Saturday, December 14, 2019 Army vs. Navy (NCAAF) - 3:00 PM EST Premium Pick Pick: Point Spread: -10.5/-110 Navy Rating: 12* Mike's Regular Season CFB Game Of The Year (DOUBLE WIN) Yes, we're saving this play for last! The mushes can get caught up all they want with the HYPE on Army winning 3 straight & the last 5 games of this series being decided by an average of 4.6 PPG. I won't be going there. There's DEEP history in this series going back to 1890. The 1st 4 meeting thereafter actually alternated home field advantage with Navy playing @ Worden Field in Annapolis & Army @ The Plain in West Point. This season will be another neutral field meeting with their 88th meeting taking place in Philadelphia's 4th venue - Lincoln Financial Field (they also played @ Franklin Field, John F. Kennedy Stadium & Veterans Stadium). Navy leads the overall series @ 60-52-7. There's no doubt Army is still playing for something, a share of the Commander-In-Chief Trophy (no bowl for them @ 5-7 this year). The CIC Trophy will be given away for the 48th time since President Richard Nixon handed out the 1st one in 1972 (Air Force has 20, Navy 15, Army 8 while 4 were shared). For this one, we can't deny that Navy has had a seasoned schedule with their only 2 blemishes being quality road losses to Notre Dame & Memphis. My biggest concern is the status of the QB position for the Cadets. QB Kelvin Hopkins, Jr. has a leg injury & will be shaky @ best if he's forced to play. If he's a no-go, Jemel Jones (threw just 4 passes with 1 being an INT) or Christian Anderson (26% completions?) are VERY suspect backups that put Army into their triple-option or bust mode even more. That option can only do so much in disguising a mediocre @ best defense. Remember, the Black Knights rushed the ball 63 times for 411 yards, controlled the time of possession with a 35:20 to 24:40 edge @ Hawaii & STILL lost by 3 TD's 52-31! Even though they lost in Ann Arbor to Michigan in OT 24-21 in Week 2, their biggest wins (minus UMass & VMI) were against Rice, Texas-San Antonio & Morgan State! In comparison, the Midshipmen have beaten Air Force, Tulane, S.M.U. & Houston. Crunching further numbers reveal that Navy brings in a Top 20 rushing defense (109.9 YPG-17th) versus Army's 2nd-ranked rushing "O" (311.7 YPG). In contrast, Navy's rushing offense is ranked 1st in the country (361.1 YPG) & goes up against an Army rushing "D" rated just 51st (144.1 YPG) that's faced a very easy schedule overall. My bottom line says Midshipmen QB Malcolm Perry will be feeling it as he needs just 88 rushing yards to pass Napoleum McCallum (led Navy to a 48-13 win over Army @ the Rose Bowl in 1983) for the all-time single season record. The last daggers for us have to be 21st-ranked Navy (plays Kansas State in the Liberty bowl on December 31st) being a window-cashing 8-0-1 ATS AFTER accumulating 450+ offensive yards in their previous game as well as stepping it up versus the patsies @ 5-0 ATS versus losing teams. We're ready to go to Lincoln Financial Field to play the NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (still playing them @ - 6 1/2 for possible backdoor covers) to execute revenge for the 17-10 series loss last season as my 12* Regular Season CFB Game Of The Year! NOTES: After spotting the Black Knights a 7-0 1st-quarter lead, Navy QB Malcolm Perry shattered Napoleum McCallum's rushing record as he gashed the Army defense for 304 yards of a team total 395 in a 31-7 win. The Midshipmen now take a 10-2 SU record into their Liberty Bowl meeting with Kansas State as well as a profitable 9-3 pointspread status. Be sure to stay tuned as the bowl season begins this Friday morning @ 11 AM (December 20th) @ Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau when the Mid-American Conference representative, the (7-5) Buffalo Bulls clash with the (7-5) Charlotte 49ers from Conference USA in the Bahamas Bowl. Mike Handzelek's 2019 Week 16 CFB Record: 2-0 for 100% Mike Handzelek's 2019-20 Overall Season CFB Record: 38-32 for an upward bound 54%
 

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