It’s that time of the year again. The time when the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen meet on the football field to add to their historic rivalry that is not like any other in college sports. The first meeting between the two squads happened way back in 1890 and over 100 years later, the fire of the rivalry continues. Army has won each of the last three meetings with the Midshipmen, who had a 14-game winning streak in the head-to-head series snapped in 2016. Will Navy recapture its former glory? Or will Army extend their dominance over the Midshipmen for at least another year? Going into the game, the sportsbook favors the Navy by more than double-digits at 10.5-points.
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Betting Preview for the Army Black Knights vs Navy Midshipmen College Football Game on December 14 2019
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
When: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 3:00 PM ET
Line: Army Black Knights (+10.5) vs. Navy Midshipmen (-10.5) – view all 2019 NCAAF lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
Betting on the Army Black Knights (5-7 Overall / 5-7 Conference)
The Black Knights will go into their annual date with Navy coming off a bad loss to the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors on the road, 52-31. Army’s loss can be mostly blamed to its futility in stopping the offense of Hawai’i, particularly the Rainbow Warriors’ air attack. Hawai’i had 359 passing yards and five passing touchdowns in the game. Army did well on offense itself, but its defense definitely has to improve. Army quarterbacks Kelvin Hopkins and Jemel Jones each had a TD pass, while the backfield compiled 411 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Army will run the ball most of the time. After all, it is third in the nation with an 82.89 rushing play percentage and also third overall with 274.3 rushing yards per contest. The heart and soul of the Black Nights is Hopkins, who paces the team in both passing yards (506) and rushing yards (706). He also has seven rushing touchdowns and a per-carry average of 5.2 yards. Perhaps the Black Knights will just have to to go all-out on offense purely relying on their running game, as they were broken by two turnovers in the Hawai’i game when they tried to pass the ball, committing two turnovers.
The Black Knights are 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last four games.
Betting on the Navy Midshipmen (9-2 Overall / 7-1 Conference)
The Midshipmen are finding their groove just in time for their matchup against the Black Knights. In their last game, the Midshipmen sent the Houston Cougars stumbling with a 56-41 road win. To beat the Cougars, all Navy did was run the ball down the throat of their opponents. Fullback Jamale Carothers rushed for 188 yards and five touchdowns, while quarterback Malcolm Perry added 146 rushing yards and a touchdown. Overall, Navy had 447 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, essentially turning the game into a track meet. Which was not much of a surprise, considering that the Midshipmen are the No. 1 rushing team in the nation, They are tops in rushing play percentage (85.96), rushes (59.4), and rushing yards per game (354.4). In a way, Navy’s offense is very predictable, but that has not slowed them down much at all, as evidenced by the statistics they’ve put up along the way. Navy even scored a 35-28 home win over No. 25 SMU Mustangs back in November in which the Midshipmen generated 378 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The Midshipmen are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games.
Writer’s Prediction
Army wins, 23-20.
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