Job
•    Navy's kickoff team has done an outstanding job this year, limiting the opposition to just 15.5 yards per return on 8 returns.  
•     The 15.5 kickoff yards per return allowed ranks 13th nationally.

There Is No Place Like the Road?
•    Navy has won 4 of its last 6 games away from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium: 23-20 (2OT) at East Carolina (9-24-22), 17-13 over Army (12-11-21) at MetLife Stadium, 38-14 at Temple (11-27-21) and 20-17 at Tulsa (10-29-21).
•    The only losses during that span was a 34-6 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in South Bend (11-6-21) and a 13-10 loss at Air Force (10-1-22).