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| Who will prevail in San Diego, Navy or San Diego St? |
This match-up features Navy (7-5) going up against San Diego State (7-5) on December 23 at 9:30 PM EST from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The game will be televised by ESPN.
By: Michael Hanley
Navy
The Midshipman are coming off their latest victory over Army, the 13th consecutive win against their rival, one that also pushed their head coach Ken Niumatalolo to the all time leader in wins in the the program's history, surpassing the great George Welsh.
He has done an incredible job of continuing the momentum that the previous head coach at Navy, Paul Johnson, established in terms of success and the style of football they play. Under Niumatalolo, Navy has gone 56-35, including six bowl appearances, including the bowl game they won last year 24-6 over Middle Tennessee State in the 2013 Armed Forces Bowl.
It is a program that can be very difficult to prepare for since it runs the triple option that few teams outside of the Midshipman and Georgia Tech run on a regular basis. It requires a razor sharp focus and disciplined to not get fooled on a particular run play Navy runs with all the motion they do to try and throw off defenders.
All the Midshipman need is one small lane to find and they can turn a usual 3 or 4 yard run into a 20 or 30 yard run. It is easy to see why they lead the country in rushing offense at 345.1 yards per game.
This production is due in large part to their seasoned quarterback in Keenan Reynolds. Reynolds has been dynamic over his three years of being the Midshipman's signal caller, rushing for 3,675 yards and 62 touchdowns, the most ever achieved by an FBS quarterback. He has good mobility and speed, which will make it hard for the Aztecs defense to keep him completely contained in the pocket all game long.
San Diego St
The Aztecs are coming in also on a win, a victory over San Jose St to get them to seven wins on the season. This will be the program's forth consecutive bowl appearance under Coach Long. He too has done a solid job after Brady Hoke left the program for the Michigan head coaching position after the 2010 season.
Though Navy have a very powerful and lethal weapon with their running attack, San Diego St has their own weapon out of the backfield that they rely on in running back in Donnel Pumphrey.
This season, he has rushed for a staggering 1,755 yards rushing, including 19 rushing touchdowns could potentially have a career day against this very porous Navy defense. The Midshipman have been torched when teams have wanted to run on them, giving up an average of 199.7 rushing yards per game.
You can expect to see allot of Pumphrey runs in this game early and often which could open up the passing game for the Aztecs offense and make the Navy defense have to spread out and cover wide receivers deep down the field, which is not a strong suit of theirs.
The Aztecs defense though has been solid throughout the season, being a Top 25 caliber unit giving up 20.1 points per game and allowing 337.6 yards per game but the run defense was their weak point. San Diego St's defense gave up an average of 150 yards per game, something the Midshipman could gain in the first quarter alone if they have their offense going in a rhythm.
Bowl Pick
This has all the makings of a high scoring game that could come down to who has the ball last. I am going with Navy for the win 42-37 over the Aztecs. The Midshipman will be able to get their offense going and be able to run all over the Aztecs at will. Their defense I believe will get the one or two stops they need to seal the victory for the team.
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