After being held to 20 points or fewer in four consecutive games and seven of their first nine, the Navy Midshipmen finally have found their offensive stride. Navy scored 35 points in a loss to East Carolina on Nov. 20 and followed with a season-high 38 in a victory at Temple seven days later. The Midshipmen (3-8) hope to continue their surge when they square off against the Army Black Knights (8-3) for the 122nd Army-Navy Game on Saturday. Navy owns a 61-53-7 record in the all-time series that dates back to 1890, but Army has won four of the last five meetings.
Kickoff from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on CBS. The Black Knights are seven-point favorites in the latest Army vs. Navy odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is 35.5. Before locking in any Navy vs. Army picks, be sure to see the college football predictions and betting advice from red-hot SportsLine expert Emory Hunt.
Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007, and a former running back at Louisiana-Lafayette. He knows the game from a player's perspective. He has been locked in on the tendencies of Navy, going an impressive 12-7-1 in his last 20 against-the-spread college football picks involving the Midshipmen. Anyone who has followed his advice is way up.
Now, Hunt has locked in on Army vs. Navy from every angle and released a confident against-the-spread pick for the Army-Navy Game 2021. You can visit SportsLine now to see Hunt's pick. Here are several college football odds and betting trends for Navy vs. Army:
- Army vs. Navy spread: Black Knights -7
- Army vs. Navy over-under: 35.5 points
- Army vs. Navy money line: Black Knights -292, Midshipmen +233
- ARMY: The Black Knights are 5-1-1 against the spread in their last seven meetings with Navy
- NAVY: The Midshipmen are 0-6 ATS in their last six non-conference games
Why Army can cover
The Black Knights don't have much of an aerial attack, but they're among the best in the country at running the ball. Army ranks behind only Air Force (341.4) in rushing with an average of 301.2 yards per game after racking up 220 in its 31-16 victory at Liberty on Nov. 27. Four different players have gained more than 400 yards this season -- including quarterbacks Christian Anderson and Tyhier Tyler, who are second and third on the team with 519 and 470, respectively.
Tyrell Robinson leads the Black Knights with 582 yards on the ground and also has been one of the top contributors to the passing game, as he ranks second with 268 yards on only nine receptions and is tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches. The sophomore (three) is one of a dozen players with a rushing TD for Army, which has registered a nation-leading total of 43 -- one more than Air Force. Junior Jakobi Buchanan tops the Black Knights with 11 rushing scores, including three in the win at Liberty.
Why Navy can cover
Prior to their 38-14 triumph over the Owls on Nov. 27, the Midshipmen hadn't registered that many points in nearly two years, when they posted a 56-41 triumph over Houston on Nov. 30, 2019. Carlinos Acie led Navy's seventh-ranked rushing attack against Temple with 86 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. That performance followed a career-best effort by the senior, who ran six times for 155 yards and a score versus East Carolina.
Navy also came up with a strong defensive effort against Temple, allowing the fewest amount of points since limiting Memphis to 10 on Nov. 28, 2020. The Midshipmen gave up only 84 yards on the ground and 182 overall, the fewest by an opponent since Army mustered just 162 in their meeting on Dec. 12 last year. Senior linebacker Diego Fagot leads Navy with 11 tackles for loss this season and is sixth in program history with 35.5, just 1.5 behind Charlie Thornton for fifth place.
How to make Army vs. Navy picks
For Saturday's contest, Hunt is leaning over on the point total, and he has also identified a critical X-factor he believes makes one side of the spread a must-back. He's sharing what it is, and which side of the Navy vs. Army spread he's backing, only at SportsLine.
So who wins Saturday's 2021 Army vs. Navy matchup? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Navy vs. Army spread you should jump on, all from the expert who's an impressive 12-7-1 on picks involving the Midshipmen, and find out.
