*** Official Navy vs Oklahoma Armed Forces Bowl Game Thread

*** Official Navy vs Oklahoma Armed Forces Bowl Game Thread ***
Navy Midshipmen 9-3 (6-2 AAC) vs Oklahoma Sooners 6-6 (2-6 SEC) Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Friday 27 December 2024 1100 CT / 1200 ET at Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas 46,000 capacity SOLD OUT

TV: ESPN
Online: ESPN+ and WatchESPN
• Play-by-Play: Courtney Lyle, Analyst: Rene Ingoglia, Sideline: Morgan Uber

RADIO:
NATIONAL RADIO
• Play-by-Play: Brian Estridge
• Analyst / Sideline: Marshall Newhouse
• Sideline: Chris Mycoskie

NAVY RADIO NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Joe Miller, Analyst / Sideline: Keith Mills, Studio: Scott Wykoff, Pregame Commentary: John Feinstein
• WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore)
• WFED 820 AM / 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.)
• WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.)
• WFED 104.5 FM (W. Fairfax / Loudon, Va.)
• WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM (Annapolis)
• KWFN 97.3 FM (San Diego)
• WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM (Norfolk)
• WJGM 105.7 FM (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• KIKI 990 AM (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
• Satellite: Navy Broadcast - SiriusXM (Ch. 106 or 201) and the SXM App (Ch. 963)
• Apps: Audacy (WNAV and KWFN) and TuneIn (WBAL)

OPENING KICK
• Navy (9-3) and Oklahoma (6-6) meet on the gridiron for just the 2nd time overall and the 1st time in a bowl game as the two will play in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Friday, Dec. 27 at 12 noon (ET), 11:00 am (CT) in Fort Worth,
Texas. Navy leads the all-time series 1-0, a 10-0 victory in Norman in 1965.
• This marks Navy’s 25th bowl appearance (12-11-1 all-time) and the 3rd time Navy has appeared in the Armed Forces Bowl. The Mids defeated Middle Tennessee State 24-6 in the 2013 Armed Forces Bowl and lost to Louisiana Tech 48-45 in 2016. Navy has won two-consecutive bowl games and 5 of the last 6.
• This will be the 1st time Navy has played an SEC team in a bowl game since 1954 (1955 Sugar Bowl) when the Mids knocked off Ole Miss 21-0. Navy has also played current SEC teams Missouri (1961 Orange Bowl and 2009 Texas Bowl) and Texas (1964 Cotton Bowl) prior to those schools being in the SEC.
• Navy last played a team from the SEC in 2011 when the Mids lost at South Carolina 24-21.
• Oklahoma, the 6th-winningest program in FBS history with 950 wins, will be playing in a bowl game for the 26th-consecutive season and the 58th time overall (31-25-1), the 4th most by any school. The Sooners, playing as an SEC member for the first time in 2024, picked up a signature win in November, dropping then-#7 Alabama 24-3 to earn bowl eligibility. Of the team’s 12 opponents, 8 were ranked among the nation’s top 25 during the season.
• Navy is coming off a complete domination of Service Academy rival #19 Army, knocking off the Black Knights 31-13 in the 125th playing of the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. With wins over Air Force and Army, the Mids won the Commander In-Chief’s Trophy which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the 3 major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States. The team will visit the White House this spring.
• Navy won the 2 Service Academy games this year by a combined 45 points, which ties the 2019 Navy team for the biggest combined CIC blowouts since 2007 when Navy beat Air Force and Army by a combined 46 points.
• If Navy can beat Oklahoma in the bowl game, it would make the 2024 team just the 6th in school history to win at least 10 games in a season, joining the teams from 1905 (10-1-1), 2004 (10-2), 2009 (10-4), 2015 (11-2) and 2019 (11-2).
• The win over Army gives Navy victories over 2 ranked opponents for the 1st time since 1958 when Navy defeated #8 / #7 Rice 20-7 and #14 / 12 Michigan 20-14. Navy defeated #24 (Coaches) Memphis 56-44 earlier this year. It’s just the 5th time Navy has beaten a ranked Army team (1943, 1950, 1954, 1957, 2024) and the 1st time since 1957 when the Mids knocked off #10 / #9 Army 14-0.
• Navy was predicted to finish 11th in the American Athletic Conference and ended the year tied for 3rd with Memphis (Navy beat Memphis head-to-head) with a 6-2 mark.
• Landon Robinson (Jr. / NG), Colin Ramos (Sr. / LB) and Rayuan Lane III (Sr. / S) were named First-Team All-AAC by the league head coaches. Justin Reed (Sr. / DE), Dashaun Peele (Sr. / CB) and Riley Riethman (Sr. / P) were named to the second team. The Mids did not have a player selected to the third team, while Connor McMahon (Sr. / OT) and Ben Purvis (Jr. / OG) were named honorable mention all-conference.
• Navy is the only FBS team in the country that played just 2 home games in the final 9 regular-season contests.
• Navy is the only FBS team in the country that did not play a one-score (8 points or less) game this year.
• Navy’s 386 points scored in its 12 games this season are 174 more than it scored in its 12 games last year (212).
• Navy has scored a touchdown on the 1st play of a drive 5 times this fall which is tied for the 3rd most in the FBS.
• Navy is averaging 249.3 rushing yards per game, the 7th-best average in the FBS and the program’s best since 2019 when it averaged a school-record 360.5 rushing yards per game.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
6-6 Overall | 2-6 SEC
Head Coach: Brent Venables
• Ignore the record, Oklahoma is an outstanding football team. All you need to see is one score - Oklahoma 24 Alabama 3. That tells you the quality of football team the Mids are facing.
• Of Oklahoma’s 6 losses, 2 of the teams are in the College Football Playoffs (Tennessee and Texas), 2 just missed the playoffs (South Carolina and Ole Miss) and another (Missouri) is ranked. The other loss was at LSU and if you’ve ever been to a game in Baton Rouge, you know nothing comes easy at Tiger Stadium.
• In addition to Alabama, Oklahoma beat a Tulane team (34-19) that beat Navy 35-0, defeated Temple 31-3, Houston 16-12, won at Auburn 27-21 and defeated Maine 59-14.
• While it’s hard to talk about individual players for Oklahoma as you don’t know who will be playing due to opt outs and the transfer portal, it’s safe to say the Sooners are one of the two most talented teams the Mids will face in 2024 (Notre Dame being the other).
• The Oklahoma rush defense is ranked 12th in the country giving up just 105.8 yards per game. The Sooners also average 2.9 sacks per game, which ranks 16th, while their 7.7 tackles for loss per game is 9th best.
• The Oklahoma defense gives up just 318.3 yards per game of total offense, which stands 21st nationally. Oklahoma’s 5 defensive touchdowns are the third most in the FBS, while their 12 fumble recoveries rank 4th best.
• The Sooners rank 10th nationally in net punting (42.6).
• The Oklahoma offense has thrown just 6 interceptions on the year (12th).

 

I believe Navy has a shot if they play loose and with confidence. Even with the portal losses, I fear Oklahoma's young backups will be hungry. As always, Navy will have to play well and limit mistakes.