Navy looks to win its first-ever conference title against Temple.
NAVY PASSING OFFENSE VS. TEMPLE PASSING DEFENSE
EDGE: TEMPLE
Somewhere along the way Navy QB Will Worth went from being a running quarterback that could pass a little bit, to a true dual-threat quarterback the likes of which the Mids haven’t seen in a long time. Worth is 71 of 115 attempts for 1,408 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. Worth is the only quarterback Navy has used since Tago Smith went down for the year. Worth completes his passes at a 61.7% clip, making all kinds of passes. Against SMU, Worth completed five of seven passes to five different receivers for 104 yards and a score
Last time out Temple beat ECU to secure their place in this title game. The Pirates backup quarterback Gardener Minshew was 21 of 34 through the air for 183 yards and a touchdown. Teams average just 145.8 yards passing against Temple and have scored 11 touchdowns through the air. The Owls have the second best passing defense in the country in terms of yards allowed per game. The Owls are pretty average when it comes to picking the ball off and they have eight interceptions on the season. Getting pressure on the quarterback has proven to be an area Temple is proficient in and the Owls have 34 sacks on the year and the school is tied for 19th in the country in that area.
NAVY RUSHING OFFENSE VS. TEMPLE RUSHING DEFENSE
EDGE: NAVY
We all know that Navy wants to run the ball all day long and the Mids average an obscene 342 yards per game on the ground, good for the second-best rushing game in the country. The Mids leading rusher on the year is quarterback Will Worth who has 1,181 yards and 25 touchdowns on 258 carries. Worth rushed for 107 yards and three scores against ECU and he has now crossed the 100 yards rushing mark for seven straight games. Shawn White has become the primary backfield threat and he has 397 yards and seven touchdowns this year. Navy has rushed for 53 touchdowns this season.
The Owls rushing defense, like the Temple offense as a whole, is very good. Temple ranks 24th in the nation in rushing defense and they give up 127.7 yards per game on the ground. The Owls also rank 26th in the country in yards per carry allowed at 3.6. The Owls are third nationally in total defense, allowing 273.4 yards per game and 10th nationally in scoring defense as the give up just 17.8 points per game. It is the third down defense that carries Temple and Navy must get conversions to keep drives alive.
TEMPLE PASSING OFFENSE VS. NAVY PASSING DEFENSE
EDGE: TEMPLE
Temple has passed for 2,729 yards this season on 188 receptions and has 18 passing touchdowns. Most of those passes have come from senior QB Philip Walker who has attempted 321 passes, and 186 have been completed sitting at roughly 58% on the season. This is a dangerous but mistake-prone passing attack that has seen four-year starter Walker throw for 18 scores and 12 picks. The major factor in this passing attack is WR Ventell Bryant. Bryant has 38 receptions for 697 yards and three touchdowns on the season. Another player to watch in the passing attack is explosive RB Jahad Thomas who has six receiving scores. Both Walker and Bryant were limited in practice this week.
The Navy passing defense has been an issue all year long as Mids have had to outscore opponents to win. The Mids now rank 107th in the nation in passing yards allowed per game at 264.9. Navy gave up two more passing scores against SMU and has now allowed 23 touchdowns through the air in 2016.. Navy finally intercepted a couple of passes against the Mustangs and now ranked 111th in the country in this category with six on the year.
TEMPLE RUSHING OFFENSE VS. NAVY RUSHING DEFENSE
EDGE: TEMPLE
The Temple rushing attack is a good one and in explosive running back Jahad Thomas the Owls have a guy who can win a game on his own. Thomas ran the ball for 152 yards and two touchdowns last time out against ECU in a dominant rushing display. On the season Thomas has carried the ball 181 times for 856 yards and 12 touchdowns. Backup Ryquell Armstead is an outstanding back in his own right and he has just 14 fewer yards than Thomas on 42 less carries. Armstead also leads the team in rushing touchdowns with 13. As a team, SMU is the 71st ranked rushing team in the country at 169.4 yards per game. These are the only threats in the Temple rushing attack as they have scored all but four of the Owls rushing touchdowns.
The Navy rushing defense did a much better job last weekend against SMU. The Mustangs rushed for just 96 yards and two touchdowns on the day, with their top two backs combining for 106 yards on 30 carries. Navy ranks 68th in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 175 yards per game on the ground. The Navy rushing defense does clamp down in the red zone and the Mids have given up just 16 touchdowns on the ground.
SPECIAL TEAMS
EDGE: TEMPLE
Navy’s Bennett Moehring had a weird day against SMU where he missed two extra points. Moehring has now connected on 5-of-7 field goals with a long of 40 yards on the year. Moehring has missed three extra points after the SMU issues (56-of-59) and both his field goal misses were in the 30-39 yard bracket. The Navy return game is strong and punter Alex Batra should be rested after being the only Midshipmen who dressed not to see the field last week against SMU. Batra has had one punt total over the last two games.
The Owls made a kicking change half way through the season that saw Aaron Boumerhi replace the erratic Austin Jones. Boumerhi has repaid his coaches faith and he is 90% for the season on field goals, hitting 9 of 10 since becoming the starter. Boumerhi is perfect from 20-29 yards (3 of 3) and 40-49 yards (2 of 2), with his one miss coming in the 30-39 yard bracket. He has yet to attempt a kick of over 50 yards this season. Boumerhi is 23 of 24 on extra point attempts.
COACHING
EDGE: NAVY
Fourth-year Temple head coach Matt Rhule is 27-23 with the Owls. This may not sound that impressive, but the Temple job he took over was an awful one and with a bare cupboard for the first two years he posted 2-10 and 6-6 records. He has gone on to win the AAC East in each of his last two seasons as the Temple head coach. Prior to his time at Temple, Rhule cut his coaching teeth at Albright College, Buffalo, UCLA, and Western Carolina. He also spent six years as an assistant with the Owls, along with one year as the offensive line coach for the New York Giants, before returning to Temple for the head coaching spot.
Ninth-year Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo is 76-39 at Navy. He previously was the offensive line coach at Navy under Paul Johnson and took the head coaching role for the Mids’ bowl game at the end of the 2007 season. Niumatalolo previously coached on staffs ate Hawaii and UNLV. Niumatalolo has a chance this weekend to add to his long list of accomplishments by winning the AAC Championship and perhaps even steering Navy towards a place in the Cotton Bowl.
INTANGIBLES
EDGE: NAVY
Both schools have something on the line here. Temple and Navy with both be going bowling this season, but both can potentially improve their bowl slots with a win. It is Navy though that has the most on the line in this regard as a victory over a highly thought of Temple team could be enough to see Navy jump Western Michigan for a coveted New Year’s Six Bowl bid even if the Broncos beat Ohio on Friday night in the MAC Championship game. This is because the unbeaten Broncos have an awful strength of schedule.
Prediction: Navy 52, Temple 35. This is going to be an interesting one. Temple has been stout against the run this year, but they haven’t faced an attack like Navy. The one game that was similar was way back on the opening day when Army upset the Owls with a consistent rushing assault. Navy will have too much for Temple and take this one by a couple of scores.