Navy Football vs UAB Preview

Navy (3-5) will return to Annapolis to take on UAB (3-6) in the first ever meeting between the two schools this Saturday. And it’s a big matchup for both teams. Navy and UAB come into Saturdays matchup both needing a win to remain bowl eligible. Here is everything you need to know for this weekends game.

UAB Overview

UAB has a new head coach in Trent Dilfer. Dilfer spent 14 years in the NFL, leading the Baltimore Ravens to the 2000 Super Bowl as their starting quarterback. After retiring he became an analyst for ESPN and the head coach of the Elite 11- a prestigious QB competition that seeks to name the 11 best high school QBs in the country every year. Dilfer started coaching at Lipscomb Academy High School in Nashville in 2019, eventually leading the school to back to back state championships. He was hired at UAB prior to this season.

The football program was terminated at UAB due to budget restraints in 2014. Since returning in 2017, the school hasn’t had a losing season. A 3-6 start to the year is not what this program expects after making such a flashy hire in Dilfer.

The strength of this UAB team this season is their offense. They use a lot of different spread formations to put strain on the defense. Their offensive philosophy is centered around exploiting defenses lack of discipline. You’ll see them use a lot of reverses, draws, and read options in the run game.

This is a pretty balanced offense, roughly running and passing the ball equally. Offensively though, where they really shine is in the passing game. Starting quarterback Jacob Zeno is the star of this offense. The former Baylor transfer has really shined this season, making a lot of great throws and leading this offense. Starting receivers Tejhaun Palmer and Amare Thomas have both been great themselves, making a lot of tough catches and getting good separation from defense backs.

Defensively this team still has some work to do. They’ve given up at least 35 points in every game since their season opener, including over 40 points in six of those games. Dilfer brought his defensive coordinator from Lipscomb Sione Ta’ufo’ou with him to UAB. Ta’ufo’ou is a good football mind, but it looks like UAB is trying to take on more than they can handle conceptually at times. You’ll see them run a lot of zone match and man match coverage schemes- which are extremely complex defenses that can be really effective when run well. The problem for UAB is they’ve consistently made mistakes that allow for wide open receivers and huge running lanes. The biggest problem defensively for this team is poor angles and gap filling in tackling.

What to Know About Navy

Navy has struggled offensively with expanding their scheme so far this year. They want to get away from being a strictly triple option team and be able to put additional stress on the defense by mixing in the pass a little bit more. They’ve been effective at times, but they’ve also had to deal with a multitude of injuries. They’re the only team in the country to start 4 different quarterbacks this season.

The defense has been solid and done a lot with the talent they have this year. The problem in this matchup is that this defense is really built to stop the run. They have held up in coverage at times, but it hasn’t been consistent throughout the year. Where Navy really excels is at disguising pressure and selectively bringing blitzes that get home and slow down opposing offenses.

Keys to this Matchup

For Navy, they’re going to have to slow down this UAB offense. It starts with playing very disciplined and assignment sound football. They can’t get caught up in all the misdirection this UAB offense uses. To do this they need to stay home and not overcommit on plays.

They’ll also have to find ways to get pressure to create negative plays and stall out drives. If Zeno has time to throw and can avoid sacks, this could be a long day for the Navy defense.

This UAB offense will likely put up some points on Saturday, the key for Navy is slowing them down and getting stops when they can. The more they can hold UAB to field goals instead of touchdowns, and avoid giving up big plays, the more chance Navy will have in this game.

On offense, Navy has to play a clean game of football. UAB will make some mistakes and give the Midshipmen opportunities to put up points. Navy can’t negate this by committing penalties. The more Navy can stay on the field and stay on schedule, the more chances they’ll have to score and stay in the game.

What to Expect

Both teams are going to come out with a lot of intensity, looking to keep their post-season hopes alive. I think that this will lead to a lot of big plays on both sides. The over/under for the game is currently set at 53.5. I would pretty shocked if this game didn’t end in an over. I think that Navy can slow down UAB offensively, but I don’t know that they can keep them under about 25-30 points. I also don’t think that UAB is going to be able to slow down this Navy triple option very effectively.

UAB is a slight favorite at -2.5 points with a 56.9% chance to win according to ESPN. I think that a lot of this is due to both teams having similar records. I think that UAB holds a pretty big advantage in the passing attack agains this Navy secondary. Unless Navy can step up in the secondary and get a lot of pressure on Zeno consistently, UAB will likely cover. I could also very easily see a situation though where Navy does play extremely disciplined football and runs away with this game. The game being played at home on Veterans Day certainly helps give Navy a boost in energy at home.

Kickoff is at 3:30 pm est on CBSSN.