NAVY FIRST LOOK: CENTRAL FLORIDA

The Navy Midshipmen host UCF on Saturday. Here is your first look at the Knights.

SEASON SO FAR (5-0, 3-0 AAC)

Date Opponent Score
08/31/2017 FIU W 61-17
09/23/2017 at Maryland W 38-10
09/30/2017 Memphis W 40-13
10/07/2017 at Cincinnati W 51-23
10/14/2017 East Carolina W 63-21

STAT COMPARISON

NAVY OFF PPG 35.5 50.6 UCF OFF PPG
NAVY DEF PPG 28.0 16.8 UCF DEF PPG
NAVY TOTAL OFF 479.3 547.2 UCF TOTAL OFF
NAVY PASSING OFF 81.8 321.8 UCF PASSING OFF
NAVY RUSHING OFF 397.5 225.4 UCF RUSHING OFF
NAVY TOTAL DEF 398.2 333.2 UCF TOTAL DEF
NAVY PASSING DEF 235.5 223.0 UCF PASSING DEF
NAVY RUSHING DEF 162.7 110.2 UCF RUSHING DEF
NAVY TO MARGIN -0.83 1.60 UCF TO MARGIN
NAVY MASSEY COMP& 36 11 UCF MASSEY COMP

& The Massey Composite Ratings are compiled from 98 different college football ratings and rankings.

INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS

Date Pos Player Injury Status
10/15/17 OL Tyler Hudanick Knee ? Saturday vs. Navy
09/25/17 RB Jawon Hamilton Leg out for season
09/05/17 LB Dedrion Bacote Leg out indefinitely

Source: donbest.com

CHALLENGES

Last week we called Memphis Navy’s toughest opponent so far of the season. Now there’s a new toughest one: Central Florida. Of the remaining Navy opponents, only Notre Dame could have a shot at replacing UCF as the Mid’s toughest opponent. The Knights have simply brutalized opponents so far this season winning every contest by an average score of 51-17. UCF is a team that runs a balanced offense and sports a ferocious defense that creates turnovers and stops opponent’s drives. What’s really worrisome is that the team that just tagged Navy with its first loss was defeated by UCF by a margin of 27 points. Navy will need a Herculean effort to beat UCF. The good news is they get to play this game in Annapolis, where the Mids have a strong home-field advantage. UCF doesn’t appear to have faced an option team in the past couple years so that might be a big plus for Navy’s chances of pulling an upset.

Saturday’s game with UCF kicks off at 3:30 pm ET and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.