NAVY at HOUSTON
Friday, Nov. 24 • Noon • ESPN
TDECU Stadium (40,000/Synthetic Turf)
Houston, Texas
Television
ESPN
Dave Lamont, Mack Brown and Jen Lada
Radio
WBAL-AM 1090 (Navy)
KPRC-AM 950 (Houston)
SiriusXM 93 (Navy feed)
THE GAME
Friday’s game will be the fourth meeting between Navy and Houston … The school first met in the 1980 Garden State Bowl and began annual matchups upon Navy’s joining The American in 2015 … Houston holds a 2-1 series lead, but Navy won last year’s meeting, taking a 46-40 victory against the No. 6/5-ranked Cougars in Annapolis..
NAVY
6-4, 4-3 American
Head Coach
Ken Niumatalolo (Hawaii ’89)
83-46, ninth season
Notes
Navy has dropped four of its last five on the heels of a 24-17 setback to No. 8 Notre Dame last week … The Midshipmen were tied 17-17 with the Fighting Irish through three quarters, but Notre Dame had the only score of the fourth period … Navy is a combined 18-5 in American Athletic Conference regular-season games since joining the league in 2015 … The Midshipmen are second in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 360.5 yards per game … QB Zach Abey ranks fifth nationally, with 143.2 rushing yards per game … Abey has rushed for 1,289 yards and 14 touchdowns on 262 carries and has thrown for 758 yards and seven TDs with seven interceptions … RB/QB Malcolm Perry has 736 rushing yards and seven TDs, but Perry missed the game at Notre Dame due to injury … LB DJ Palmore leads the defense with 10.5 tackles for loss.
HOUSTON
6-4, 4-3 American
Head Coach
Major Applewhite (Texas ’02)
6-5, first full season
Notes
Houston came up short in its bid for a third straight win as the Cougars fell 20-17 at Tulane last Saturday … Houston beat USF and ECU consecutively to clinch bowl eligibility and had an outside shot at The American’s West Division title until last weekend … QB D’Eriq King has started the last three games after playing primarily as a wide receiver … King has thrown for 714 yards and five touchdowns with one interception and has six rushing TDs … King is also the Cougars’ third-leading receiver with 29 catches for 264 yards and two TDs … RB Duke Catalon has a team-high 594 rushing yards with eight touchdowns … WR Linell Bonner has 65 catches for 752 yards and a team-high four touchdowns, wihle WR Steven Dunbar has 58 catches for 731 yards and two TDs … All-America DT Ed Oliver is a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and the Outland Trophy.