| Navy (3-7, 3-4 AAC) at #17/18 UCF (8-2, 5-1 AAC) |
| When |
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 | 11:00 am (ET) |
| Location |
Orlando, Fla. | FBC Mortgage Stadium |
| Television |
ESPN2 (Brian Custer, Dustin Fox, Dana Boyle) |
| 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 135 or 201, SXM App 964 | Apps: Audacy (WNAV) and TuneIn (WBAL) |
| Live Stats |
Navy Athletics |
| Game Notes |
Navy | UCF | AAC |
| Season Statistics |
Navy | UCF | AAC |
| Social Media |
@NavyAthletics | @NavyFB | Facebook | Instagram |
Opening Kick
• Navy (3-7, 3-4 American Athletic Conference) and #17/18 UCF (8-2, 5-1) meet for the fourth and final time as American Athletic Conference foes on Saturday morning at 11 am at FBC Mortgage Stadium (45,301) in Orlando.
• UCF controls its own destiny to make the American Athletic Conference Championship game after beating #17 Tulane last week 38-31. If UCF beats Navy this week and USF next week, the Knights will clinch a spot in the championship game. UCF is also expected to be the highest-ranked non-autonomy 5 team when the new rankings are released on Tuesday. The highest-ranked non-autonomy 5 conference champion is guaranteed a spot in a New Year's 6 Bowl.
• The rushing game will go a long way in determining Saturday's winner. UCF enters play as the #5 rushing offense in the country (249.5 yds/gm), while Navy has the #6 rushing defense in the country (85.8 yds/gm). Navy has the #10 rushing offense in the country (238.7 yds/gm), while UCF has the #31 rushing defense in the country (123.1 yds/gm).
• Navy head coach
Ken Niumatalolo has beaten 5 Associated Press Top-25 opponents during his tenure with the last coming on Nov. 23, 2019, when the Mids defeated #21 SMU 35-28. The highest-ranked team a Niumatalolo-led Navy team has defeated came in 2016 when the Mids stunned #6 Houston 46-40.
• Navy is the only team in the FBS that will not play a home game in the month of November. Navy lost at Cincinnati (20-10) on Nov. 5, lost to #20 Notre Dame (35-32) last Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, travels to UCF this week before traveling to Philadelphia on Dec. 10 for the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. Navy also has a bye on Thanksgiving weekend. It marks the first time since 1988 that Navy will not have a home game in the month of November. Remarkably, in 1988, Navy played its final home game on Oct. 1 vs. Yale and then played 4 games on the road (Air Force, Pitt, Syracuse and South Carolina) and 2 neutral site games (Notre Dame in Baltimore and Army in Philadelphia) to finish 3-8.
• Navy starting quarterback
Tai Lavatai was lost for the year in the first quarter of the Temple game with a left knee injury. Backup quarterback
Xavier Arline, who came on to finish the Temple game and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 23-yard run in overtime, started two weeks ago against Cincinnati and played well, rushing for 87 yards on 12 carries. Last week against Notre Dame, he rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while completing 2 of his 4 pass attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an ankle injury (he is expected to play this week). Arline is a two-sport athlete for Navy, as he is also a starting attackman on the lacrosse team. Arline initially committed to North Carolina to play both lacrosse and football, but after a change in the Tar Heel football coaching staff, he decommitted and signed with Navy.
• Navy starts a combined 4 seniors on offense and defense, a mark that is tied with Cal, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and Temple for the third fewest in the country.
• Navy defeated Temple on Oct. 29 without completing a pass. It was the eighth time in the Niumatalolo era that Navy has played 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 7-1 in those games. In two of those games, 2009 vs. Wake Forest and 2008 against SMU, the Mids never attempted a pass. Both of those games were played in torrential downpours with Navy beating Wake Forest 13-10 and SMU 34-7.
Broadcast Coverage
• ESPN2 will televise Saturday's game with Brian Custer (play by play), Dustin Fox (analyst) and Dana Boyle (sideline) 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 10:00 am on the Navy Radio Network, followed by game action beginning at 11 AM 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 UCF
8-2 Overall | 5-1 AAC
Head Coach: Gus Malzahn
• UCF enters Saturday's game having won three-straight games and 7 of the last 8. The Knights control their own destiny to not only make the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, but also represent the autonomy 5 in a New Year's 6 Bowl.
• Navy has faced several outstanding dual-threat quarterbacks this year, however UCF senior John Rhys Plumlee might be the best of them all. The Ole Miss transfer has rushed for 708 yards and 9 touchdowns on just 126 carries (5.6 yds/carry), while completing 156 of his 246 pass attempts for 2,015 yards and 12 touchdowns. Plumlee is 19th nationally in total offense (302.6).
• Redshirt junior running back RJ Harvey is averaging 7.3 yards per carry. He has rushed for 615 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 84 carries (7.3 yds/carry). Fifth-year running back Isaiah Bowser has 13 rushing touchdowns, which is the eighth most in the country.
• Senior wide receiver Ryan O'Keefe leads the UCF receiving corps with 55 catches for 567 yards and 4 touchdowns, while junior wide receiver Javon Baker has 41 catches for 558 yards and 3 touchdowns. Junior Kobe Hudson is averaging 18 yards per catch, which is 22nd in the country.
• The UCF offense ranks 5th nationally in rushing offense (249.5 yds/gm), 9th in total offense (497.7 yds/gm), 13th in third down conversions (.493), 19th on fourth down conversions (.643), 20th in scoring offense (35.9 pts/gm) and 25th in completion percentage (.660).
• Senior linebacker Jason Johnson has been a beast for the UCF defense with 91 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and a fumble recovery. His 91 tackles are 46 more than the next-closest teammate. Senior linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste has 45 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack and an interception. Senior defensive end Tra'mon Morris-Brash is tied for 13th in the country in fumble recoveries (2), while redshirt senior defensive back Divaad Wilson's 3 interceptions are the 24th most.
• The UCF defense ranks 2nd in red zone defense (.659), 12th nationally in 4th down defense (.318), 21st in scoring defense (20.0 pts/gm) and 25th in team pass defense efficiency (119.4).
• Freshman kicker Colton Boomer is 13th in the country in field goal percentage (.917), while junior safety Quadric Bullard has returned a nation's-best 2 punts for touchdowns. Freshman punt returner Xavier Townsend is 21st in the country in punt returns, averaging 9.2 yards per return.
• The UCF special teams rank 11th in the country in blocked punts (2) and 12th in blocked kicks (3).
Navy Plays Its Best Half of Football Against Notre Dame
• After getting off to a slow start in the first half and falling behind 35-13 against #20 Notre Dame, the Mids put together their best half of football this season and nearly rallied to stun the Irish before losing 35-32.
• Navy outscored Notre Dame 19-0 in the second half, outgained the Irish 166-12 and held them to -26 yards rushing thanks to 5 sacks by the defense.
• Navy scored on a 26-yard field goal by
Bijan Nichols in the third quarter and on touchdown passes from
Xavier Arline to
Mark Walker and
Maasai Maynor to
Maquel Haywood in the fourth quarter. Arline and
Vincent Terrell Jr. also scored on two-point conversion runs.
• The Irish recovered a Navy onside kick with 1:21 remaining to end the Navy comeback.
• The 32 points are the most scored by a Navy team against Notre Dame since 2014 when the Mids scored 39 points in a 49-39 loss at FedExField.
• It was the first time Navy shut out an opponent in the second half since it shut out Army in the second half of last year's 17-13 win.
• The 66 yards rushing by Notre Dame were its fewest in the series since 2009 when Navy held the Irish to 60 yards on the ground in a game that Navy won 23-21.
• Navy's 363 yards of total offense were the most by the Mids in the series since posting 368 in 2016, a game Navy won 28-27 in Jacksonville.
• Navy's 108 yards passing were the most it has had against the Irish since throwing for 118 in 2014.
Narrow Victories
• Since 2006, Navy has won 53 one-possession games, a mark that leads the country during that time period.
• The Mids are 2-4 in one-possession games this year, losing to Delaware by 7, beating East Carolina by 3 in double overtime, losing to Air Force by 3, losing to SMU by 6, beating Temple by 7 in overtime and losing to Notre Dame by 3.
Most One-Possession Wins Since 2006
Rk No. Team
1. 53 Navy
2. 51 Auburn
3. 49 Northwestern
