Navy and #20 UCF will meet for the first time when they square off on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Navy’s Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM (ET) and the game will be televised by CBS Sports Network with John Sadak, Randy Cross and Sheehan Stanwick-Burch on the call. Navy Mutual Aid Association will serve as the presenting game day sponsor.
Navy, Memphis, Houston, SMU and Tulane all have one loss in the American Athletic Conference West Division. Memphis owns the tiebreaker over Navy, while the Mids hold the tiebreaker over Tulane. Navy still has to play SMU and Houston. UCF and USF are tied for first in the American Athletic Conference East Division with 3-0 records and those two teams are three games ahead in the loss column of everyone else. UCF and USF will meet on Nov. 24 in Orlando.
UCF is the first ranked team to visit Annapolis since last October when Navy stunned #6 / #5 Houston, 46-40. In 2015, Navy defeated #15 / #16 Memphis, 45-20, in the Liberty Bowl. Navy has not beaten a ranked team in three consecutive years since the 1940s when Navy beat at least one ranked team in five consecutive years (1941-45).
The National Anthem will take place at 3:20 PM, followed by a flyby by two Boeing F/A-18F Superhornets from the “Swordsmen” of Strike Fighter Squadron 32, and two Boeing F/A-18C Hornets from the “Blue Blasters” of Strike Fighter Squadron 34, both based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Va. The lead aircraft will be piloted by Lt. Gregory Eastburg, USNA Class of 2012, and Lt. Dennis Heinz. In Dash-2, Lt. Matthew Carrasquillo, USNA Class of 2010, and Lt. Adam Collins. In Dash-3, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Saylor, and in Dash-4, Lt. Cmdr. Ben Orloff, USNA Class of 2005. The Swordsmen are attached to Carrier Air Wing Three and returned from a Combat Deployment onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in December 2016. The Blue Blasters are attached to Carrier Air Wing Two and will be deploying next year onboard the USS Carl Vinson in support of Combat Operations.
There will be a parachute jumper from Team Fastrax at 3:24 PM
GAME COVERAGE
- Saturday’s game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network with John Sadak, Randy Cross and Sheehan Stanwick-Burch on the call
- WBAL Radio (1090 AM) will air a two-and-a-half hour preview show before the 60-minute network pregame show beginning at 12 noon with Keith Mills and Scott Wykoff live from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
- The Navy Football Tailgate Show on WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM will air at 1:30 PM.
- The Navy Football Pregame Show with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller and Tim Murray will get underway at 2:30 PM, followed by game action beginning at 3:30 PM on the Navy Radio Network.
- Following the contest, Medhurst, Miller and Murray will recap the day’s events in a 30-minute postgame show.
- Eye On Annapolis will also be covering the game on Twitter and will have pre-game, end-of-quarter, halftime and end of game recorded updates. Photos of the action will be handled for us by Kevin Carroll from a digital cure photography
