NAVY FIRST LOOK: HOUSTON

The Navy Midshipmen visit Houston on Saturday. Here is your first look at the Cougars.

HOUSTON SEASON SO FAR (4-3, 6-4 AAC)

Date Opponent Score
09/09/2017 @ Arizona W 19-16
09/16/2017 Rice W 38-3
09/23/2017 Texas Tech L 24-27
09/30/2017 @ Temple W 20-13
10/07/2017 SMU W 35-22
10/14/2017 @ Tulsa L 17-45
10/19/2017 Memphis L 38-42
10/28/2017 @ South Fla. W 28-24
11/04/2017 East Carolina W 52-27
11/18/2017 @ Tulane L 17-20

NAVY-HOUSTON STAT COMPARISON

NAVY OFF PPG 32.0 28.8 HOU OFF PPG
NAVY DEF PPG 29.7 23.9 HOU DEF PPG
NAVY TOTAL OFF 453.4 441.7 HOU TOTAL OFF
NAVY PASSING OFF 92.9 259.0 HOU PASSING OFF
NAVY RUSHING OFF 360.5 182.7 HOU RUSHING OFF
NAVY TOTAL DEF 401.8 430.2 HOU TOTAL DEF
NAVY PASSING DEF 236.3 287.5 HOU PASSING DEF
NAVY RUSHING DEF 165.5 142.7 HOU RUSHING DEF
NAVY TO MARGIN -0.70 -0.10 HOU TO MARGIN
NAVY MASSEY COMP& 43 53 HOU MASSEY COMP

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

HOUSTON INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS

Date Pos Player Injury Status
11/20/17 RB Duke Catalon Shoulder-injured last game is "?" Friday vs. Navy
11/03/17 S Collin Wilder Knee is out for season
10/22/17 RB Dillon Birden Elbow is out indefinitely
10/17/17 OL Kameron Eloph Back out for season
09/28/17 DB D.J. Small Undisclosed out for season
09/08/17 OL Alex Fontana Foot out for season
08/16/17 WR Marquez Stevenson ACL out for season

Source: donbest.com

CHALLENGES

Navy, which has lost four of its last five, heads to Houston for a matchup with the Cougars. At first glance, this looks like a formidable task, but a closer look reveals that these are two evenly matched teams. While Houston was a powerhouse the past few years, their head coach, Tom Herman, headed to Texas after last season. This season the Cougars have the same number of wins as Navy and their offense is putting up fewer yardage and points than under Herman. Navy can win this game if they execute their option offense effectively while playing good defense against the Cougar’s now average offense.

Friday’s game kicks off at Noon ET and can be seen on ESPN.