Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0) vs. Navy Midshipmen (1-5)
October 23, 2021 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Navy Midshipmen +27.5 / Cincinnati Bearcats -27.5; Over/Under: 49.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Navy Midshipmen and Cincinnati Bearcats meet in week 8 AAC college football action from Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will look to keep the ball rolling after remaining unbeaten with a 56-21 win over UCF last time out. Desmond Ridder has thrown for 1,444 yards, 13 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on 64.3% passing while Jerome Ford leads Cincy’s ground attack with 709 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Alec Pierce leads the Bearcats in receiving with 22 grabs for 406 yards and 3 TDs while Tyler Scott has 232 receiving yards and 3 TDs as well. The Bearcats also feature another four 100+ yard receivers heading into the Navy matchup. On defense, Deshawn Pace leads the Bearcats with 45 total tackles and 3 interceptions while Darrian Beavers has a team-high 3 sacks this season.
The Navy Midshipmen will be out to rebound from a 35-17 loss to Memphis in their last outing. Isaac Ruoss leads Navy’s option offense with 308 rushing yards and two touchdowns while James Harris II has 246 rushing yards and another three Midshipmen have at least 100 rushing yards this season. Mychal Cooper also leads Navy’s receivers with 149 receiving yards on 7 catches this year. On defense, Diego Fagot leads the Middies with 54 total tackles while Clay Cromwell has 1.5 sacks on the year.
Cincinnati is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall while the under is 21-8 in their last 29 games against a team with a losing record. Navy is 16-6 ATS in their last 22 conference games and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games following an ATS loss while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record.
Well going into last week I was concerned that this Navy game could be a tripping up spot for Cincinnati, as I thought UCF could be too. However, Cincinnati steamrolled UCF and I have a feeling they’re going to do the same to Navy here. The Middies just don’t have the same bite that they’ve had in recent years and the Bearcats are on a mission to make the college football playoffs. The path is there, they just have to focus on the journey and not skip ahead to the destination. One step at a time, and I think the Bearcats get it done here for the next step. Give me Cincinnati and lay the points.
