*** Official SMU at Navy Game Thread ***
#24/#24 SMU Mustangs 5-0 (1-0) at NR/NR Navy Midshipmen 1-3 (1-1)
3:30 ET Saturday 9 October 2021
Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Annapolis MD
TV: CBSSN
Play-by-Play: John Sadak, Analyst: Randy Cross, Sideline: Sheehan Stanwick Burch
RADIO: Navy Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Pete Medhurst, Analyst: Joe Miller, Sideline: Keith Mills, Studio: Scott Wykoff, Pregame Commentary: John Feinstein
• Satellite: Sirius 137, XM 201, SXM App 964
• WBAL 1090 AM / 101.5 FM (Baltimore)
• WFED 820 AM / 94.3 FM (Frederick, Md.)
• WFED 1500 AM (Washington, D.C.)
• WFED 104.5 FM (W. Fairfax / Loudon, Va.)
• WNAV 1430 AM / 99.9 FM (Annapolis)
• WBQH 93.5 FM (Washington, D.C.)
• WJBT 100.3 FM (Jacksonville)
• WGH 1310 AM / 100.9 FM / 97.3 HD2-3 (Norfolk)
OPENING KICK
• Navy and No. 24 SMU meet for the 23rd time in series history and the seventh time as American Athletic Conference foes when the two square off on Saturday afternoon (3:30 pm ET) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
• Navy leads the all-time series 13-9, including a 4-2 mark against the Mustangs in AAC games. Navy is 6-3 all-time in games played against SMU in Annapolis.
• The SMU contest is the third of five-consecutive games in which the Mids will play against the top-five teams in the AAC Preseason Poll. SMU was picked third behind Cincinnati and UCF in the preseason poll.
• Navy will play the third-toughest schedule in the country this year based on opponent winning percentage from 2020. The Mids’ 12 opponents this fall combined for a 72-42 (.632) record last year. Only Arkansas (.644) and UMass (.644) have tougher slates based on last year’s results.
• Navy and SMU will play for the Gansz Trophy, created in 2009 by the SMU and Navy Athletic Departments. The Gansz Trophy is a traveling trophy to honor the late coaching legend Frank Gansz. Navy is 7-2 all-time in Gansz Trophy games.
• Navy is 31-18 in the American Athletic Conference since joining in 2015. That record is tied with UCF for the third-best mark in the conference. Only Memphis (34-15) and Temple (32-16) have been better. Navy has defeated every team in the conference at least once.
• Navy has beaten a ranked opponent five times under head coach Ken Niumatalolo (14 years). Prior to Niumatalolo, Navy had beaten a ranked opponent five times in the previous 30 years. The last time Navy beat a ranked opponent was in 2019 when the Mids defeated No. 21 SMU 35-28. Niumatalolo’s five top-25 wins are the second most in school history. Eddie Erdelatz beat 10 top-25 teams from 1950-58.
• Senior corner Michael McMorris has forced three fumbles this year which is tied for the third most in the country.
• Senior safety Kevin Brennan, senior wide receiver Mychal Cooper, senior linebacker Diego Fagot and senior slot back Chance Warren were selected as team captains for the 2021 season by their teammates. Being selected team captain is the greatest honor a Navy athlete can receive, to be chosen the leader of a group of leaders.
• Cooper was also chosen to serve as the Captain of the Captains by a vote of the team captains of all 33 of Navy’s varsity sports. It’s the second time in three years that a football player has been selected. Ford Higgins was the Captain of the Captains for the 2019-20 academic year.
• Fagot is on the “Watch Lists” for the 2021 Chuck Bednarik Award (Maxwell Football Club) and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Football Writers Association of America) which are presented to the top defensive player in college football.
• Fagot was named a Third-Team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine, while Fagot (first team), senior corner Michael McMorris (third team), sophomore nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. (fourth team), senior safety Kevin Brennan (fourth team) and junior kicker Bijan Nichols (fourth team) were named to Steele’s All-AAC team. Fagot is a two-time All-AAC performer, garnering second-team honors by the league’s coaches as a junior and first-team recognition as a sophomore.
• Navy senior fullback Isaac Ruoss has been named a semifinalist by the National Football Foundation for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy, which is also known as the Academic Heisman. The National Football Foundation will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27 and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investment. The winner of the Campbell Trophy will receive a 24-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship and an appearance on the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN. Ruoss, who majors in quantitative economics, carries a 3.87 grade point average and has only received four B's in his first three years at the Naval Academy. On the field, Ruoss is Navy's leading rusher with 212 yards and two touchdowns on 51 carries (4.1 yards per carry).
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