Navy (3-7, 3-4 American Athletic Conference) at No. 17 Central Florida (8-2, 5-1, No. 20 CFP), Saturday, 11 a.m. EST (ESPN2)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK COLLEGE LINE: Central Florida by 16 1/2.
Series record: Central Florida leads 2-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
UCF controls its own fate to host the AAC championship game on Dec. 3. Victories over Navy and South Florida in the regular-season finale on Nov. 26 secures a spot in the title game. The Knights are also bidding to be the highest ranked non-Power Five conference champion, which carries a guaranteed New Year’s Six bowl game.
KEY MATCHUP
Both teams excel running the ball and have had success defending against it. The Knights are fifth in the nation, averaging 249.5 rushing yards. Navy holds its opponents to 85.8 yards, sixth best. Navy has the 10th-best ground game, averaging 238.7 yards. UCF’s run defense is 31st, allowing 123.1 yards.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Navy: LB John Marshall has a team-best 78 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. It’s the most sacks by a Navy player since Jacob Springer recorded eight in 2019.
UCF: QB John Rhys Plumlee returned after a concussion sustained Oct. 29 against Cincinnati and accounted for 308 yards of offense and three touchdowns in a 38-31 win over then-No. 16 Tulane last week. The Ole Miss transfer ran for 176 yards and two scores and had 132 passing yards and one TD.
FACTS & FIGURES
UCF has won three straight following a 34-13 loss at East Carolina. … Navy is looking to carry over the momentum from the second half of last Saturday’s 35-32 loss to No. 20 Notre Dame in which the Midshipmen outscored the Fighting Irish 19-0 over the final 30 minutes. Navy outgained Notre Dame 116-12 over the stretch. … UCF running back RJ Harvey averages 7.3 yards a carry. He has 615 yards on 84 carries. … Navy averages just 3.4 penalties a game, lowest in the nation.
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