With Championship week behind us and bowl season ahead, this week gives us one final regular season college football game to wager on, and it’s a dandy deserving of standalone status. The annual clash between the Army Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen has lost importance on the national stage with the emergence of the sport as a big business. But for the first time in years both squads were relevant again making visits to the national rankings. Both teams had their quest for a perfect season end at the hands of Notre Dame, though that was the only setback for Army, who beat Tulane, 35-14, last week for the AAC championship as a 5-point favorite at the Crypto Sportsbook. Army has won the last two meetings covering the spread both times and the Black Knights hit the board laying 6.5-points in one of the most intense college football rivalries that dates back more than a century.
College Football Betting Lines
Navy at Army Betting Lines
Navy Midshipmen +6.5 / ML +222
Army Black Knights -6.5 / ML -259
Over / Under 38.5
We typically don’t see a lot of points scored in this game with the teams cashing the UNDER in 16 straight matchups before breaking that streak in 2022. Last year the team’s pushed the total, which was the lowest in recent memory at 28 points. Army won 17-11. It’s been a different story this season with the teams averaging more than 32 points behind strong run games. Running the option can surprise teams that only have a week to prepare for it. However it’s not as successful against a team that runs the same kind of offense and practices against it every week. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another low scoring affair. Still, both clubs have a solid quarterback and talented backs to complement their run-first approach, but they both throw the ball effectively enough to keep opposing defenses off balance.
It would be difficult to not back the Cadets, who are 11-1 and going for the first 12-win season in the history of the program. They dismantled a good Tulane squad, 35-14, in the AAC championship where they were a 5-point underdog on the closing line. The nation’s best rushing attack was on full display in that game with the Cadets churning out 335 yards on 57 carries. Kanye Udoh had 158 yards and a TD on 20 attempts while Bryson Daily chipped in with 126 yards and four TDs on his 25 carries. Daily was also perfect throwing the ball going 2 of 2 for 17 yards.
Daily leads the team with 1,474 yards on the ground and his 29 rushing TDs ties him with Boise State Heisman hopeful Ashton Jeanty for the most in the FBS. Udoh has 10 scores and averages 6.4 yards per tote putting him over 1,000 yards for the season. The Cadets also boast a strong defense allowing the seventh-fewest points in FBS at 15.0 per game. They also rank among the top 10 nationally in total defense while committing just five turnovers.
You can throw all the stats and records out the window when the service academies tangle, though. There is no playoff to look forward to so in essence this is their postseason. Both teams will go bowling, but this contest is far more impactful than any other on the schedule. Navy opened with six straight wins before dropping three of their next four games. In those setbacks the offense went into hibernation scoring a total of 24 points and getting shutout, 35-0, to the same Tulane squad Army just beat.
With Blake Horvath behind center the Middies have a more diverse offense. Horvath threw for 1,154 yards and 11 TDs, but he exited the Tulane game with a back injury and the offense stumbled. Braxton Woodson started the ECU game going 12 of 19 for 165 yards and a TD in the 34-20 win. The Middies need Horvath to be close to full health to have a chance, if he’s not the team will suffer against an aggressive Army defense. I also like Daily and Udoh to keep pounding the ball eventually wearing down Navy’s defense leading to a cover win.
Navy at Army Same Game Parlay Picks
Army -6.5
Navy / Army OVER 38.5
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